COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — This looks familiar.
The Big 12 basketball coaches staged their annual vote to decide who’ll finish second to Kansas, and West Virginia was the winner (runner-up).
The Jayhawks were the unanimous choice to claim their 14th consecutive league title, an unfathomable stretch in any conference, much less one that has sported the top RPI during several of those seasons.
Pope John Paul II was alive when KU’s dominance began. So were Luther Vandross and Richard Pryor. There was no iPhone.
Below are the tabulations, and before you arch an eyebrow over Russian hacking, the balloting really was unanimous, because Bill Self couldn’t vote for his own team:
- Kansas (9)* 81
- West Virginia (1) 71
- TCU 64
- Texas 49
- Baylor 47
- Oklahoma 43
- Texas Tech 36
- Kansas State 27
- Iowa State 22
- Oklahoma State 10
My expectations on West Virginia have diminished over recent months. Upon leaving San Jose the night of that grinding Sweet 16 loss to Gonzaga, I suspected the Mountaineers were on the verge of dethroning Kansas. Then Elijah Macon left. Then Derek Culver didn’t qualify. Then Esa Ahmad got himself suspended for a half-season. Then Brandon Knapper wrecked his knee.
Attrition is natural in the college game, but those were four players WVU needed. We’ll see how much they are missed during a spicy nonconference schedule.
At least the Big 12 coaches still seem convinced that Bob Huggins will still field a tough team. Can’t say the same for Iowa State, which rates ninth, and Oklahoma State, which lost good players and a promising head coach before the FBI showed up with indictments.
Huggs: Big 12 has “no bottom”
West Virginia’s coach repeated his contention that the new Big 12 is stronger than the old Big East because the former league had a batch of non-competitive teams at the bottom.
“There’s no bottom here,” Huggins said. “Oklahoma State is picked 10th and Oklahoma State is good. How are you picked 10th when you have a unanimous first-team all-league player?”
He was alluding to Cowboys forward Jeffrey Carroll, who joined Jevon Carter as the unanimous All-Big 12 preseason selections.
“Then Jamie (Dixon) takes TCU from being allegedly the No. 10 team in the league to the third-best team,” Huggins added. “Everybody’s got players and everybody can coach.
USA Today top 25
The USA Today coaches preseason top 25 unfolded Thursday with West Virginia starting at No. 10.
“That kind of shocks me, for real,” Huggins said. “With the losses we have, and Esa not playing for the first half of the year, that shocks me.”
Injury update
Among recent practice absentees, Daxter Miles has conquered a thigh injury Beetle Bolden returned from a sprained ankle, and Sagaba Konate is back from the passport office.
“We kinda needed him to go to Germany with us,” Huggins said.