NCAA Tournament March Madness

#69 West Virginia

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Projection: likely out

West Virginia’s profile looks uneven because most of the résumé is built on comfortable wins over low-major opponents such as Mt. St. Mary’s, Campbell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Mercyhurst and Coppin State while it lacks a marquee victory to offset neutral-site setbacks at Clemson and Xavier. The team’s identity has been its defense but the offense has been streaky, which makes those losses stand out and undermines confidence in the resume away from home. The remaining schedule gives clear opportunities to flip the narrative with neutral-site dates against Wake Forest and Ohio State and a string of brutal conference road tests at Iowa State, Houston, Arizona and Cincinnati, but those same games are the most likely to cause further damage. Home dates against Kansas State and UCF and a chance to beat Cincinnati in front of the home crowd are meaningful chances to pick up a defining victory, yet until West Virginia converts one of those opportunities the body of work will still read like a team without a signature road or neutral win.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4Mt St Mary's308W70-54
11/6Campbell215W73-65
11/9Lehigh297W69-47
11/13Pittsburgh95W71-49
11/17Lafayette332W81-59
11/21(N)Clemson21L70-67
11/23(N)Xavier81L78-68
11/30Mercyhurst327W70-38
12/3Coppin St364W91-49
12/6(N)Wake Forest5446%
12/9Ark Little Rock30797%
12/13(N)Ohio St3636%
12/22MS Valley St365100%
1/2@Iowa St25%
1/6Cincinnati7364%
1/10Kansas1838%
1/13@Houston811%
1/17Colorado6861%
1/21@Arizona St8246%
1/24@Arizona911%
1/27Kansas St7664%
1/31Baylor2943%
2/5@Cincinnati7342%
2/8Texas Tech3245%
2/14@UCF5836%
2/18Utah12079%
2/21@TCU5334%
2/24@Oklahoma St5033%
2/28BYU1026%
3/3@Kansas St7642%
3/6UCF5858%