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West Virginia Basketball: Why Mountaineers will be better than Pittsburgh in 2019-20

By Jason Burgess

MORGANTOWN, WV - FEBRUARY 12: The West Virginia Mountaineers student section against the TCU Horned Frogs at the WVU Coliseum on February 12, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - FEBRUARY 12: The West Virginia Mountaineers student section against the TCU Horned Frogs at the WVU Coliseum on February 12, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Tournament MVP Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 71-63 during the championship game of the 2018 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Tournament MVP Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 71-63 during the championship game of the 2018 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

2. From top to bottom the ACC is stronger than the Big 12

Another reason I believe West Virginia will have a better season than Pittsburgh this season is the strength of their respective conferences. Top to bottom I think the ACC will be stronger than the Big 12, and that seems to be a fair assumption when looking at how the two conferences are represented in preseason polls and bracketology efforts.

Polls that have been released for summer reading have been pretty consistent with four teams from the ACC, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, and Virginia all within the top 15 and three teams from the Big 12, Baylor, Texas Tech and Kansas, with the latter two the only ones in the top 15.

Preseason bracket projections have the conferences closer, with both the ACC and Big 12 getting six or seven bids. An examination of the seeding shows a little more of a gap. Among the ACC teams projected to make the tournament, I have seen no more than two seeded No. 9 or higher, while the Big 12 has seen as many as four of their teams as a No. 9 or higher.

Lastly, I believe this West Virginia team is closer to being competitive with the middle of the Big 12 than the Panthers are with the middle of the ACC. Pittsburgh will be better but they have a bigger competitive gap to close than the Mountaineers.

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