MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - It's been a long, long time since West Virginia has climbed this high in the national rankings, almost as high as Spruce Knob - the tallest peak in the Mountain State.
 
Coach Bob Huggins' Mountaineers jumped four spots from No. 6 last week to No. 2 this week in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings revealed earlier today.
 
West Virginia received 12 No. 1 votes and 1,599 total poll points, trailing Villanova by just 52 points. The Wildcats (14-1) reassume the AP poll's top position, moving up two spots from No. 3 last week.

Virginia, which West Virginia defeated 68-61 at the Coliseum back on Dec. 5, moves up to No. 3.
 
It's the highest ranking for West Virginia since Dec. 29, 1959 - Jerry West's senior season. That was also the final year for WVU coach Fred Schaus, who guided the Mountaineers to a six-year record of 147-37 and a run of 56 straight weeks in the polls before taking the Los Angeles Lakers job.
 
Huggins has had teams this high in the rankings before when he coached at Cincinnati, the last time coming on March 9, 2000 when his Bearcats were ranked No. 1 heading into the Conference USA tournament.
 
But Huggins' best player, Kenyon Martin, broke his leg in the opening game of postseason play against St. Louis and Cincinnati was eliminated in the second round of the NCAAs by Tulsa.
 
Last Saturday, West Virginia defeated then-seventh-ranked Oklahoma 89-76 for its 14^th straight victory of the season. The Mountaineers (14-1, 3-0) also benefitted from losses by Michigan State, Duke, Arizona State and Xavier last week in advancing to No. 2.
 
It's West Virginia's 45^th consecutive week in the AP poll, second only to its 56-straight-week stretch from March 1956 to March 1960 under Schaus. It is 65 straight weeks in the USA Today Coaches Poll, which also has the Mountaineers No. 2.
 
West Virginia continues play in Morgantown on Tuesday night against Baylor at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
 
Earlier today, the Mountaineer Ticket Office announced the Baylor game is sold out, along with a Jan. 27 date against Kentucky and a Feb. 24 meeting with Iowa State.
 
Tickets still remain for just three home dates against Kansas on Jan. 15, against TCU on Feb. 12 and a Senior Night meeting against Texas Tech on Feb. 26.
 
Tickets can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.

?? A message from @CoachHuggs... #HailWV pic.twitter.com/6AnytauErp

— WVU Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 8, 2018