KenPom, an advanced college basketball metric system, came out with their initial rankings of teams ahead of the 2024-2025 season on Monday.
West Virginia was ranked No. 87 overall after finishing last season ranked No. 144.
The Mountaineers are projected to go 13-16 overall, including 6-14 in Big 12 play, according to KenPom.
Heading into the season, the Big 12 has eight teams ranked in the top 21, including No. 1 overall Houston, No. 6 Kansas, No. 7 Iowa State, and No. 8 Arizona, all in the top eight.
WVU's first six conference games feature four games against these teams, including on the road at Kansas, home against Arizona, on the road against Houston, and home against Iowa State.
On WVU's non-conference slate, there are six games where the Mountaineers have at least a 62 percent chance to get a win. They are all home games and feature their games against Robert Morris, Massachusets, Iona, Georgetown, North Carolina Central, Bethune Cookman and Mercyhurst. The game against Georgetown is their lowest probability out of the bunch to win, with a 62 percent chance to get the win.
Of note, two games on WVU's non-conference slate are not listed yet because the opponent is still unknown due to the tournament-style Battle 4 Atlantis happening the week of Thanksgiving.
There are 13 total games on WVU's schedule the Mountaineers are given less than a 30 percent chance to win. They are Pittsburgh (23%), Gonzaga (18%), Kansas (10%), Arizona (26%), Houston (6%), Iowa State (26%), Kansas State (26%), Houston (17%), Cincinnati (16%), TCU (29%), Baylor (12%), Texas Tech (14%) and BYU (18%).
Out of all Big 12 teams, West Virginia has the second-lowest rating in the initial rankings, with Oklahoma State (No. 89) being the only team ranked lower than the Mountaineers.
Last season, head coach Darian DeVries' Drake squad finished No. 53 overall per KenPom. They had the second-best opponent offensive rebounding percentage, and they had nine different metrics rank in the top 50 on offense.
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