West Virginia is about to find out what year two under Ross Hodge looks like, and the early read is pretty clear: this roster has enough firepower to survive a brutal schedule and still make a serious run at March Madness.
The Mountaineers open the 2026-27 season Monday night against Niagara inside Hope Coliseum, but the bigger picture stretches well beyond that first tip. The nonconference slate is loaded, and it starts with a trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival before a neutral-site matchup in Charlotte against North Carolina. Add in rivalry games at Pitt and against Virginia Tech, and WVU will be tested right away.
That kind of schedule would usually be a problem for a team with a freshman point guard and a roster still taking shape. This group, though, is expected to keep growing through the early losses rather than get buried by them. One projection has the Mountaineers dropping a couple games in Las Vegas, then responding with neutral-court wins over North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Pitt, and Wake Forest.
The same outlook sees the Big 12 turning into the real grind. West Virginia is expected to start strong after a loss to Kansas, then hit a rough stretch with defeats to BYU, Arizona, UCF, Iowa State, Texas, Baylor, Cincinnati, and Houston - not necessarily in sequence, but enough to make the league race a battle.
Even so, the belief is that this team’s depth and versatility will carry it. The Mountaineers have multiple scoring threats who can hurt opponents in different ways, and the defense is expected to improve as the season goes on. That combination points to a 21-11 finish and a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman point guard Miles Sadler has already looked the part, and while there’s plenty for him to clean up on both ends, the bigger concern is how he handles the kind of guard play the Big 12 throws at teams every night. That’s where sophomore guard Amir Jenkins comes in. His ability to slow things down, especially on the road, could be a major factor when momentum starts swinging against WVU.
The roster also has experience and size in all the right places. Fifth year forward Brenen Lorient returns after being an X-factor last season, and now he has help from guard Seydou Traore. Inside, West Virginia brings real length with seven-foot-one freshman center Amadou Seini and six-foot-ten centers Mouhamed Sylla and Aliou Dioum.
There’s more scoring punch beyond that group, too. Finley Bizjack is projected to be the leading scorer, while junior guard Joson Sanon looks capable of stuffing the stat sheet from the perimeter. Junior forward Javan Buchanan and junior guard Martin Somerville should also have their moments.
The overall feeling around this team is simple: West Virginia has more depth, more options, and more polish than it did a year ago. The defense still has to come together, but the willingness is there, and that matters. Compared with last season’s group, this version of the Mountaineers looks further along in Hodge’s second year, with the pieces in place for a memorable season and a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four seasons.
One voice around the program put it this way: "The nonconference record may not reflect what this team will evolve into by March. If the Mountaineers only drop one or two games heading into Big 12 play, they could enter conference action as legitimate contenders. Regardless of how the nonconference schedule shakes out, I believe WVU will finish in the top half of the league and be extremely dangerous in the postseason."
And for one observer, the excitement level is as high as it has been in a long time: "I haven’t even mentioned projected leading scorer, guard Finley Bizjack, while junior guard Joson Sanon appears capable of filling up the stat sheet from the outside. I also believe junior forward Javan Buchanan, and junior guard Martin Somerville will have their moments during the season."
In Other News...
WVUs Bowl Future Now Hinges On A Stretch That Could Change Everything
West Virginias bowl picture is getting clearer, but not necessarily easier, as the projection chatter around the Mountaineers keeps turning back to the same point: the next stretch of the schedule. With Texas Tech, Kansas, Houston and Utah still ahead, the conversation around where this team might land in December is tied directly to what happens over those four games, and to whether the Mountaineers can keep building on their current standing in the eyes of the bowl selectors.
For now, the various media projections are little more than a snapshot of where West Virginia sits in the moment, with different outlets slotting the Mountaineers into different postseason spots based on current performance and rankings. The real story is still ahead of them, because bowl eligibility is going to be decided by how they handle a run that could either stabilize the season or leave the postseason picture far murkier than it looks right now. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginia Still Has A Big 12 Chance Entering A Statement Game
The Big 12 race has tightened again after a weekend that shuffled the leagues pecking order, with Iowa State making the biggest climb thanks to a statement win and UCF taking the sharpest tumble after a lopsided loss. For West Virginia, that kind of volatility is exactly why the next stretch matters so much, because the Mountaineers are still very much in the mix and every result around them seems to carry extra weight.
Texas Tech now looms as one of the more important games on the conference slate, and it arrives with both teams looking to prove they belong in the upper tier of the league conversation. For West Virginia, it is the kind of matchup that can either reinforce a real Big 12 path or leave the Mountaineers watching the standings shift without them. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginias First Lineup Choice Says Plenty About Ross Hodge
Ross Hodge wasted little time putting his stamp on West Virginias first game, naming a starting five for the matchup with Niagara that offers an early glimpse at how he wants this roster to look. Miles Sadler, Finley Bizjack, Seydou Traore, Brenen Lorient and Mouhamed Sylla are set to open the season, a group that suggests Hodge is willing to lean into length, versatility and a fresh look right away.
The opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will stream on ESPN+, giving Mountaineers fans their first real chance to see how the new coachs choices translate on the floor. There is also a little more to watch beyond the matchup itself, with Lorients availability still tied to the ongoing NCAA appeal process after the temporary restraining order, adding another layer of intrigue to a debut that already feels like more than just a routine season start. [Read more 🡒]