:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58909353/usa_today_10674396.0.jpg)
Even after losing the season finale at Texas, the West Virginia men’s basketball team jumped two spots in the AP Men’s Basketball Top 25 and one in the USA Today Coaches Poll, finishing the regular season as the No. 18 team. This is the 53rd week in a row that WVU has been ranked in the AP poll, the fourth-longest active streak and the 70th-best steak in NCAA Division I history.
The Mountaineers (22-9, 11-7) finished the regular season with 20 wins for the fourth season in a row, also the fourth season in a row WVU has racked up double-digit Big 12 victories.
WVU is joined by two other Big 12 teams in the third-to-last poll of the 2017-2018 season. Kansas (24-7) is dropped to No. 9 and Texas Tech (23-8) fell to No. 14. Though the Big 12 doesn’t have high rankings from the pollsters, the conference is expected to place eight teams in the NCAA tournament.
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team member Jevon Carter will now lead the Mountaineers into the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Missouri, as the No. 3 seed. WVU faces No. 6 seed Baylor on Thursday, March 8, at 9 p.m. EST.