Writer's Story

Posted: March 07th, 2010 | Sean Merinar | Tags: sean merinar wvu basketball ncaa tournament

With WVU's epic 68-66 overtime win against Villanova, WVU earned a three seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. There was a 3-way tie for the 2 seed between WVU, PItt, and Villanova and I had it explained to me (thank you Mr. Kinder)  that Pitt got the two seed because of winning percentage. They played WVU twice and Villanova once. They beat us once and Nova once, giving them a winning percentage of 67. We beat them once and Nova once, giving up a winning percentage of only 50.  The three seed has us going up against PItt in the Semi-Finals round should we make it. All this talk of the BIG EAST seeding also led me to wonder about the NCAA Tournament.

I am not Joe Lunardi. I'd love to be, but I'm just an obese gentleman residing in West Virginia who likes basketball. It is with this disclaimer in mind that I tell you all I highly doubt we receive a one seed in the big dance, regardless of whether we win the BIG EAST Tournament or not. Syracuse, Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky have too good of resumes for anyone to unseat them from the one seed. I think if we make it to the semis or finals we would be a strong candidate for a two seed. I think Purdue and Ohio State will fight for a two seed and Kansas State should have one as well. I believe WVU, Pitt, and Villanova will take two of the four two seeds.

But what if we don't perform well in the BIG EAST Tournament? What if we don't get past the quarterfinal round? I obviously don't hope that happens, but should something awful occur (like the first half of the VIllanova game for example) what would be the fate of the Mountaineers? Would the team then garner a three seed? I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility, but I hope it doesn't occur. What do all of you think about the fate of the Mountaineers' seeding in the NCAA Tournament? I know I'm not the only one waxing philosophical about this.

Before I head out, I'd also like to talk about how happy I am to be this spoiled as a fan. It wasn't but a few years ago where WVU was constantly being spoken of as a bubble team, even being left out of the big dance en route to winning the NIT. I like being on the side of the fence where the only discussion is what seed you will get, not whether you will even go dancing.

Stay tuned....