NCAA Basketball: Preview of the 2018-19 Big 12/SEC Challenge

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 21: K.J. Lawson #13 of the Kansas Jayhawks controls the ball as Talen Horton-Tucker #11 and Nick Weiler-Babb #1 of the Iowa State Cyclones defend during the game at Allen Fieldhouse on January 21, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

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KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 15: Admiral Schofield #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers talks to head coach Rick Barnes during a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 15, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 106-87. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /

West Virginia vs #1 Tennessee

The new number one team in the country, Tennessee has looked very, very good from the start of the season to the finish.

Headlined by the best 1-2 punch in the country of Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, the Volunteers look every bit of their number one ranking.

However, they’ve struggled in their last two games, trailing late in games to Alabama and Vanderbilt, and while they came out on top, Tennessee has struggled at times against teams that they should be beating by a fairly wide margin.

West Virginia is the exact opposite. Easily the most disappointing team in the Big 12, the Mountaineers are far, far away from consideration for the NCAA tournament. Despite knocking off Kansas at home on Saturday, West Virginia has just one win in conference play, and is merely just a shell of past West Virginia teams.

Although West Virginia has been pretty bad, they’re catching Tennessee at the right time. The Vols appear to be slumping, and even though they’ll be on the road, I would fully expect West Virginia to put up a fight.

Tennessee will win this game if Williams and Schofield play to their player-of-the-year potential. I think that they will, but don’t let the rankings fool you. This game is going to be much, much closer than expected.

Prediction: Tennessee 73, West Virginia 69

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