WVU basketball: Poor 2013 team now the same as Louisville

The WVU basketball team only won 13 games in 2013, which was the lowest total since Bob Huggins took over as head coach.

Those Mountaineers missed the NCAA Tournament, were bounced from the Big 12 Tournament in the first round and did not win a national championship. Apparently, Louisville didn’t either.

On Tuesday, the Louisville Cardinals were ordered to vacate their 2013 championship, according to SI.com. Former head coach Rick Pitino was at the forefront of an NCAA scandal and just hearing his name makes some WVU basketball shudder.

The SI.com article states that the Cardinals will have to vacate wins from 2011-15, also. That totals 123 supposed victories. In the two years of that span that West Virginia and Louisville were still in the Big East, the WVU basketball team went 1-2 against the Cardinals.

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Unlike the current set up in the Big 12, every team did not play each other twice in the final years of the Big East. The WVU basketball team beat then-No. 11 U of L, 72-70, on March 5, 2011 at the WVU Coliseum. Earlier that season, the Cardinals were victorious at home by a slim 55-54 margin.

In 2012, the last meeting between the two teams, the Cardinals beat the Mountaineers, 77-74. That game was at the WVU Coliseum and the student section notoriously gave Pitino a hard time. There is certainly no love lost between the Cardinals and Mountaineers, so for some seeing the program in such shambles is a bit rewarding.

Even though the players and fans may remember winning a national title on the court, it is no longer recognized by the NCAA. The WVU basketball team doesn’t have a championship in 2013, either, so Louisville is now like hundreds of other college basketball programs. The all-time series between the two teams is 9-4, in favor of the Cardinals, according to WVUstats.com. However, that mark should have two wins subtracted after this recent bombshell was dropped by the NCAA.

Next: All-time WVU basketball team

So many fans and other administrators had nothing to do with the NCAA scandal. It’s a shame that these people have to be lumped in with leaders who made horrible decisions. But in the world of college sports, and in life, the negative actions of a few can have a profound impact on many.