Prior to West Virginia’s win over Iowa State on Wednesday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed the Mountaineers as a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament. A win over the 11th-ranked Cyclones later, and the Mountaineers are moving on up before a tough three-day stretch.
On Friday, Lunardi listed the Mountaineers as a 9-seed in the East Region of the Tournament. He predicts West Virginia would face Arkansas, and the winner would face the winner of 1-seed Houston/16-seed Rider. In Lunardi’s previous Bracketology update, the Mountaineers were listed as a 10-seed.
Lunardi also gave the Mountaineers at least an 85 percent chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Mountaineers are currently 19th in the NET, but have two games against No. 5 Texas and No. 14 Baylor on the road this weekend. Texas is a two-seed in the West Region, while Baylor is 3-seed in the East Region of Lunardi’s latest projections.
Team Rankings, currently gives WVU a 91 percent chance to make the tournament, with a 16 percent chance to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.
A split on the road trip for the Mountaineers would certainly give the Mountaineers a chance to move up. An 0-2 showing should not do too much damage to WVU’s tournament hopes or their seeding, as long as they don’t get blown out in both games.
