3 Reasons Why West Virginia is Final Four Bound

Eleven years ago, the West Virginia Mountaineers made their first Final Four appearance since 1959 after knocking off No. 1 seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight in Syracuse. West Virginia fell to Duke in the semifinals in Indianapolis and now, they have a chance to get back to the Final Four in the same city, although in completely different conditions thanks to the pandemic.

Since the 2010 run, the Mountaineers have appeared in six NCAA Tournaments and three Sweet Sixteen's but have not been able to reach the Elite Eight. Today, we list three reasons why West Virginia could be one of the final four teams remaining come April.

1. WVU can beat anyone in the field

This year, the NCAA Tournament selection committee showed a lot of respect to the Mountaineers by giving them a No. 3 seed despite having nine losses. When you have several quality wins, zero bad losses, and a tough schedule, it forms a very strong resume. This is why West Virginia earned the second three seed instead of the first four seed as many were projecting. Not to mention, eight of West Virginia's nine losses were by five points or less and all nine losses were to tournament teams. They will be in every game they play, regardless of opponent. Heck, they nearly beat the No. 1 overall seed, Gonzaga, before slipping down the stretch. WVU was the only team to lose to the Zags by single digits.

2. WVU has the goods

To reach the Final Four, you have to have a good team, a good coach, and a hint of good luck. West Virginia received some of that good luck on Selection Sunday by avoiding a region with Gonzaga and Baylor. Even better, Gonzaga is on the opposite side of the bracket meaning that they wouldn't meet the Bulldogs until the national championship. In years past, West Virginia ended up in the same region as the eventual national champ or the runner-up. Also, by having a No. 3 seed, West Virginia avoids the possibility of playing a No. 1 seed until the Elite Eight round.

3. Favorable path

Assuming the Mountaineers take care of business in the first round against Morehead State, a 2nd round matchup vs No. 6 San Diego State/No. 11 Syracuse awaits. Regardless of who wins that game, West Virginia should be favored to move on to the Sweet Sixteen. San Diego State can be a potent offensive team when they want to be and they do all of the little things that win games. With that said, Syracuse is probably a better matchup for the Mountaineers and the more likely opponent in round two. To beat a 2-3 zone defense, you have to have a really good jump-shooting team and that's what Huggins' squad is made up of. All WVU has to do is find the soft spot in the zone, exploit it, and hit a few threes.

Moving deeper into the tournament, West Virginia would face either No. 2 Houston, No. 7 Clemson, No. 10 Rutgers, or No. 15 Cleveland State in the Sweet Sixteen. Houston would be the one team that would give the Mountaineers the most trouble but don't count out the winner of that 7/10 matchup upsetting the Cougars, then giving WVU a handful.

Several college basketball analysts have West Virginia making it past the Sweet Sixteen and into the Elite Eight against No. 1 seed Illinois. This is where things are going to get really interesting. Over the last couple of weeks, the Fighting Illini have been playing as well as anyone in the country and have taken down some of the top teams in the nation. Ayo Dosunmu can score the ball in every way imaginable but what makes them even more dangerous is the plethora of talent that surrounds the star guard. Trent Frazier, Da'Monte Williams, and freshman Andre Curbelo help headline the backcourt while Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili command the block.

Earlier this year, Huggins said that there are not many people that can move around Derek Culver underneath except for maybe the guy at Illinois, hinting at Cockburn who is 7'0", 285 lbs. West Virginia may have a little trouble defending the paint against the Illini with the bigs and their versatile guards driving the ball down low. However, Bob Huggins would tell you that "we have guys too" and that Illinois would have similar issues guarding WVU's offense. Derek Culver is a finesse, athletic big which could be a little difficult for Cockburn and Bezhanishvili who are more traditional bigs. The way Sean McNeil, Taz Sherman, and Miles McBride shoot the ball, West Virginia can hang around against any team in the entire bracket, including Illinois.

Then again, who knows? Maybe Illinois gets bounced in the Round of 32 by the winner of Loyola-Chicago/Georgia Tech or in the Sweet Sixteen. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, hence the term March Madness.

What gives me a reason to believe that Huggins can get this team to the Final Four is the high-scoring nature of the offense. The old adage "defense win championships" isn't always true. High-flying offenses have won the title before and they will do it again. To advance in the tournament, you have to be able to hit shots, especially when they are open looks. For the first time in a while, Huggins has a roster full of guys who can hit shots consistently, giving them the ability to make a deep run in this year's tournament.

Let the madness begin!

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