Bracketology 2021: Ohio State, USC, and St. John’s among big winners
By Joey Loose
West Virginia
As we have seen all season long, there are some potent teams in the Big 12. None of them have packed quite the punch as Baylor, but there’s no discounting the overall strength and depth of this league. Sure, teams like Iowa State and Kansas State have really scuffled, but the Big 12 is a powerful league and it’s no question there’s at least one winner each week.
West Virginia avoided a major scare earlier in the week, scoring a 4-point win at Iowa State to get back on track. On Saturday, Miles McBride had 29 points and 8 assists in the Mountaineer’s big win over #23 Kansas. The pair of wins put the Mountaineers back on track after a loss to Florida last week.
The Mountaineers are now 13-5, 6-3 in Big 12 play. It’s a close race for 2nd in the Big 12 but the Mountaineers hold that spot behind Baylor at the moment. There’s still plenty of basketball to be played, but they are working their way towards a top 4 seed.
One thing working for (or against) the Mountaineers is that there are still a number of opportunities on their schedule to improve their standing. They still haven’t played Baylor and have rematches against Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech looming. They’ve already beaten the Red Raiders once, but don’t have a slew of impressive wins on their schedule; this week helped change that, even if Kansas isn’t their usual dominant self.