West Virginia Hopes To Stop Spiral Against Iowa State Cyclones

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

Football:

Seider Finalist For Rare Disease Champion Award | WVU Athletics
Uplifting Athletes is pleased to announce that Ja’Juan Seider from West Virginia has been chosen as a finalist for the 2016 Rare Disease Champion Award.

WVU Once Inked Nation's No. 1 Prep Grid Player | WVU Athletics
On the front page of the Sunday, November 14, 1976, edition of the Sunday Charleston Gazette-Mail was the game story of West Virginia’s eight-point loss to top-ranked Pitt in Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers that afternoon put up plenty of resistance against college football’s No. 1 team and its best player, Tony Dorsett.

Basketball:

WVU hopes to stop spiral against Cyclones | Beckley Register-Herald
Now No. 14 in the national polls, WVU (17-4) will be looking to reverse the recent downward trend with a major statement tonight on the road against No. 13 Iowa State.

WVU staying the course without Holton, at Iowa State tonight | The Daily Athenaeum
Missing one of its most important players, the West Virginia University men’s basketball team desperately needs to find a new equation heading into its toughest stretch of the season.

WVU looks to get back on track against Iowa State | The Exponent Telegram
Normally, the biggest thing on a cold, snowy winter’s evening in Ames, Iowa, as today’s is expected to be, is an Iowa State basketball game. The one scheduled at the ESPN-dictated hour of 9 p.m. is against a struggling West Virginia team that has lost three of five games since upsetting then-No. 1 Kansas but it won’t be making the lead of the newscast this time around.

Two Top 15 Teams to Meet in Ames Tuesday Night | WVU Athletics
On the same day Cindy Crawford announced she is officially retired from modeling, the West Virginia University men’s basketball team is flying out to Ames, Iowa to face 13th-ranked Iowa State in a key Big 12 game on Tuesday night. The two are unrelated, of course, other than the fact that veteran coach Bob Huggins is far from retiring from his personal assault on the NCAA record book.

Tough matchups loom for WVU basketball | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Forgive West Virginia for forward thinking Tuesday night. The 14th-ranked Mountaineers attempt to move on from last Saturday’s season-worst loss to Florida and return to Big 12 play in a 9 p.m. ESPN2 game at No. 13 Iowa State, the first of three critical conference games against top-15 teams.

Mountaineers Visit Texas Tech on Tuesday | WVU Athletics
The West Virginia University women’s basketball team hits the road for a 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT matchup at Texas Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 2, in Lubbock, Texas.

WVU looks to sweep Texas Tech | The Exponent Telegram
The West Virginia women’s basketball team tries to regain its winning ways on the road at 7 p.m. today when it faces Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.

Mountaineers look to end losing skid at Texas Tech | The Daily Athenaeum
The West Virginia women’s basketball team (16-6, 5-4 Big 12) is in the midst of a two-game losing streak, coming at the hands of conference foes Baylor and Oklahoma. The team will get a chance to snap its streak tonight as it travels to Lubbock to face the Texas Tech Lady Raiders (11-10, 2-8 Big 12).

Around The Big XII:

SN sources: Big 12 to talk expansion of member schools this week
It’s so not a big deal that the Big 12 Conference meetings this week will occur at the league headquarters in Dallas, not the ballroom of some fancy hotel. It’s such a big deal that the Big 12 meetings could change the future of the league (and the half-dozen or so colleges that would love to join).

Next three months could determine future of Big 12 | ESPN
The upcoming Big 12 meetings could set the course for the future of the Big 12 -- and pit two founding members against one another.

Best part of each Big 12 recruiting class | ESPN
National signing day is almost here, a de facto national holiday for college football fans everywhere. To get you pumped, below is a breakdown of the most exciting part of every Big 12 recruiting class going into the big day.

Big 12 alums shine in Senior Bowl | ESPN
Defensive end Shawn Oakman led the charge of former Big 12 standouts at the Senior Bowl.

Big 12 proves its worth in conference challenge | The Exponent Telegram
To be perfectly honest, when the college basketball powers that be — and you can spell that E-S-P-N — moved the Big 12/SEC Challenge into the middle of the conference season, it was a change met with some resistance on the part of the coaches.

Around The NCAA:

Why does elite recruiting help college football defenses more than offenses? | SBNation
Did you know some team stats correlate more closely with recruiting rankings than others do? Let's break them down.

25 lies you will tell yourself on National Signing Day | SBNation
It's the most self-delusional time of the year, and everyone's gonna tell the same lies together!

What if Tim Tebow had signed with Alabama? An alternate recruiting history | SBNation
Tim Tebow's recruitment was recent college football history's Butterfly Effect. While most players don't lend themselves to such a what-if effect, this one does.

The embattled Mark Emmert will be the NCAA's president for 3 more years | SBNation
Emmert's contract now extends through at least October 2020.

The 5 biggest winners and losers from the weekend that was in college basketball | SBNation
Six weeks from now, we'll all be filling out brackets. The picture of the teams we will be picking to win and lose got just a little bit clearer on the final weekend of January.

College basketball rankings 2016: Duke falls out of the top 25 for the first time since 2007 | SBNation
The defending national champs are nowhere to be found in the latest polls.

(14) West Virginia Mountaineers vs. (13) Iowa State Cyclones
Tonight at 9PM Eastern on ESPN 2 from Ames, IA. The Mountaineers travel to Ames without Jonathan Holton and try to avoid Hilton Magic. The Cyclones are currently 4.5 point favorites.

West Virginia University vs Texas Tech Red Raiders
Tonight at 7PM Eastern on Fox Sports 2 from Lubbock. The West Virginia women's basketball team looks to bounce back from back-to-back losses.

Today's Miss Throwdown is Playboy's Miss February 2016. CLICK HERE for Kristy Garett's Instagram.