The Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll was announced on Friday, and West Virginia was picked to finish ninth.
The Mountaineers are coming off a tumultuous offseason which included the resignation of longtime head coach Bob Huggins and the interim head coach title placed on Josh Eilert.
Eilert and his staff have nine new players on their roster this year.
The Mountaineers in 2022-2023 had a first round exit against Maryland in the NCAA Tournament. West Virginia lost all five starters from last year’s team due to graduation or the transfer portal.
Kansas was first, receiving 12 first-place votes and totaled 168 points. Houston received the other two first-place votes and compiled 153 points. Texas (third), Baylor (fourth) and TCU (fifth) rounded out the top five. The remaining spots were Kansas State (sixth), Iowa State (seventh), Texas Tech (eighth), West Virginia (ninth), Oklahoma State (10th), Cincinnati (11th), Oklahoma (12th), BYU (13th) and UCF (14th).
