MORGANTOWN - The scenarios for what this weekend's games will do to West Virginia's seeding in next week's Big East tournament are almost too many to calculate, what with tiebreakers that include head-to-head records, mini-conferences, sub-mini-conferences and performance against the top teams in the league.
MORGANTOWN - The scenarios for what this weekend's games will do to West Virginia's seeding in next week's Big East tournament are almost too many to calculate, what with tiebreakers that include head-to-head records, mini-conferences, sub-mini-conferences and performance against the top teams in the league.
In a nutshell, though, here is what the general layout appears to be in regard to WVU finishing in the top eight of the league standings and securing one of those first-round byes:
If the Mountaineers beat No. 11 Louisville in a noon game on Saturday at the Coliseum, they are virtually guaranteed to finish as the sixth seed, with only one long shot scenario dropping them to seventh.
If they lose to the Cardinals, they will still finish in the top eight - seventh or eighth - unless two other games go against them: Villanova knocking off Pitt in Pittsburgh and Marquette winning at Seton Hall.
For the record, a win and a probable No. 6 seed would allow West Virginia to skip Tuesday's first-round games, but it would mean its first game would be the 9 p.m. Wednesday second-rounder against the winner of Tuesday's No. 11 vs. No. 14 game. Given that there are 11 league teams in the mix for NCAA tournament berths, that means the opener could be against a ranked team such as Villanova or Connecticut.
Should the Mountaineers lose to Louisville and finish seventh or eighth, the Wednesday opener would be at 7 p.m. (seventh) or noon (eighth), probably also against an NCAA-worthy team. The seventh-place team faces the No. 10 vs. No. 15 winner, while the eighth-place team draws the No. 9 vs. No. 16 victor.
If West Virginia loses and slips out of the top eight because Villanova and Marquette both win, that would leave the Mountaineers either ninth or 10th and playing a Tuesday first-round game. The No. 9 seed plays DePaul, the No. 16 seed, at noon on Tuesday. The No. 10 seed faces the No. 15 seed, either Providence or South Florida, at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
West Virginia (19-10, 10-7 Big East) boosted its stock Wednesday night with a 65-56 win over No. 16 Connecticut. Saturday's game with Louisville (23-7, 12-5) will be the second this season between the teams. The Cardinals won 55-54 on Jan. 26 in Louisville when Peyton Siva made a layup in the final seconds after WVU led by as many as 12 early in the second half.
MORGANTOWN - The scenarios for what this weekend's games will do to West Virginia's seeding in next week's Big East tournament are almost too many to calculate, what with tiebreakers that include head-to-head records, mini-conferences, sub-mini-conferences and performance against the top teams in the league.
In a nutshell, though, here is what the general layout appears to be in regard to WVU finishing in the top eight of the league standings and securing one of those first-round byes:
If the Mountaineers beat No. 11 Louisville in a noon game on Saturday at the Coliseum, they are virtually guaranteed to finish as the sixth seed, with only one long shot scenario dropping them to seventh.If they lose to the Cardinals, they will still finish in the top eight - seventh or eighth - unless two other games go against them: Villanova knocking off Pitt in Pittsburgh and Marquette winning at Seton Hall.For the record, a win and a probable No. 6 seed would allow West Virginia to skip Tuesday's first-round games, but it would mean its first game would be the 9 p.m. Wednesday second-rounder against the winner of Tuesday's No. 11 vs. No. 14 game. Given that there are 11 league teams in the mix for NCAA tournament berths, that means the opener could be against a ranked team such as Villanova or Connecticut.
Should the Mountaineers lose to Louisville and finish seventh or eighth, the Wednesday opener would be at 7 p.m. (seventh) or noon (eighth), probably also against an NCAA-worthy team. The seventh-place team faces the No. 10 vs. No. 15 winner, while the eighth-place team draws the No. 9 vs. No. 16 victor.
If West Virginia loses and slips out of the top eight because Villanova and Marquette both win, that would leave the Mountaineers either ninth or 10th and playing a Tuesday first-round game. The No. 9 seed plays DePaul, the No. 16 seed, at noon on Tuesday. The No. 10 seed faces the No. 15 seed, either Providence or South Florida, at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
West Virginia (19-10, 10-7 Big East) boosted its stock Wednesday night with a 65-56 win over No. 16 Connecticut. Saturday's game with Louisville (23-7, 12-5) will be the second this season between the teams. The Cardinals won 55-54 on Jan. 26 in Louisville when Peyton Siva made a layup in the final seconds after WVU led by as many as 12 early in the second half.
How do the tiebreakers work? Well, if the Mountaineers win they would be 11-7 in the league and most likely tied with the Georgetown-Cincinnati winner for sixth place. WVU beat both teams this season and would win the tiebreaker for the sixth seed.
Syracuse and St. John's are both 11-6 and could also drop to 11-7, which would actually elevate the tie from sixth place to fifth or fourth. But that would take unlikely home losses by those two against DePaul and South Florida, respectively. And even then, WVU would still lose tiebreakers to those teams and finish sixth or even seventh.
As for the tiebreakers should West Virginia lose to Louisville and finish 10-8, well, that tie could be among as few as two teams (WVU and the Cincinnati-Georgetown loser) or up to as many as five teams. Connecticut, Villanova and Marquette are all 9-8 and would need wins to get into position. In addition to Villanova at Pitt and Marquette at Seton Hall, UConn plays host to Notre Dame.
The tiebreakers in each scenario differ depending upon the number of tied teams and who those teams are. But in essence, WVU wins enough of them to finish seventh or eighth based on head-to-head matchups in a two-team tie with the Georgetown-Cincinnati loser, or on mini-conference marks (the records against each other among multiple tied teams) or subsequent tiebreakers when adding Villanova, UConn or Marquette to the mix by themselves. The Mountaineers also stay in the top eight when UConn and Marquette or UConn and Villanova are added to the Cincinnati-Georgetown loser.
What West Virginia doesn't win is any tiebreaker that involves WVU, the Georgetown-Cincinnati loser, Villanova and Marquette (regardless of whether UConn is involved). In those instances, the Mountaineers finish ninth or 10th, sometimes going beyond the initial four- or five-team mini-conference and past a sub-mini-conference (of teams tied within the mini-conference) and all the way to a collective record against the two or three teams that would be tied for second place in the league in that scenario.
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
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