Although the West Virginia Mountaineers are 10.5 point underdogs and have never won at Allen Fieldhouse, today’s contest against the Kansas Jayhawks is a very, very winnable game. The Mountaineers are a bigger, deeper, more proven team than the Jayhawks and really have every advantage…except for the fact that it’s at The Phog and officials seemingly get hypnotized into making terrible calls for any opposing team that enters.
When a very talented West Virginia team featuring Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles and Sabaga Konate visited Allen Fieldhouse two seasons ago, the discrepancy in foul shots attempted and made was so inequitable, so unjust and unfair, that it was difficult to ignore. While Kansas shot 26-35 from the foul line, the Mountaineers were only 1-2 for the entire game. There has never been such a disparity in foul shots between two teams in college basketball history.
Despite West Virginia’s recent win against then-#2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on a neutral court and its 11-1 record with the most most challenging strength of schedule in the nation, the Mountaineers are once again being shown a shocking lack of respect going into today’s game. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives Kansas an 83.2% chance of winning and West Virginia only a 16.8% chance of pulling the “upset.”
The bottom is that Kansas isn’t a better team than the Mountaineers and they certainly aren’t 10.5 points better than them. This West Virginia team is capable of beating any team anywhere and today’s game will simply be another opportunity to prove that they are one of the toughest, deepest, best-coached teams in the nation.
WVU – 74
Kansas – 68
