Non-Conference Wins Not Moving the Needle Much for WVU Basketball

WVU basketball continues to rack up non-conference wins, but they aren’t doing much for the Mountaineers’ national rankings.

Saturday’s 84-61 win over Bethune-Cookman has barely moved the needle for the Mountaineers, who are 8-2 with one non-conference game left to play.

Javon Small led the Mountaineers with 27 points against BCU as freshman Jonathan Powell scored 14 in his first career start in place of the injured Tucker DeVries.

West Virginia’s final non-conference game will likely also not create many waves as the Mountaineers take on Mercyhurst this Sunday. The Lakers (3-7) are one of the lowest-ranked teams in the country this year, coming in at No. 356 in KenPom and No. 342 in the NET Rankings. Sunday’s game tips off at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

KenPom

WVU basketball made the most headway in the KenPom Rankings this week, clocking in at No. 48 on Monday, up eight spots compared to this time last week.

No. 48 is the highest KenPom Ranking the Mountaineers have achieved so far this season. It’s a far cry from the No. 87 ranking they opened the season with.

Big 12 teams ahead of WVU in the rankings include Houston (No. 4), Iowa State (No. 5), Kansas (No. 10), Baylor (No. 15), Cincinnati (No. 23), Texas Tech (No. 25), Arizona (No. 31) and BYU (No. 44).

AP Top 25

For the third week in a row, the Mountaineers received votes in the AP Top 25 poll, but not enough to crack the Top 25. WVU basketball received 19 votes this week, down from the 30 votes it garnered last week.

Ranked Big 12 teams are No. 3 Iowa State, No. 8 Kansas, No. 15 Houston and No. 19 Cincinnati. Like WVU, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Arizona State all received votes.

NET Rankings

The NCAA’s Net Rankings were the least kind to WVU basketball this week as the Mountaineers actually dropped a spot to No. 32.

The Mountaineers debuted at No. 29 in the NET Rankings two weeks ago, but have fell in each new ranking. Iowa State (No. 6) is the highest-ranked Big 12 team with Houston (No. 8) just behind.

For a related story, Jonathan Powell doesn’t miss a beat in starting debut.