ASU Could Have Statement Game Against West Virginia

Arizona State vs. West Virginia, 7:00 ET

It is Women's Wednesday here on Outkick Bets. Just kidding, but this is a play on a Women's Basketball game, and I needed to put some sort of opener there. I know a lot of people don't really enjoy watching basketball, and the only thing worse to them would be women's basketball. However, the truth is that there is money to be made on college basketball and women's college basketball. That's precisely what we are planning to do here as we take on the matchup between Arizona State and West Virginia. 

If you don't follow Arizona State, you may not be aware that they have a new coach this season. Yes, Molly Miller is now their head coach. Miller made a name for herself last season after taking Grand Canyon University to the NCAA Tournament. She parlayed that success into this new role with Arizona State. Miller received a lot of attention for a variety of reasons. Her success is one of the reasons, but she is also a pretty woman with a nice sense of style on the sideline. Does that have anything to do with the game or handicapping? No, but I felt like it might entice you to at least watch or get a little more invested. Her team has already shown progress. Last season, the Sun Devils were 10-22. This year, the team is already surpassing that win total and they are 17-2 for the season. Their two losses have come in the past five games as they dropped a game to BYU, and they dropped another one to TCU. That game against TCU was very ugly as the team lost by 30. You can call their early-season schedule soft, and you wouldn't be completely wrong, but they have played a rough stretch recently. They aren't a ranked team, but if they can get some more wins stacked up, I wouldn't be surprised to see them crack the top-25. 

Jan 11, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Mark Kellogg watches his team play the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

West Virginia is a top-ranked school, and they sit as the 22nd in the nation at the moment. Their record is 15-4 for the season, but they have played a tougher schedule overall. Their four losses have come at the hands of Ohio State, Villanova, Texas Tech, and TCU. Interestingly enough, they have lost two home games already, both of those were to teams that are ranked higher than them. Their head coach, Mark Kellogg, is not as pretty as Molly Miller, but seems to do an effective job of getting his team in a position to win. Of their four losses, only one was by more than five points. My biggest concern about the Mountaineers is that their leading scorer is shooting just 38.1% from the field. That's not very efficient. She has shot less recently, so maybe the team talked to her about it, but she has also scored substantially less, getting single digits in three of her past four games. 

Both of these teams play with a fairly slow pace. They also seem to focus on defense with the Sun Devils and Mountaineers, both allowing around 58 points per game. West Virginia does seem to have a more effective offense, and we know that teams on the road tend to perform worse. This would be a good game for the Sun Devils to prove they belong in the conversation of good teams worthy of the NCAA Tournament (they will likely make it either way). I think that the Sun Devils actually match up pretty well against West Virginia. The Mountaineers are not playing great basketball at the moment either. It could be a blowout for them, but I think Arizona State could keep this close. Give me the Sun Devils +13.5. 

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