WVU basketball projected to finish 6th in Big 12 coaches poll

Big 12 coaches ranked West Virginia basketball sixth in the conference in the new preseason coaches poll. Kansas, which has won eight straight Big 12 championships and which advanced to the finals of the NCAA Tournament last season, is an easy pick for first place, followed by Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State, and the Mountaineers. After that, it's Oklahoma, Iowa State, Texas Tech and TCU.

That's not a great ranking for a Mountaineers team making its debut after leaving a tougher basketball conference in the Big East, but WVU will be without star forward Kevin Jones (who averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds per game and is now with the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Truck Bryant (who averaged 17 points per game). But as one would expect, head coach Bob Huggins doesn't sound worried.

Expectations for West Virginia overall have been scattered from across the nation, but Huggins isn’t concerned.

"I really don’t care," he said. "I think we’ve been anywhere from top 25 in the country to not being in the top 40. But the advantage I have is that I get to watch these guys every day.

WVU begins its season at midnight November 13 at Gonzaga.