Game-by-Game Predictions of West Virginia's Big 12 Schedule

Predicting a strong first year in the Big 12 for Darian DeVries.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

We still have a few more days before the West Virginia Mountaineers return to the floor, but it's not too early to take a peek at the road ahead.

With non-conference action now in the books, WVU will begin league play on New Year's Eve at Kansas. How will the Mountaineers fare in Lawrence? What about the other 19 conference matchups? I've got some thoughts.

Game-by-game predictions

12/31 at Kansas - Lose

1/4 vs. Oklahoma State - Win

1/7 vs. Arizona - Win

1/12 at Colorado - Win

1/15 at Houston - Lose

1/18 vs. Iowa State - Lose

1/21 vs. Arizona State - Win

1/25 at Kansas State - Win

1/29 vs. Houston - Lose

2/2 at Cincinnati - Lose

2/5 at TCU - Win

2/8 vs. Utah - Win

2/11 vs. BYU - Lose

2/15 at Baylor - Lose

2/19 vs. Cincinnati - Win

2/22 at Texas Tech - Win

2/25 vs. TCU - Win

3/1 at BYU - Lose

3/4 at Utah - Lose

3/8 vs. UCF - Win

What the prediction means for WVU's Tournament chances

Going 11-9 would put West Virginia at 20-11 on the season, which, in my opinion, is way more than enough to get an at-large bid. This probably puts them in the neighborhood of a strong No. 6 seed, possibly a No. 5, depending on the strength of some of those wins I predicted.

Now, I must state that this prediction is based on the assumption that Tucker DeVries will be back for the start of Big 12 play, along with forward Amani Hansberry.

At the beginning of the season, I predicted a 16-15 record, but that got thrown out the window with a surprisingly strong non-conference where they went 9-2. I may be a little too optimistic here, pegging them to win 20 games in the regular season, but the conference schedule, although tough, is manageable.

I really like what I've seen from this team defensively, and if they're able to be more consistent on the offensive end, reaching the 20-win mark is certainly attainable.

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