WVU - #8 Kansas Preview: Phoggy Country

Game Day Vitals

• West Virginia Mountaineers (14-9, 6-4 Big XII) vs. #8 Kansas Jayhawks (17-5, 8-1 Big XII)
• Series Record: 0-2, last meeting was a beatdown in the Phog 91-65
• Location: The Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Capacity: 16,300) Lawrence, Kansas
• Vegas Lines: (+13.5) for the good guys, O/U -151.0
• Date: Saturday, February 8th, 2014, at 4:00PM EST
• Television: ESPN / WatchESPN
• O/U on references to Wiggins coming from Huntington Prep: 1.5
• Radio Affiliates

Opponent Information

(click to embiggen)

• #8 Kansas Jayhawks (17-5, 8-1 Big XII)
• Head Coach Bill Self, 11th year at KU, 317-63 with KU
• Last Result: Won handedly in Waco vs. Baylor 69-52
• Official Jayhawks athletics website
• SBN KU blog - Rock Chalk Talk

Twitter is Fun: Anchorman: The Legend of Bill Self

No context is the best context.

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Game Preview

Last week, I said that the Mountaineers had "hit a confidence high water mark after beating two very talented teams." Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have found ourselves a NEW confidence high water mark. Regardless of the OU travel nightmares, WVU won that game and have now found themselves squarely in the conversation with making it onto Joe Lunardi's "next four out." While, yes, that's not exactly the most impressive place to be, but it shows how far this Mountaineer team has come. Two weeks ago, the Eers had zero quality wins. Now, they have three in a row with each game increasing in quality.  We have now reached the pinnacle of quality games: At Kansas.

The RPI has Kansas at the top which means that, in English, the computers believe the Jayhawks are the most proven team in the country. It's hard to argue with that when KU is top of the standings in America's highest rated conference and almost half of their played schedule are RPI Top 50 opponents. I can give you reasons why the Kansas Jayhawks are the best team in the country all day, but we aren't comparing rèsumès. All we are interested in is getting our first ever victory in Allen Fieldhouse. Good news, this team is beatable.

The Mountaineers fate lies in Juwan Staten's hands. As Kirchner and I discussed on the podcast, there might not be one person that can guard Staten for 40 minutes and not get blown by him. We are not saying that Juwan has reached "unguardable" status, but his dribble drive us comparable with the best guards in the country. If WVU is to pull of the upset, #3 must have the game of his life and either Terry or Eron must break into T3RRY or 3RON.

Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done? Probably not. That being said, if WVU does pull this off, pants are prohibited for the next 48 hours.

Prediction: WVU 71 KU 81