WVU basketball exceeded expectations this season under first year head coach Ross Hodge, but they didn't get quite enough done in the regular season to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Currently, the Mountaineers are sitting on the fringe of the bubble discussion for the Big Dance, and making it into the field is going to require at least a few wins this weekend, if not an outright Big 12 Tournament Championship.
But that's a tall task for a team that is 18-13 on the season and has struggled fairly consistently with putting together winning streaks on the season, particularly when considering how tough the top tier of talent in the Big 12 is to beat. And that is reflected in the opening odds which have been released for the Big 12 Tournament.
The Mountaineers are significant long shots in Kansas City, as they are currently listed at +25000 odds to win the Big 12 Tournament, according to Vegas oddsmakers. The team with the next best odds? Cincinnati, who are currently listed at a much, much more optimistic line of +8000. BYU, who will have to play the Mountaineers to earn the conference tournament crown, are list at +4500 odds.
This shows that the Mountaineers, who need to win multiple games in Kansas City to make it to the NCAA Tournament, aren't even going to be favored to win one game in the Big 12 Tournament. So if the Mountaineers are hoping to go dancing, they're going to hav to beat the odds to do it.