The West Virginia Mountaineers have just one roster spot remaining to fill, and the Mountaineers are set to enter the summer as one of the big winners this offseason in all of college basketball.
Ross Hodge has helped transform WVU's roster in many facets, and the Mountaineers currently have a Top 15 transfer portal class and a Top 15 high school recruiting class. So with this top-caliber roster and Hodge entering his second season as the program's head coach, what exactly can this team accomplish?
Well, let's start with this: we probably ought not assume this is going to be a Big 12 Championship type of team. It looks a lot more plausible than it did before the team's offseason haul, but seventh-place to first-place in a big leap to make. Is it impossible? No. But is it likely, given the current state of several other programs in the league? Also no.
That being said, the ceiling seems higher than it was last year. Which is good news, because it must be higher than it was last year. The three-game win streak and College Basketball Crown title put a neat bow on the end of the season and took some of the sour taste out of an average 18-14 finish that saw WVU miss the NCAA Tournament for the third season in a row.
But this team, across the board, is packed with more talented players at both in regards to the high school prospects as well as the portal prospects, and the rankings reflect that. So whereas last season, I entered with expectations that the Mountaineers might be a bubble team but nothing more, this year, it feels more like the ceiling shouldn't be considered potential NCAA Tournament team.
This go-round, the Mountaineers have the talent to garner a Top 5 finish in the league and feeling secure in at least an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, particularly with recent developments expanding the field to 76 teams. Anything less than that will be failing to deliver on the caliber of the assembled talent.
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