MORGANTOWN — There are any number of reasons today as to why the WVU men’s basketball team could struggle against No. 3 Kansas on Saturday.
Certainly recent history — not to mention current trends and a boatload of stats — suggest that the Mountaineers will indeed do just that.
All of those figures are like mathematical equations found on a slip of paper, and we all know the cliché that games are not played on paper.
They do not factor in the raw emotions the Mountaineers (10-4, 0-2 Big 12) will have as a team with its collective backs against the wall.
They do not factor in the momentum that can be created by a sold-out WVU Coliseum.
And so it is here we’ll say that an upset of Kansas (13-1, 2-0) this weekend is very possible, because that just seems to be the M.O. of one head coach Bob Huggins and the WVU teams he’s coached.
Just when you begin to think they don’t have a chance and that the season is about to take the most sour of turns, that’s when Huggins and company generally stand up and find a way to say, “Got ya.”
There is also the possibility Saturday’s game goes the other way; that the Jayhawks come in and score about 50 points in the paint and WVU once again struggles to shoot the ball and play good defense.
If that’s the case, we strongly plead with Huggins to fight the urge to say the three words he’s used many times in the past as a sort of way to rally the WVU fan base: “I’ll fix it.”
When he first used it back in 2013, WVU fans got on board in droves, as if Huggins was handing out free ice cream.
He used it again a year later, when WVU struggled to get to the NIT, and then the Mountaineers ripped off four consecutive “Press” Virginia seasons that included three trips to the Sweet 16 and three trips to the Big 12 tournament championship game. During that run, Huggins had indeed fixed it.
Then came the awful 2018-19 season that saw a school-record 21 losses and another “I’ll fix it” from Huggins, and everyone jumped on board again, because of the success WVU had over the previous four seasons.
In 2023, things are different, and Huggins has to realize this.
We believe he knows this, because of the way Huggins often passionately speaks of the WVU fans and how his players fail to realize just how important their results mean to them.
Here’s the thing, though: This is just not a WVU basketball deal when it comes to the mood of the overall fan base.
It’s very much a football deal, too, and for the last few years, the fan base has been spoon-fed another rally cry, to “Trust the Climb.”
Except there’s been no climb. There’s been no big bowl games, no top-25 rankings and very little to be proud of.
Throw in last season’s disappointing 16-17 season by the men’s basketball team, and it seems like such a long time ago that there was anything for this fan base to get on board with.
It’s not a fan base — at the moment — ready to throw in the towel, as evident by the sold-out crowd that is expected to be in the Coliseum on Saturday.
It is a fan base, though, that is tired and nearing exhaustion of catchphrases and promises that are no guarantees for better things down the road.
Back in 2013 and 2019, “I’ll fix it” worked, in part, because the football program was exciting, with guys like Geno Smith and Will Grier throwing touchdown passes all over the place.
There were other reasons for the fan base to be excited then, and so when Huggins said he would fix the basketball side, fans could get behind his words.
That’s what’s different in 2023. WVU football is now a mess. College sports have changed, too, with the transfer portal being open for business in a big way and NIL opportunities having created free agency in the college game.
It’s already a major chunk of frustration to swallow when you’re a fan base of a school that simply can’t afford to go out and get the top prospects and transfers, because they’re asking for enough money to buy houses and cars — probably both.
WVU just happens to be one of these schools. It simply can’t go out and write enough checks for top recruits.
Which is fine. It’s a blue-collar state with fans who enjoy when WVU wins with athletes who also work hard and aren’t spoiled brats.
There just hasn’t been too much winning going on lately in either football or basketball.
Huggins isn’t blind to any of that, and so he’s got to know, if things don’t go his way against Kansas, that it’s past time for catchphrases.
Or maybe steal one from Nike, and just do it, because we’re not exactly sure if the WVU fan base is one that will still get excited by someone’s words anymore.
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