MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It’s a Monday for the West Virginia basketball team, just not a “Big Monday” of course. There’s only one of those for the Mountaineers this season, on Feb. 22, because Kansas (four), Oklahoma (three), Iowa State (three) and Texas (three) hog the appearance on ESPN’s so-called marquee matchup.
Maybe all that pomp and additional network promotion is more valuable than playing Kansas State on ESPNews on a Tuesday, as West Virginia does tomorrow night. But the Saturday-Monday turnaround is difficult, because it compresses scouting and preparation and could leave a team dead-legged on the back end.