MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – This week's Associated Press Top 25 men's basketball poll has 22-3 Alabama at No. 1 this week. 
 
The Crimson Tide won't be No. 1 next week because of their midweek loss at Tennessee, but for argument's sake, let's continue to operate under the premise that Alabama is the No. 1 team in the country.
 
Well, three weeks ago, the Tide lost by 24 at Oklahoma, which is now tied with Texas Tech for last place in the Big 12.
 
Why is Houston ranked No. 2? Because it doesn't play in the Big 12 – yet. 
 
Why is Purdue No. 3 and UCLA No. 4? Well, Purdue gets to play Minnesota and Ohio State while UCLA has Cal, Oregon and Stanford in its league.

Do you catch my drift?
 
"It will be interesting seeing some of the new teams that will be coming into this league next year," West Virginia senior guard Erik Stevenson said earlier today. Stevenson has played in the American, the Pac-12 and the SEC during his collegiate career. "I think the thing that stands out most to me (about the Big 12) is the adjustments I see coaches make during the games.
 
"This league is legit," he said.
 
Stevenson believes the SEC is the second-most skilled conference in the country, behind the Big 12.
 
"The SEC is full of athletes, and it's always above the rim," he said. "It's fast and up and down, but I wouldn't say it's the most skilled league. This is the most skilled league. The Big 12 has got athletes, it's got shooters, skilled guys and bigs who can play, and when you put that all together with a coach who knows how to coach, it's going to be a good team."
 
We've been hearing a lot lately about Pitt and the AP voters' lack of respect for the Panthers, who are now tied with Virginia at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Pitt is having an exceptional year under Jeff Capel with 19 victories to date, including an eye-opening 12-3 mark in the ACC.
 
But … and this is a very big but … the Atlantic Coast Conference isn't just down this year, it's downright bad. Louisville, Notre Dame and Florida State are having epically bad seasons, while Georgia Tech and Boston College are just not very good. That's close to 40% of your league right there.
 
The Panthers have five conference wins against those teams and remaining games coming up against Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Notre Dame and 15^th-ranked Miami, which likely means more wins for the Panthers.
 
"You can put Texas Tech, Oklahoma, us and Oklahoma State in any other league and we'd probably be in the top four, with the exception of maybe the SEC or the Big Ten, which has like 50 teams in it," Stevenson said.
 
Pitt is relevant here only for the fact that West Virginia defeated the Panthers 81-56 in Pittsburgh way back on Nov. 11, which almost seems like another season ago. Yes, Pitt is better, for sure, but how much of that is a function of who they are playing now rather than how they were playing then?
 
More importantly, what about West Virginia? Were the Mountaineers better before the calendar flipped to January because they were playing better, or is it because of who they are playing now?
 
After losing five in a row to begin Big 12 play, West Virginia clipped then-14^th-ranked TCU 74-65 at the WVU Coliseum and defeated Texas Tech 76-61 in Lubbock a week later to end its long Big 12 road drought.
 
The Mountaineers (15-11, 4-9) got two in a row against Oklahoma and Iowa State, and also own a big nonconference win against then-15^th-ranked Auburn in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
 
Now, the regular season comes down to a pair of critical games against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in Morgantown, two brutal road games at fifth-ranked Kansas and 19^th-ranked Iowa State, and the regular season finale at the Coliseum against 12^th-ranked Kansas State on March 4.
 
West Virginia could win all five or lose all five. None of them will be layups.
 
"Personally, I would have liked to have seen us all healthy and clicking at the same time – just to see how good we could be," Stevenson said. "But it's not over and we've got games left at home to get into the dance. Once you get into the dance, it's just a number by your name and that record is out the window."
 
Texas Tech (14-12, 3-10) has recovered from its poor start to win four of its last six games, including Monday night's impressive 74-67 win against seventh-ranked Texas, which beat West Virginia by 34 two days prior.
 
Oklahoma State (16-10, 7-6) recently won five in a row against Ole Miss, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas Tech and Iowa State before falling to Kansas. Two of OSU's victories were on the road at Oklahoma and Iowa State, by the way, so road games are not too bothersome for the Cowboys.
 
Kansas is now 21-5 and after its setback at Iowa State on Feb. 4, the Jayhawks have won three in a row against Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and are in a three-way tie with Baylor and Texas with 9-4 Big 12 marks.
 
Iowa State (17-8, 8-5) has gotten over its recent rough stretch with an 11-point home win against TCU, while Kansas State has dropped two straight, but is still 19-7 overall with seven Big 12 victories.
 
All five of West Virginia's remaining Big 12 games are going to be hard – much harder than the 12 teams behind the Mountaineers in Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology updated this morning.
 
Those 12 include Lundardi's "Last Four In" – Kentucky, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Clemson, his "First Four Out" – Mississippi State, USC, Oregon and Charleston, and his "Next Four Out" – New Mexico, Seton Hall, Utah State and Wake Forest.
 
"I feel really confident us playing any other team in any other league because our style of play is different," Stevenson said. "The Big 12 is just one of those leagues."
 
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins says frequently that the Big 12 has no bottom. He repeated it earlier today.
 
"The Big East had great teams and it was a great league, but there was a bottom," he said. "There is no bottom here when you look at what everybody's done in this league. It's incredible. I think the coaching in the Big East, even for the teams that weren't considered elite, was really good. They just didn't have enough players. Here, the coaching is really good, and they've got players."
 
The last three weeks of the regular season are going to be a matter of survival for West Virginia, starting this Saturday afternoon against a Texas Tech team looking to avenge its 15-point home loss to the Mountaineers back on Jan. 25.
 
Saturday's contest has already been announced a sellout. 
 
A noon tipoff and ESPNU television coverage has been designated for the contest. Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile apps WVU Gameday and The Varsity Network begins at 11 a.m.