WVU Basketball Firmly on Bubble Based on Latest Bracketology

WVU basketball is now firmly on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament, being selected as one of the “last four byes” for the second week in a row in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology update.

West Virginia (15-10, 6-8 Big 12) lost both of its games last week, losing to BYU 73-69 and Baylor 74-71 in overtime. The team has now lost three of its last four games and six of its last eight.

This recent skid dropped WVU to the bubble last week, where the Mountaineers remain.

Lunardi has West Virginia as a No. 10 seed, facing No. 7 Louisville in the first round in Cleveland. WVU is one of the last four byes alongside Texas, BYU and Vanderbilt.

WVU still has one of the strongest resumes of any at-large team, and certainly any team on the bubble, with its signature wins over Gonzaga, Kansas and Iowa State, but continued losses late in the year are threatening the Mountaineers’ tournament hopes.

Things were looking up for the Mountaineers at the beginning of the week coming off an encouraging win over Utah last Saturday. WVU had one of its best offensive performances of Big 12 play against the Utes, with four players scoring in double figures led by Amani Hansberry’s 17 points.

WVU Basketball Finally Found Another Way to Win

That success continued against BYU, but defensive lapses in the second half opened the door for the Cougars. An inadvertent switch on the final possession allowed the Cougars to convert an easy and-one to seal the game in the final seconds.

At Baylor, the Mountaineers played a strong second half but faltered in overtime as the Bears won without making a single field goal in the extra period.