What is West Virginia's Strength of Schedule Entering the 2024-25 Season?

Examining the difficult slate for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia University forward Tucker DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Darian DeVries will get a pretty good taste of life in the Big 12 right away as the schedule makers did him no favors by scheduling West Virginia's first conference game in Phog Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas. Welcome to the big stage, Darian.

But before the Mountaineers even begin their gauntlet of Big 12 play, they'll have some pretty stiff challenges in non-conference play where they'll see the likes of Pitt, Gonzaga, a scrappy UMass team, and two other quality teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis - Indiana or Louisville and then Arizona, Davidson, Oklahoma or Providence.

According to the ESPN Basketball Power Index (BPI), the Mountaineers have the 22nd toughest schedule in all of college basketball.

“I’ve seen the schedule, it’s a good one," said Darian DeVries last month. "But again that’s why we’re here. We’re excited about it and we’re excited about the challenges in front of us. It’s a very good schedule, both non-conference and league play. We just continue to get ourselves right, put ourselves in the best position to go compete and try to win games.”

As challenging as the Big 12 is, it is so respected that having a record a game or two above .500 could be enough to get you into the NCAA Tournament. Every win in this league is a quality win. As Bob Huggins stated for years, there are no gimmes in the Big 12. Zero bottom feeders. Everyone is capable of winning, and with the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah, things are even tougher.

If the Mountaineers can take care of business in non-conference play and just be competitive in the Big 12, the resume may be strong enough to punch their ticket to the big dance.

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