Still Alive? The Analytics Still View West Virginia as a Top-68 Team

It’s unlikely that West Virginia makes the NCAA Tournament at this stage, given that they have a Quad 3 home loss on their schedule in addition to a pair of losses to Xavier and Wake Forest that aren’t going to be received well by the selection committee.

That being said, the analytics still like the Mountaineers enough to put them among the top 68 teams in the country.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are a tournament team, either. You have to keep in mind that there will be several teams outside the top 68 who will receive automatic bids by winning their conference championship. However, it may be a sign that there is still a small sliver of hope for the Mountaineers if they were to snap out of their offensive funk and catch fire.

Unlikely, yes. But hey, it ain’t over until it’s over, right?

According to KenPom, West Virginia ranks 60th, sitting nine spots behind Saturday’s opponent, TCU. The NCAA’s NET Rankings have WVU a couple of spots back at 62. They have just as many or more Quad 1 wins as the 26 teams ranked above them in the NET, and with these next three matchups with TCU, Oklahoma State, and BYU, they have a shot of separating themselves resume-wise by racking up that Q1 win total.

Although I went in-depth yesterday as to why WVU’s season feels doomed, I don’t understand how winning 21 games and going 12-6 in the Big 12 wouldn’t be enough to get into the field. Yes, that means the Mountaineers would have to win out, which is somewhat laughable to even mention, but even in that scenario, it still may not be a tournament-worthy resume, as TeamRankings.com still projects it will take 24 wins.

Despite the bleak outlook, WVU head coach Ross Hodge remains optimistic.

“The gift and the curse, we talked about it, being in the Big 12 is you still have opportunities in front of you. Now, those opportunities can run out, and that’s a reality,” Hodge said. “But you still have opportunities, and you still have all your goals in front of you. That’s the truth. Two things can be true at once. You let a great opportunity slip tonight, that puts more pressure on your other opportunities.

West Virginia and TCU will tip things off tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.