New Tournament Projection Shows WVU Has Work to Do to Get Back in Hosting Position

Since the calendar flipped over to May, the West Virginia Mountaineers have a 9-1 record, which includes a three-game sweep over Big 12 regular season champ, Kansas. They have done virtually everything needed to do down the stretch to put themselves in a position to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament, yet there is still some uncertainty as to whether they will or not.

As I've been saying since this time last week, I assumed that all WVU needed to do was win the series over TCU (check) and not be a one-and-done in the Big 12 tournament. My opinion doesn't matter, though, and neither do the opinions of others, if we're being honest. The NCAA selection committee may see things completely differently from me or other publications, such as Baseball America, which currently has the Mountaineers hitting the road, going cross-country as a No. 2 seed.

Baseball America's New Tournament Projection

West Virginia University utility player Gavin Kelly | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

No. 1 Oregon State vs. No. 4 Cal Baptist
No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Gonzaga

This would be a decent region for the Mountaineers, but that's besides the point. With what they have accomplished, they should be playing in Morgantown, as head coach Steve Sabins eloquently put it in his postgame presser on Saturday.

“I find it really hard to believe that in one of the top three conferences in the country, with no doubt and a team that set a program record for conference wins with 21, a team that finishes second in the league, a team that has the best pitcher in one of the top three leagues in the country, is not hosting," he said. "We have won every series but two and have multiple sweeps in a Power Four league that’s well-respected with good strength of schedule. And the team that won the league, we swept on the road. So, if that’s not a hosting resume, then I have no idea what is. We have absolutely earned that up to this point."

The biggest thing that is hurting West Virginia right now is the RPI. Entering this week's slate of games, they rank 19th in that metric and have a number of teams ranked ahead of them who you could say are in the conversation to host as well.

The best way to improve that ranking, West Virginia not only needs to win games in the Big 12 tournament, but also face the stiffest of competition possible along the way. So in the quarters, a win over No. 7 TCU would help them more than beating No. 10 Utah or No. 11 Kansas State. In the semis, they would benefit more from taking down No. 3 Arizona State as opposed to No. 6 Cincinnati. And then beating Kansas — for a fourth time — in the championship would do wonders.

All WVU can control, though, is surviving and advancing. Regardless of who they play, if they go out and win the tournament or get to the championship game, it would be pretty hard to leave them out of a hosting spot.

Add us as a preferred source on Google