West Virginia Falls Again in Men’s Basketball Polls

For the second week in a row, split results forced pollsters to drop the West Virginia men’s basketball team in the rankings. WVU currently sits at No. 14 in the AP Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Despite fallings in the human polls, the NCAA NET Rankings held WVU at No. 9.

The Mountaineers fell three spots in the Coaches Poll and one in the AP Poll. In the AP, both Penn State and Kentucky jumped WVU. In the Coaches Poll, Seton Hall leaped over WVU, from No. 13 to No. 10.

WVU soundly defeated Iowa State 76-61, on Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Morgantown ahead of losing again on the road to Oklahoma, 69-59, on Saturday, Feb. 8. It’s likely the results canceled each other out in the NET formula.

Texas Tech rejoined Kansas and Baylor in both polls, giving the conference four teams in the top 25. The Red Raiders landed at No. 24, while the Jayhawks remained at No. 3 and the Bears continue at No. 1. Both Baylor and Kansas stayed at Nos. 3 and 4 respectively in the NET rankings, while TTU moved to No. 20.

This week is a critical week for the Mountaineers, who play the No. 3 Jaykawks at home on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and then the No. 1 Bears on the road on Saturday, Feb. 15. Baylor travels to Austin to play Texas and Texas Tech hosts TCU on Monday night.

Big 12 Teams in the NET Rankings

3. Baylor (21-1)

4. Kansas (19-3)

9. West Virginia (18-5)

20. Texas Tech (15-8)

48. Oklahoma (15-8)

66. Texas (14-9)

69. Iowa State (10-13)

71. Oklahoma State (11-12)

80. TCU (12-10)

82. Kansas State (9-14)