Could 2016 Be West Virginia's Year?

On Tuesday night, we saw what might be the best West Virginia basketball team since the days of Jerry West announce its presence to the nation, and this talented, deep squad may be Mountaineer fans’ best hope of seeing the Gold and Blue on top of the world.

By Michael Miller@michaelmillerWV Jan 14, 2016, 10:51am EST

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Football:

West Virginia AD Lyons not dictating staff moves to Holgorsen | WV MetroNews
As the anticipated addition of Joe Wickline forebodes an end to Dana Holgorsen’s year without an offensive coordinator, West Virginia athletics director Shane Lyons said he hasn’t dictated any football staff changes as part of Holgorsen’s contract negotiations.

Lyons talks Big 12 title game, expansion, Coliseum beer sales | WV MetroNews
The Big 12 now wields the option of staging a football championship game next season without expanding to 12 members under a rule change approved Wednesday by the NCAA Division I Council.

Wendell Smallwood among the Big 12's most improved | ESPN
West Virginia RB Wendell Smallwood made a jump from part-timer to bell cow.

Basketball:

This could be the year for West Virginia | The Daily Athenaeum
On Tuesday night, we saw what might be the best West Virginia basketball team since the days of Jerry West announce its presence to the nation, and this talented, deep squad may be Mountaineer fans' best hope of seeing the Gold and Blue on top of the world.

Confidence in itself has led WVU to success | The Exponent Telegram
Quietly, they have believed in themselves this year, this West Virginia basketball team.

Coliseum crowd the real star of win over Kansas | The Exponent Telegram
This is to the real star of West Virginia’s 74-63 victory over top-ranked Kansas on Tuesday night at the Coliseum.

WVU's Effort on Display Tuesday Night | WVU Athletics
The amazing effort West Virginia put forth Tuesday night in defeating top-ranked Kansas didn’t just happen on the court. It began about three hours before the game when a snow squall hit Morgantown right during rush hour.

Mountaineer Nation Arrives When WVU Needs Them Most | WV Illustrated
It does not come as a surprise, nor should it. Throughout the country, West Virginia fans are known as loyal, passionate, and above all, dedicated.

WVU fans won't soon forget win over KU | Beckley Register-Herald
Tuesday night was one of those evenings that will live forever in West Virginia University sports lore, and it’s not just the result, beating No. 1 Kansas for the fourth win in school history against a top-ranked team, that will be talked about for years, and surely decades, to come.

No. 1 down, No. 2 to go | Beckley Register-Herald
As soon as the celebration subsided and the win over No. 1 Kansas sank in, fans of West Virginia basketball began asking the question, "What does this mean."

The Lunch follows West Virginia to the top of the Big 12 standings | WV MetroNews
For the moment, one glorious everybody-on-the-floor moment for Mountaineer Nation, the Big 12’s top team resides in the Eastern time zone.

Despite long road, Jaysean Paige becomes one of WVU’s best | The Daily Athenaeum
Paige made his way to Moberly Area Community College, where he averaged 21 points per game and was the No. 13 scorer in the junior college ranks. Then he found his way to a place where he could once again make his name known.

Superhero Day Slated for Saturday | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University women’s basketball will host its annual Superhero Day this Saturday, Jan. 16, when the Mountaineers welcome Kansas to the WVU Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

West Virginia Athletics:

Mountaineers continue record performances with national title in mind | The Daily Athenaeum
Mountaineer head coach Jon Hammond made it clear prior to the matchup on Tuesday that he didn’t expect the team to be in top form following two months off for winter break. He was wrong.

Around The Big XII:

Title-game deregulation leaves Big 12 to decide if it controls path to CFP | ESPN
What the Big 12 leadership must ruminate on now is this: Would a championship game more strongly position the Big 12 to put a team into the playoff?

Big 12 can officially have a conference championship without expanding, if it wants | SBNation
Bad news for those hoping other conferences would force the Big 12 to expand.

NCAA vote allows Big 12 to decide on football title game | Charleston Gazette-Mail
The Big 12 Conference will be allowed to hold a football championship game in the future if it wants to under a rule change approved Wednesday at the NCAA annual convention.

Oklahoma president: Big 12 still 'disadvantaged' even with title game | ESPN
Oklahoma president says the Big 12 needs 12 teams, a tv network and a championship game to get on equal footing with the other Power 5 conferences.

A return to playoff among Big 12 bold predictions for 2016 | ESPN
It will be tough for any team to run the table in 2016, and especially tough for Oklahoma. Here are 10 bold predictions for next season.

Kansas is playing a high-risk game by burying 5-star freshman Cheick Diallo | SBNation
There are no easy answers to Kansas' front court puzzle.

Around The NCAA:

Get caught up on recruiting with less than a month until college football's National Signing Day | SBNation
The top 2016 recruits left, the best recruiting classes and Ole Miss' big surprise.

Why the College Football Playoff should expand only slightly, or not at all | SBNation
At the site of the National Championship, we talked about whether the Playoff should go beyond four teams. Here are a few different arguments for only adding minor expansions, if any at all.

Early struggles in conference play are normal for college basketball's elite teams | SBNation
The new year has already seen some surprisingly dismal performances from the best college basketball teams in the country, and recent history shows that we should expect that trend to continue.