West Virginia basketball is no longer on the bubble, and it is no longer a matter of if for their NCAA Tournament hopes. One week from today the Mountaineers will find out their fate of where they will be playing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has West Virginia playing as a 10-seed against 7-seed Kentucky. While this matchup for the Mountaineers is a familiar one with the likes of head coach John Calipari as well as forward Oscar Tshiebwe who used to play for West Virginia. Another advantage is Lunardi has this game being played in Columbus, Ohio, the closest first round site to West Virginia out of any of the eight locations.
Lunardi’s projections would have the winner of this game facing the winner of No. 2 Purdue and No. 15 Vermont. West Virginia and Purdue faced off on Thanksgiving, with the Boilermakers winning, 80-68, although the Mountaineers trailed by four late in the game. Lunardi has the Mountaineers in the South Region, with the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight being held in Louisville, Kentucky.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has West Virginia has a 11-seed in his latest projections. Palm has had WVU on the bubble playing in a last four in game, but moved the Mountaineers up to an 11/6 matchup against San Diego State. This game would be played in Sacramento, California, being the Midwest Region, which has the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in Kansas City.
The eight sites for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament include Columbus, Sacramento, Denver, Birmingham, Greensboro, Albany, Orlando and Des Moines.
Based on the locations, Columbus is obviously the closest, but Greensboro, and Albany would produce a lot of Mountaineer fans as well. The only question is at what point does the Big 12 travel schedule for the team, combined with the Big 12 Tournament results, and then more travel for the NCAA Tournament, become too much.
Obviously West Virginia’s seeding can still improve in the next week in the Big 12 Tournament. West Virginia faces Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday. Albeit a Quad 2 game, but the more wins the better for the Mountaineers.
