Big 12 vs. SEC: WVU’s matchup against No. 15 Auburn could tell a lot about the two leagues

MORGANTOWN — If the computer metrics are right, then the final (for now) Big 12-SEC Challenge pits the top two conferences in the country in battle.

The contract between the two leagues is complete after this season, and the SEC will begin a challenge series against the ACC next season.

WVU’s role this season is host No. 15 Auburn (16-4, 6-2 SEC) at noon Saturday. It will be the Mountaineers’ fifth Top 25 opponent this season, and WVU (12-8, 2-6 Big 12) is projected as a slight favorite.

WVU STATS

Which brings up the first of many interesting points in the struggle of basketball-conference supremacy: How can the ninth-place team in the Big 12 standings be the favorite against the fourth-place team in the SEC that is ranked 15th in the country?

“You know, but you don’t,” is how WVU guard Seth Wilson begins his case for how difficult a Big 12 schedule is. “It’s one of those things you hear about when you’re watching basketball. You see the Big 12 has got this, this and this, but then you get out there on the floor and you’re actually in it, it’s like, ‘O.K., this is for real.’ ”

It’s off Wilson’s words we begin to dive into the numbers.

In the current NET rankings, the SEC, Big East, ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences all have at least two schools ranked 100th or below.

The Big 12 has no one below No. 75 Texas Tech.

The SEC has more teams ranked in the top five of the AP Top 25 (No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee), but the Big 12 has more ranked teams (No. 5 Kansas State, No. 9 Kansas, No. 10 Texas, No. 11 TCU, No. 12 Iowa State and No. 17 Baylor) than any other conference in the country.

“It’s a hard league,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “The numbers tell you it is far and away the hardest league. What all the people who come up with the numbers continue to say is you could pretty much fill the top five spots with all Big 12 teams and conceivably more than that. I think other people ought to worry about playing against the people in our league, not vice versa.”

If you want to go by NCAA tournament projections, the Big Ten has got both leagues beat, with nine teams currently predicted in the field.

The flip side is to take a look at the head-to-head, which brings us to the challenge series in itself.

While Big 12 schools have combined for a 48-41 record in the series that dates back to 2013-14 season, the SEC has won the last two challenges.

The Big East-Big 12 Battle have ended in 5-5 ties the last two seasons.

The difference in Huggins’ eye, though, is a challenge series is but a glimpse on a particular day, as opposed to taking a team from the Big East or SEC and putting them through the gauntlet of a Big 12 schedule and then seeing what their record is.

“Let them go through what we go through on a year-by-year basis,” Huggins said. “We’re playing the best teams in the country year by year. Say what you want about any another league, there’s not a Kansas in the other leagues.

“You go back and look at the strength of what our people do in the NCAA tournament, no, it’s not close. Let them do it. Let them try. I’ve coached in those other leagues, it’s not the same.”

As for the individual matchup, the Tigers are coming off a 79-63 loss against Texas A&M, and their victory over then-No. 13 Arkansas is the only Top 25 opponent Auburn has faced so far.

Standing in the middle is 6-foot-10 forward Johni Broome, who Huggins remembers from the 2021 NCAA tournament.

Broome was a freshman then at Morehead State and finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in the first-round game. He transferred to Auburn this season and is averaging 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

“They’ve got a great post player, who gave us fits as a freshman. He was really good at Morehead,” Huggins said. “They’re really athletic.”

Auburn hangs its hat on defense. Opponents have made just 38.9% of its shots, which is 11th in the nation.

The other games in the series:

No. 2 Alabama at Oklahoma
Texas Tech at LSU
No. 12 Iowa State at Missouri
No. 11 TCU at Mississippi State
Arkansas at No. 17 Baylor
No. 10 Texas at No. 4 Tennessee
Florida at No. 5 Kansas State
No. 9 Kansas at Kentucky
Mississippi at Oklahoma State

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