A Collapse That Raises Serious Questions About the Ross Hodge Hire

It was the kind of loss that forces people to start asking bigger questions — not just about the game itself, but about the direction of the entire program.

In what was clearly a must-win game, West Virginia blew a massive lead and lost to the Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball — one of the worst teams in the Big 12 Conference.

And Kansas State wasn’t even close to full strength.

The Wildcats entered the game with just 11 wins, were missing their two best players, and didn’t even have their head coach on the sideline. The atmosphere inside the arena felt closer to a practice than a Big 12 showdown.

Yet somehow, West Virginia still found a way to lose.

If you hire a guy with zero credentials and who has only ever been to the NIT, you shouldn’t be surprised by these results.

Wren Baker needs to explain this hire.

At North Texas:
19-15, NIT
27-9, NIT

How does this qualify him for a big job at #WVU? pic.twitter.com/ZiXrrgqmIc

— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) March 4, 2026

The 21–0 Run That Changed Everything

For much of the game, the Mountaineers appeared to be in control.

Then everything collapsed.

Kansas State went on a 21–0 run, flipping the entire game and eventually building a 17-point lead over a stunned West Virginia team.

Twenty-one unanswered points.

In March.

Against a team fighting for its postseason life.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it — it was flat-out embarrassing.

But the bigger issue isn’t just the loss.

It’s what this loss represents.

Ross Hodge’s Résumé Never Justified the Hire

When Wren Baker hired Ross Hodge to lead the Mountaineers, the move raised eyebrows across the college basketball world.

Not because Hodge wasn’t a respected coach.

But because his résumé simply didn’t match the size of the job.

Before arriving in Morgantown, Hodge’s head coaching experience came at North Texas Mean Green men’s basketball, where his results were solid — but far from elite.

His two seasons as a head coach looked like this:

• 19–15 — NIT appearance

• 27–9 — NIT appearance

That’s respectable.

But at a program like West Virginia — in the brutal Big 12 — respectable isn’t the standard.

There were no NCAA Tournament appearances.
No deep March runs.
No proof he could win consistently against elite competition.

And now, losses like this are exactly what critics feared.

The Standard at West Virginia Is Higher

West Virginia isn’t a rebuilding program hoping to someday compete.

This is a program that expects to fight for NCAA Tournament bids and compete with the best teams in the country.

Mountaineer fans are used to intensity, toughness, and discipline — traits that defined previous eras of the program.

But Saturday night showed none of that.

Instead, fans watched a team:

• Blow a huge lead

• Allow a 21–0 run

• Lose to an undermanned opponent

• And potentially watch their NCAA Tournament hopes disappear in the process

That kind of collapse doesn’t just happen randomly.

It reflects preparation, leadership, and culture.

Wren Baker Needs to Explain This Hire

At the end of the day, the responsibility for hiring Ross Hodge falls squarely on the shoulders of Wren Baker.

Baker believed Hodge was the right coach to lead the Mountaineers forward.

But when you lose a must-win game like this — against an 11-win team missing its best players — the questions become unavoidable.

Why was this the coach chosen to lead West Virginia?

What about his résumé suggested he was ready for one of the toughest jobs in college basketball?

Because nights like this only reinforce what skeptics said from the beginning.

If you hire a coach whose biggest accomplishments are two NIT appearances, you shouldn’t be shocked when the results look like this.

And right now, Mountaineer fans are left wondering if the program just took a step backward.