MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Da’Sean Butler had a simple plea for the NCAA tournament selection committee on Saturday night after leading West Virginia to its first BIG EAST title in team history.

“Please let us in for a number one seed. Please,” Butler implored.

On Sunday evening, however, the powers that be denied his request, instead giving the Mountaineers a No. 2 seed and a date with No. 15 Morgan State on Friday in Buffalo. The four teams that beat out WVU for the top spots were Kansas, Syracuse, Duke and Kentucky. The UK Wildcats are the top seed in WVU's East region bracket.

 

The real problem Bob Huggins had with the process was that not only was his squad placed behind those No. 1s, but they were also selected as the third of the two seeds behind Kansas State and Villanova.

“I thought statistically we were a one,” said Huggins. “The disappointing thing is when they stand up there and they say, ‘Let’s look at the full body of work,’ if you look at the full body of work, we were probably a one. But I didn’t think we were going to be a one, I thought we were going to be a two. To be the third two is… I don’t understand that.”

This is the same Villanova team that lost to West Virginia at home in the regular season finale and was ousted from the BIG EAST tournament in the quarterfinal round of action. For that reason alone, the frustration Huggins showed following the selection process was understandable.

Add in the fact that WVU won the league title only to be rated below two teams that couldn’t make it past their first game, and the third-year West Virginia coach seems to have a good reason to be a bit upset.

One of the few bright spots for the Mountaineers was the fact that should they continue to win in the tournament, they will be playing in Buffalo and Syracuse, two New York cities that are relatively easy travel destinations for their passionate fan base.

“We have a lot of fans everywhere, so that would be cool to just have everybody come up and show support and just follow us the best that they can,” said Butler.

Apparently Huggins knows a great deal about Buffalo as well. After forgetting that his team had just played in the upstate New York city in his first season as WVU head coach, he displayed his vast knowledge of Buffalo’s claim to fame.

“You know what that’s famous for, right?” Huggins asked. “It’s where Buffalo wings were invented. That’s why they call them Buffalo wings. Anchor Inn. And I’m not getting paid anything to put that out there.”

He’s half right. Buffalo wings are from Buffalo, but the place of origin is Anchor Bar, not Inn. If he were getting paid to advertise for them, Anchor Bar would likely want its money back.

If the Mountaineers were to win on Friday, they would stay in Buffalo and advance to take on the winner of Clemson/Missouri on Sunday. The WVU players believe their bracket sets them up favorably for a run to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

“Our bracket is pretty much set up that we could do well and advance and make a nice little run to the final four. But right now that’s all talk and we just have to come out and practice and prepare and get ready for Morgan State.”

How much do the West Virginia players know about Morgan State?

“We don’t know nothing about the team that we’re about to play against, but we will know tomorrow and we’ll know everything about them and we will be well-prepared and ready to play,” said Truck Bryant.

Huggins says his familiarity with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Bears extends only as far as his knowledge of their head coach, Todd Bozeman.

“I know Todd Bozeman very well. That’s about it. I don’t know anybody on their team. Played against Todd when he was at Cal when he had Jason Kidd.”

Huggins will have a few days to get his team digesting as much film as it can before heading up to Buffalo to try and win West Virginia’s third tournament this season.