Huggins Keeps Team Informed On Tourney Chances - WVU Football, WVU Basketball, News - Mountaineer Sports

To say this basketball season has gone well for the West Virginia University Mountaineers could not be further from the truth. The team and its Head Coach, Bob Huggins, thought they would be sitting in much better shape related to an NCAA tournament berth.

The truth is the Mountaineers are currently on the outside looking in. WVU has an 8-7 overall record and is 1-2 in the Big 12. Perhaps the most frustrating part of this season to date is the fact that the Mountaineers had a second half lead in five of their seven losses, but could not hold on for the win.

The good news is time is still on their side. The Mountaineers have 16 regular season games remaining before the Big 12 tournament begins in March. They also have some of the "key" numbers on their side.

According to realtimerpi.com, WVU is No. 83 in the RPI rankings. They have also played the 20^th toughest scheduled in the country.

Bob Huggins always keeps his teams informed of where they stand in relation to the NCAA tournament. This year is no different.

"Every time we go in for film, he has the next three teams we play," Freshman Guard Eron Harris said. "He has their RPI, he has their rank in the nation and he is saying how big the game is in terms of making it into the tournament."

Huggins told them how big the game against Kansas State was. Beating a ranked team would have catapulted them into a much better spot in the RPI.

"This was a big game," Harris said. "We needed this game. I'm not saying our chances are done, but if we would have won this game that would have boosted our chances."

"He is keeping us informed on the importance of every game we play, as far as ranks and how high teams are ranked and how low teams are ranked," Senior Forward Dom Rutledge said. "We're basically supposed to win the games we are supposed to win and pull out the games like this."

There are plenty of opportunities to improve their RPI ranking. The next one will come Wednesday night at Iowa State. The Cyclones currently sit at No. 48 in the RPI.