Busting Brackets
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Big 12 Basketball: Big XII Preseason Team Power Rankings

By Matt Ostrowski

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Feb 24, 2015; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Daxter Miles Jr. (4) leaps in the air to keep the ball from going out of bounds during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

5. West Virginia Mountaineers

I’m putting West Virginia fifth, but in all honesty, they could finish anywhere between second and seventh. Sure, they’re losing Juwan Staten, who did everything for them offensively last season. But at the same time, they just have some young guys that I really like. Jevon Carter isn’t a huge offensive threat, but he’s an absolute perfect fit for Bob Huggins’ pressure defense, an absolute hound on the defensive end. Daxter Miles should blossom into one of the better guards in the Big 12. Devin Williams is already one of the better post scorers, but needs to cut down on his fouling to keep him in the game for a longer period of time.

Just like last year, they’ll run into trouble when teams break their pressure, because they really can’t defend in the halfcourt, and still have no shot blockers. This was a major problem last year since their perimeter defense was suspect, but Staten was the primary offender, and he’s gone. And I really do think that there’s room for them to improve on the offensive end with the up-side of Miles and Williams.

West Virginia will win the conference if…

one of their guards develops into an efficient, double-digit scorer. Miles is the obvious candidate. But if Carter can just become a decent shooter, say 38% from the three-point line, he could reach the double-digit threshold.

Regardless of who it is, someone will have to take the pressure off Williams inside. Defenses consistently crashed in on him and Staten last season because nobody else was even close to a threat, and the team as a whole shot 31% from three-point range, good for 291st in the country. Hopefully, Carter, Miles, and company shot a lot of jumpers this offseason.

Next: 6. Texas Longhorns

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