College Basketball
Way-Too-Early National Poll Shows Confidence WVU Basketball for 2026-27
Even though the 2025-26 season just ended and rosters are far from set for the new year, a recent college basketball list shows national confidence in Ross Hodge’s Mountaineers.
Fox Sports’ Andy Katz included West Virginia on his Way-Too-Early Power 36 that he released on April 9. WVU clocks in at No. 35, just barely making the cut.
So regardless of missing the NCAA Tournament this past season, the third year in a row for the program, West Virginia expected to break that drought in Hodge’s second year and even be among the top 40 teams in the country.
No preseason prediction guarantees actual success on the court, but Katz including WVU shows a belief in the receiving effort so far and an expectation of landing quality talent in the transfer portal.
Hodge capped off his first year in Morgantown by leading West Virginia to a College Basketball Crown title on Easter Sunday. WVU defeated Oklahoma 89-82 in overtime to secure the championship.
Despite falling shy of the goal of making the NCAA Tournament, Hodge explained why winning the Crown will lay a foundation for future success.
“Nothing ever comes bad from winning. Winning can be contagious in a lot of ways, and use these experiences to hopefully put you in position to one day be playing in the game tomorrow night (the National Championship Game),” Hodge said.
Ross Hodge Puts Final Bow on First WVU Season, Hypes Up Future
In Hodge’s first season, West Virginia finished the season 21-14 overall with a 9-10 Big 12 record, including 0-1 in the conference tournament. Even though Hodge is only responsible for one season so far, WVU basketball is now in the midst of the program’s first three-year drought without an NCAA Tournament appearance since failing to get in from 1999-2004.
It’s worth noting the 2005 Mountaineers broke that drought and then reached the Elite Eight.
Find more coverage of the WVU basketball program at WV Sports Now.
For a related story, WV Sports Now’s Luke Blaine explains what winning the Crown means fore WVU basketball.
