NCAA Tournament March Madness

#57 West Virginia

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Projection: likely out

West Virginia’s résumé reads like a classic bubble profile because its best moments, notably the home win over Kansas and the road victory at Arizona State, show the defense can drag the team through tough tests while a competitive outing against Ohio State on a neutral floor suggested it can hang with good teams. The most damaging results are the blowout losses at Houston and at Iowa State along with nonconference neutral setbacks to Clemson and Xavier which reveal offensive inconsistency and leave the resume vulnerable. The remainder of the schedule shapes everything because a road trip to Arizona and tests at Cincinnati and Kansas State are high-leverage chances to flip the perception while home dates with Baylor and with Utah offer clearer paths to building a safer case. How the Mountaineers perform away from home and whether the offense can start to shoulder the defensive identity will decide if this profile moves onto the right side of the bubble.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/4Mt St Mary's290W70-54
11/6Campbell182W73-65
11/9Lehigh307W69-47
11/13Pittsburgh98W71-49
11/17Lafayette316W81-59
11/21(N)Clemson28L70-67
11/23(N)Xavier87L78-68
11/30Mercyhurst299W70-38
12/3Coppin St364W91-49
12/6(N)Wake Forest70L75-66
12/9Ark Little Rock292W90-58
12/13(N)Ohio St35L89-88
12/22MS Valley St365W86-51
1/2@Iowa St5L80-59
1/6Cincinnati54W62-60
1/10Kansas17W86-75
1/13@Houston4L77-48
1/17Colorado78W72-61
1/21@Arizona St92W75-63
1/24@Arizona26%
1/27Kansas St8471%
1/31Baylor4857%
2/5@Cincinnati5438%
2/8Texas Tech1934%
2/14@UCF4635%
2/18Utah11480%
2/21@TCU5237%
2/24@Oklahoma St6744%
2/28BYU1431%
3/3@Kansas St8450%
3/6UCF4657%