MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia has two wins the previous 13 times it faced a No. 1-ranked team, games that included finishes that became mythical and saw players and coaches who would become legends.
Names like John Wooden, Lew Alcindor and Jerry Tarkanian once squared up against the Mountaineers. So did Connecticut’s Richard Hamilton and Rudy Gay, as well as Kentucky’s Karl Anthony-Towns.
In just two of those matchups did the Mountaineers upset No. 1 as an unranked team: 1966 against Duke and 1983 against UNLV.
Which sets up what could possibly be the Mountaineers’ longest odds against a No.