Country Roads Confidential: A WVU Mountaineers podcast

In a game it couldn’t lose, West Virginia build and lost a 10-point lead, fumbled key moments and lost on the road again to a TCU team it clearly outclassed at home last month. The Mountaineers are 1-6 on the road with four straight losses and have a prickly game Monday in Austin against Texas. Chris and Mike cover what went wrong, what continues to go wrong and whether WVU can do anything about it.

Neal Brown’s second spring begins on March 10, and there’s a lot to like and a few things to monitor once you put together the pieces of a two-deep. Chris and Mike discuss Wednesday’s EerSports.com prediction piece and wonder what changes might occur.

Bob Huggins hinted at changes, and he followed through with a new starting lineup and a shorter rotation. Wouldn’t you know it, West Virginia won for the first time in two weeks and swept the season series against Oklahoma State. The second half was better than the first, and a few performances gave Huggins plenty to consider before the upcoming road trip.

No harm in losing to the best team in the country, but West Virginia had stretches Saturday that rank among the worst of the season. The Mountaineers have lost three in a row and have to switch things up in a hurry against a favorable schedule so that they can preserve their postseason positioning. Chris and Mike discuss all of that after the breakdowns in Waco and wonder if you can criticize the offense when it doesn’t really run offense.

Kansas pulled some more jewels from West Virginia’s crown, and the Mountaineers are no longer unbeaten at home and now have their first losing streak of the season. The No. 3-ranked Jayhawks turned the game around in the second half and sent WVU staggering toward a road game Saturday against No. 1 Baylor. Chris and Mike meet up to discuss what continues to go wrong, what reasons exist to think it will change and what adjustments they saw against the Jayhawks.

The Mountaineers wanted to change the way onlookers think and speak about the team, and they didn’t accomplish that Saturday. WVU’s issues on the road continued, and now the season enters a difficult and defining stretch. Mike and Chris discuss the reality and the potential of this team and how it can use the final eight games of the regular season to position itself for the postseason.

Practically nothing went wrong for the basketball team, and the good outnumbered the bad in an easy win over Iowa State. The football team started signing day with some question marks and ended it with two exclamation points. Chris and Mike review the events on the court and off the field.

Maybe it's not as big of a deal as it used to be, but Wednesday is still a signing day on the college football calendar. It might be pretty cool at West Virginia this year, too. Chris explains why as he and Mike set the stage for the occasion, detail possible additions to the roster and discuss a provocative text Mike received Sunday night.

West Virginia improved to 4-0 after a loss with a win Saturday against Kansas State. It wasn't the prettiest product, and the opponent again wasn't the best following a defeat, but the Mountaineers could have been on the wrong side of this one. Chris and Mike chat about the successes after failures, the pecking order on offense, the keys to the game and the outlook the rest of this season.

West Virginia couldn’t make shots and Texas Tech wouldn’t miss any Wednesday as the Red Raiders built a big lead in both halves and held off every charge the Mountaineers made. Chris and Mike discuss the latest loss to a desperate team, how this fits in the learning process and what’s next for WVU.