Has it really been three full seasons and change since West Virginia basketball was ranked? It is … or rather, it was. The 5-0 Mountaineers, who just led the defending national champion from start to finish in the title game of a preseason invitational, cracked the top 25s this afternoon.

The last time WVU was ranked? The end of the 2011 regular season. The Mountaineers would follow Dalton Pepper to a NCAA Tournament win against Clemson and then lose to Kentucky. That long ago.

Could be worse. WVU wasn’t ranked at all From March 3, 1998, to Jan. 3, 2005.

I was wondering if this streak would end this week because WVU looked just awful in its opener, and that actually made some news because it was up against Bob Huggins’ consistently bold and confident preseason praise. There was also the matter of last night’s game being played shortly before top 25 polls were due, but the voters waited for and rewarded WVU.

AP top 25: 56 of 65 ballots had WVU with the highest rank being No. 14. A total of 24 ballots had the Mountaineers ranked in the teens.

— Chuck McGill (@chuckmcgill) November 24, 2014