Initial Thoughts on WVU's Non-Conference Schedule

The Mountaineers should have a strong start to the 2021-22 season.

Thursday morning, West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons announced the 2021-22 men's basketball non-conference schedule.

The Mountaineers will kick the season off by hosting Oakland on November 9th and roughly a month later will host UConn in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The Backyard Brawl with Pitt returns after the two did not meet this past season. 

At first glance, this seems to be a pretty favorable schedule for West Virginia. Of course, we are still uncertain of whether or not guards Miles McBride or Sean McNeil will return to school but nonetheless, there are several winnable games on the table. 

In the Charleston Classic, West Virginia will face either Boise State, Clemson, Elon, Marquette, Ole Miss, St. Bonaventure, or Temple. This is a pretty strong field for an in-season tournament and there's no guarantee that the Mountaineers will come out on top. Clemson lost some quality pieces to graduation but Brad Brownell always does a good job of putting together a solid team. Shaka Smart left Texas this offseason for Marquette so the Mountaineers will have some familiarity with their playing style. St. Bonaventure and Boise State will also pose some challenges as well. 

It'll be interesting to see who the Mountaineers draw in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Typically, they try to make the matchups based on each team's success from the previous year. Under that criteria, I would expect the opponent to be Arkansas (25-7), Tennessee (18-9), Missouri (16-10), or LSU (19-10).

Of the nine games that are not included in the Charleston Classic or the Big 12/SEC Challenge, at worst, WVU should go 7-2. If I'm being honest, 8-1 is very attainable. 

Nov. 9 vs Oakland (12-18, 10-10)

Nov. 12 vs Pitt (10-12, 6-10)

Nov. 18-21 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic

Nov. 26 vs Eastern Kentucky (22-7, 15-5)

Nov. 30 vs Bellarmine (14-8, 10-3)

Dec. 4 vs Radford (15-12, 12-6)

Dec. 8 vs Connecticut (15-8, 11-6)

Dec. 12 vs Kent State (15-8), 12-6)

Dec. 18 @ UAB (22-7, 13-5)

Dec. 22 vs Youngstown State (15-12, 9-11)

Jan. 29 Big 12/SEC Challenge TBD

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