Nobody—I mean, nobody—expected West Virginia to accomplish what they accomplished the previous year—win nine games and place fourth in the Big 12 Conference. And you would think that a team that produces a lot on both sides of the ball would be receiving more national attention after winning five of their previous six games.

Perhaps I’m a little early in the process, but I already have a feeling that West Virginia won’t be seen as a strong Big 12 contender or appear in many news publications’ preseason Top 25 rankings. The Mountaineers were two spots away from making the cut when ESPN released their post-spring top 25 on Monday morning. In all fairness, that’s a higher ranking than I anticipated they would assign them. However, the further into the summer we go, the less likely I think that will be the consensus.