A Quick Glance at the History of West Virginia in the Big 12 Standings
Last week, the 2021 Preseason Big 12 Conference Standings were revealed, with West Virginia sitting at No.6. It is the third time since joining the Big 12 (2012) the Mountaineers have been predicted to finish sixth, but they ended the season one spot ahead at fifth in both previous predictions.
Looking back in West Virginia’s nine-year history in the Big 12, they have only been predicted in the top half of the league twice, with both seasons ending in bitter disappointment after being selected second in 2012 and 2018. However, those are the only times WVU has finished below its preseason standings.
In 2013, West Virginia was predicted eighth, and that is right where they finished. Since then, on average, the Mountaineers have finished a spot and a half higher than the preseason standings, with the biggest jump coming in 2016, moving up four spots from seventh to third, marking a program-best that still stands. WVU has only finished in the top half of the standings four times, finishing fourth in 2018 and the aforementioned two fifth place finishes (2015 & 2017).
Since Neal Brown took over in 2019, West Virginia has been picked to finish eighth in his first two years but finished above expectations finishing seventh and sixth, respectively. That's a spot above the prediction in year one and two more in his second season. Albeit it's a small sample size, if Brown and company continue their trend, West Virginia will finish third in the conference. At the very least, the Mountaineers should finish in the top half of the conference for just the fifth time in 10 seasons.
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