Bob Huggins on Big 12 Basketball in 2023: ‘It’s the Best That It’s Ever Been’
West Virginia is a good basketball team. But in the Big 12, good isn’t enough. The Mountaineers sit in eighth place in the conference, but as of now, are in the NCAA Tournament, at least according to Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.
Head Coach Bob Huggins spoke about the level of competition in the Big 12 conference this year to CollegeHoopsToday saying, “Since we’ve been in the league, it’s the best that it’s ever been. From top to bottom, it’s unbelievable. There used to be a team or two at the bottom that you could definitely beat, not this year.”
Because of the spectacular teams in the conference this year, every single week in Big 12 play there is an opportunity to earn a key victory that can propel your program toward the NCAA Tournament.
While the Mountaineers are currently sitting at 4-7 in the conference, their four wins have all been decent to major wins. West Virginia is fresh off of a 76-71 victory over 11th-ranked Iowa State, which stacks up with their 74-65 win over the 17th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs earlier in the season as the Mountaineers’ crowning achievement on the schedule.
Huggins continued by saying that coaching in the Big 12 is, “brutal.” He then mentioned the challenge of traveling all over the nation to play and in 2024, things will only get harder. “It’s harder for us because of the travel,” Huggins said ahead of Saturday’s game with Texas. “It’s been that way for a long time. Next year, we’re going to have to get on a plane and go to Provo to play BYU. It’s just the way it is for us in this league.”
Huggins and company have a tough match-up on Saturday playing the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin, before heading to Waco to face off against Scott Drew and Baylor.
Saturday’s game tips off at 11 AM CST in Austin on ESPN.
