No. 15 West Virginia men’s basketball to play Georgetown in Big 12/Big East Battle on Dec. 6

Mountaineer fans should feel a tinge of hope as the West Virginia men’s basketball team inches closer to the start of its season. After finding itself ranked No. 15 in the AP Men’s Basketball Preseason Top 25 today, WVU also learned it will take on Georgetown on Sunday, Dec. 6, in the Big 12/Big East Men’s Basketball Battle.

The Hoyas are one of WVU’s most frequent opponents, playing 29 times since 1949. Georgetown leads 18-11 in the all-time series. The last meeting between these two teams was in the 2014 Men’s NIT, a 77-65 win for the Hoyas.

The Big 12/Big East matchup completes the team’s non-conference schedule, which includes a trip to South Dakota for the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic and the Big 12/SEC Challenge matchup with Florida.

Full Big 12/Big East Battle Schedule:

• November 29: Baylor at Seton Hall
• December 1: Oklahoma State at Marquette
• December 3: St. John’s at Texas Tech
• December 6: West Virginia at Georgetown, DePaul at Iowa State, Villanova at Texas
• December 8: Creighton at Kansas
• December 9: Oklahoma at Xavier, Providence at TCU
• December 11: Kansas State at Butler

This is the second year of the inter-conference agreement. In 2019, WVU lost to St. John’s 70-68 in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Big East decidedly won the first edition of the battle, 8-2.

Four Big 12 teams joined WVU in the AP’s preseason poll. Baylor is the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 2, Kansas is at No. 6, Texas Tech is just above WVU at No. 14, and Texas is at No. 19. No other Big 12 teams received votes.

On top of the conference teams, Richmond (Dec. 13) and Florida (Jan. 30) also received votes in the poll, but are unranked. Potential Crossover Classic foes Ohio State (23), Memphis (received votes) and Creighton (11) also appeared in the poll.

The No. 15 Mountaineers will open their season on Wednesday, Nov. 25, against Texas A&M in the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.