West Virginia Mountaineers vs Kansas Jayhawks Predictions: Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals

The Jayhawks will look to bounce back against after their loss in the regular season finale.

The Big 12 tournament is always a bit of a quandary for the Kansas Jayhawks, since they always want to win when they play. But often, the results won't make any difference for tournament seeding, and we have seen plenty of Kansas teams lose in the Big 12 Tournament and go on to have good runs in the NCAA Tournament. And their opponent in the game doesn't really have much at stake either, as the West Virginia Mountaineers are a lock to make the field.

So how much fire will the Jayhawks show in this first game? Bill Self mentioned in Wednesday's media availability that Kevin McCullar was dealing with back spasms, so will he be able to contribute? And will the Jayhawks need even need him to be able to move on? Our crew shares their thoughts below.

Do you disagree with our assessment? Make sure you read them all and then hop over to the Discord or on Twitter to share your own thoughts.

Kyle Davis

Check out our West Virginia Preview for Kyle's full breakdown and prediction.

Lucas Murphy

The Kansas Jayhawks will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in their opening round of the Big 12 championship tournament. This is the start of the big stage where games are played in Kansas City and I expect the Jayhawks will step up to the stage. I think the Jayhawks will be prepared to play in this game and I believe they will win with authority.

Kansas 78, Texas 68.

Derek Noll

After the dismal performance (Jalen Wilson not withstanding) against Texas, the Jayhawks will have something to prove in KC. A fully rested and focused KU team awaits West Virginia and the game won’t be nearly as close as the recent game at Allen Fieldhouse. Jayhawks win going away.

Kansas 80, West Virginia 62.

Brendan Dzwierzynski

This is a much different (read: better) Kansas team than the one that lost three straight games back in January, so I have a hard time seeing the Jayhawks sliding in March after that ugly loss to Texas last weekend. KU already has two wins over West Virginia, and to be frank, it should be just as fine as long as it doesn’t allow Erik Stevenson to shoot lights out for 40 minutes again.

Kansas 80, West Virginia 71.

Andy Mitts

I was all ready to pick the Jayhawks big in this one, especially after the dreadful offensive showing from the Mountaineers in last night's games. But then news broke this morning that Bill Self has been hospitalized and Kevin McCullar likely isn't playing With that extra info (the advantage of being the one to put the article together), it's easy to see a path that leads to a Kansas loss.  The good news is that Kansas is good enough without McCullar on the floor to win, but they will need to get some positive play from Pettiford and Yesufu to make up the difference. And of course Gradey Dick can't have another off night. But most importantly, the Jayhawks need to rest up and make sure that they are at full strength next week, whether Bill Self has fully recovered or not.

Kansas 85, West Virginia 81.

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