College Basketball
NET Rankings Open with WVU Basketball in Unfavorable Position
Despite steadily rising back up on the KenPom ratings, the NCAA’s initial Net Rankings have WVU basketball in an unfavorable position at the start of December.
The now 6-2 Mountaineers are all the way down the list at No. 103, sitting far below their KenPom placement of 69.
West Virginia is coming off a 70-38 win on Sunday, granted against Mercyhurst. Ross Hodge’s team is likely being penalized for their lack of a truly quality win and a couple recent losses from a rough trip to Charleston, S.C. in the Charleston Classic.
WVU did score a blowout win over rival Pitt early in November, but the Panthers have since been exposed and far behind the Mountaineers in every ranking.
Aside from resume and the metrics, another factor that could be hurting West Virginia perception wise is their inconsistent offense.
Hodge is looking for more offensive consistency as WVU has its full roster available.
“You’re not always gonna have everybody playing great on the same night, but if you can just get a little more consistency across the board, then I think you can really start seeing just the evolution of an offense and a little more flow and a little more comfort out there,” Hodge said after the win on Sunday.
Hodge noted that the defense played well on Sunday, but the offense will need time to reach its potential.
WVU men’s basketball head coach Ross Hodge leans over to talk to his staff during a timeout in the 2025 Backyard Brawl against Pitt. (WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose)
“Everybody wants instant microwavable like results, you know what I mean? I’m not just like coach speaking, but it’ll take this group a little while in particular. That’s why our defense has gotta anchor us and you know, we’ll be finding ourselves and finding our rhythm and the more they play together, the better they will be,” Hodge said.
WVU basketball will take the court again at 7 p.m. on Wednsesday when it hosts Coppin State at the Hope Coliseum.
Find more coverage of WVU basketball at WV Sports Now.
