THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TODAY’S GAME

Our good friend Fake Bob Huggins and the Final Fourcast/Best Virginia crew have teamed up to help folks in Texas who have spent this past week suffering through an extremely rare winter storm that left them, literally, in the dark and freezing for days. Natasha Harper-Madison, an Austin city council member, described the situation as a “Katrina-scale crisis” with people’s infrastructure in Austin failing.

Let’s show our Longhorn friends how West Virginians respond when our neighbors are in need.

Make a donation to the Central Texas Food Bank, the Austin Urban League, or ECHO and tweet the boys your receipt by 6PM ET tonight for a chance to win this ball signed by the Best Virginia crew and other Mountaineer basketball alumni.

WHEN/WHERE

Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021

Tip-Off Time: 3:00 PM ET

Where: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas

Austin American-Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Content Services, LLC

WATCH/LISTEN

Channel: ABC

Announce Team: Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla

Online Streaming: WatchESPN, with a valid cable subscription

Cord Cutters: Mountaineer fans can catch all the action on fuboTV. fuboTV is an over-the-top streaming service that carries all the major networks, including CBS, NBC, FOX, and now....the ESPN Disney networks! It also carries ABC, CBS Sports Network, FS1, SEC Network, and more. fuboTV comes with a cloud DVR feature, so you can record the game and watch it later.

Sign up for a free seven day trial of fuboTV, and get 15% off the base family plan, by following THIS LINK.

Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG (Online Stream | Radio Affiliates) | Sirius 83, XM 83

Radio Announcers: Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs

Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.

LISTEN LIVE

ODDS

Spread: Texas -3.5
O/U: 146.5

THE ENEMY

Where are they from? Austin, Texas

Series History:

• This will be the 23rd meeting between West Virginia and Texas with the Longhorns holding a 13-9 series lead. West Virginia has won five of the last 10 meetings in the series, but the Longhorns have won five of the last six meetings.
• Earlier this season on Jan. 9, Andrew Jones’ 3-point field goal with 1.8 seconds left gave No. 4 Texas a 72-70 decision over No. 14 West Virginia in Morgantown.
• The Mountaineers are 2-6 against Texas in Austin. WVU’s last win in Austin was a 74-72 decision on Jan. 14, 2017

Record: 13-5 (7-4 Big 12)

Record in 2019-20: 18-14 (7-11 Big 12)

Head Coach: Shaka Smart (7th Season)

Austin American Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP:

West Virginia Mountaineers: Jalen Bridges, Derek Culver, Jordan McCabe, Taz Sherman, and Miles McBride

Texas Longhorns: Greg Brown, Jericho Sims, Andrew Jones, Matt Coleman III, and Courtney Ramey

STATS BREAKDOWN VIA JOEL BRACKEN (@WVSTATSGUY)

PREDICTION THAT DOESN’T MATTER

First of all, this game shouldn’t even be happening today. The Big 12 Conference dropped the ball by not reconfiguring the schedule to allow this game to be postponed. Texas announced last night that they won’t be allowing fans at this game to avoid putting additional pressure on Austin’s already strained infrastructure and resources. Flying a team from West Virginia into Texas for a six-day trip to further strain the resources is ludicrous.

But seeing as how sports seemingly hold a higher standing than the needs of human beings — as we’ve seen numerous times over the last 365 days — this game is happening whether we agree with it or not.

It’s been a week since West Virginia played. Texas hasn’t been able to practice this week at all. This game is going to be sloppy, and I really don’t know who is going to come out on top in this one.

Blind optimism gives this one to the good guys.

West Virginia 77, Texas 73

PREGAME READING & UPDATES

Follow along with us on Twitter @smokingmusket for running commentary.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

Find a warm, comfortable spot, grab a favorite beverage or threeve, and join in on the running commentary, random observations, silly images, gifs, snark, wit, bitches, complaints, moans, groans, cheers, celebration and jubilation in the comments section below.

And, as always...