WVU Basketball Falls Out of Latest March Madness Prediction

WVU basketball keeps winning, but the Mountaineers’ latest victories haven’t been impressing many people across the nation.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Mountaineers as one of the last four teams in March Madness in his Bracketology two weeks ago, but two wins over weak non-conference opponents have them out of the field in his latest update.

West Virginia has only played twice since beating Georgetown on Dec. 6, picking up wins against teams in the high 200s in the KenPom rankings. WVU beat North Carolina Central (KenPom No. 279) 79-45 and Bethune-Cookman (KenPom No. 291) 84-61.  The team’s final non-conference game won’t help much either, as the Mountaineers host Mercyhurst (KenPom No. 356) on Sunday at 2 p.m (ESPN+).

Three weak non-conference games in three weeks have cost the Mountaineers some momentum since their impressive showing at the Battle 4 Atlantis last month.

Big 12 play begins on Dec. 31 when WVU basketball travels to Allen Fieldhouse to take on the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks. Five of the Mountaineers’ first Seven Big 12 games are against teams that are currently ranked — No. 8 Kansas, Oklahoma State (Jan. 4), No. 25 Houston (Jan. 15), No. 3 Iowa State (Jan. 18) and Arizona State (Jan. 21).

That stretch of games could be the biggest determining factor on the Mountaineers’ tournament fate.

For a related story, WVU basketball wants to make the most of its break before Big 12 play.