WVU Secures Big 12 Tournament Seed as High-Stakes TCU Finale Looms

A big one today in Morgantown, although the circumstances have changed.

WVU Athletics Communications

Despite making one heck of a push toward the end of the season, which included an impressive three-game sweep at Kansas, the West Virginia Mountaineers have fallen short of defending their Big 12 regular season title.

A win last night would have pushed the race to the final day of the season, but the Mountaineers just couldn't get anything going offensively. They were overaggressive in the box, not working the count much, and rarely barreling anything up. Maxx Yehl gave up two homers early before settling in and being the guy he has been all season long.

Kansas nearly blew a big lead against BYU, but held on for a 7-6 win to officially clinch the title and the No. 1 seed for the Big 12 tournament.

The Mountaineers did have something go right for them last night, though, as Kansas State upset UCF in game two of their series, officially giving WVU the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Had UCF won last night, won today, and WVU lost again today to TCU, the Knights would swap spots with the Mountaineers because they have the tiebreaker.

The seeds still have to be determined, but the No. 10 team will play No. 11 with the winner advancing to day two to play the No. 7. The winner of the No. 10/11 vs. No. 7 game will face West Virginia in the quarterfinals next Thursday.

Big 12 standings entering today

Kansas 22-7 (-)
West Virginia 20-9 (2)
Arizona State 18-11 (4)
UCF 18-11 (4)
Oklahoma State 17-12 (5)
TCU 17-12 (5)
Cincinnati 17-13 (5.5)
Baylor 13-16 (9)
BYU 13-16 (9)
Utah 12-17 (10)
Kansas State 11-18 (11)
Texas Tech 10-20 (12.5)
Arizona 9-20 (13)
Houston 7-22 (15)

Why today's game STILL matters for WVU

WVU Athletics Communications

If WVU were a lock as a top 10, top five team, they may have used today's game as an opportunity to get some others some game reps and rest their starters. They would probably still roll out the same group of starters, but slowly make substitutions throughout.

Unfortunately, the Mountaineers are not in a position to do such a thing. They have to win this game to stay on track to host a regional. As I mentioned coming into this series, I don't believe the selection committee will penalize WVU for not sweeping TCU. They are a bubble team trying to fight their way into the field and were the preseason pick to win the league, for whatever that's worth (not much).

Winning today and advancing to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament should be more than enough to lock up a spot as a host.