MIKE BURKE

Allegany Communications Sports

According to every NCAA Tournament analytic and every shred of information from a certified (?) bracketologist that could be found in a couple hours of searching, West Virginia currently has a 74% chance of making the Madness with an at-large bid, and is currently projected by those who do such things as a No. 10 seed.

And, truthfully, the guys who do this? They’re pretty good  …

After Tuesday’s 73-55 home win over TCU, assuming the Mountaineers (17-11, 8-9 Big 12) win their home finale against Central Florida (14-13, 5-11), a road win at Brigham Young on Saturday or at Utah on Tuesday (or both) will give them 19 (20) wins overall and 10 (11) in the Big 12 at the end of the hunt.

It’s been an interesting season for WVU under first-year head coach Darian DeVries to say the least and should get even more interesting during the upcoming road trip, as WVU will be out to avenge an earlier home loss to Brigham Young while they’ll go for the season sweep against Utah.

Utah (15-12, 7-9), however, just fired its head coach Craig Smith with just four regular-season games to go and replaced him with interim coach Josh Eilert, whom, you’ll recall, held the same role with West Virginia last season after the resignation (or whatever it was) of former head coach Bob Huggins.

Eilert served as an assistant coach under Huggins for 17 seasons, and the Mountaineers finished the 2023-24 season with a 9-23 record after dealing with multiple eligibility and injury issues to start the season.

Tuesday’s win further strengthened WVU’s tournament standing, barring a complete collapse, with guard Javon Small scoring 23 points with 10 assists and five rebounds as the Mountaineers enjoyed one of their better shooting nights of the season.

The WVU offense has struggled for much of the season, particularly since senior Tucker DeVries was lost for the year with a shoulder injury. DeVries was the second-leading scorer on the team behind Small and one of the team’s best defenders.

Still, Sencire Harris, Joseph Yesufu, K.J. Tenner and Amani Hansberry stepped up on
Tuesday to complement Small and help the Mountaineers to a comfortable win, as they also played some of their best defense of the season, holding TCU without a 3-pointer in the first half and scoreless for over eight minutes, also in the first half.

Of course, WVU also held Baylor without a field goal during an overtime period, yet still lost the game in overtime, so it’s just been that kind of year; but now with a little traction, and a good road trip ahead, it has again become a season with a bright outlook, particularly for the first (and last?) season of a head coach (Iowa, Indiana?).

West Virginia has now won two out of three to bounce back from a difficult stretch of eight losses in 12 games, and a strong finish heading into the Big 12 Tournament will put to rest any doubt about their NCAA tournament chances, as the Mountaineers have three wins over top-10 teams this season and four over ranked teams, Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas and Iowa State.

West Virginia has five Quad 1 wins, which is a victory against a highly-ranked team at home, away or in a neutral game. Quad 1 wins are considered the most valuable wins and can significantly impact a team’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament.

WVU is also 3-1, 2-0 and 6-0 against Quad 2, 3 and 4 teams respectively, with its only bad losses coming to Arizona State and Kansas State.

The Mountaineers are currently in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 with TCU and Baylor. You finish in the middle, or higher, of a conference like the Big 12, you’re gold for March.

The feeling here is West Virginia runs the table and closes the regular season with 20 wins. And who knows? Another first-round matchup with Maryland, which the NCAA has always tried to arrange, might just happen again.

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT