Rough patch drops WVU in latest tourney projections

West Virginia's Gabe Osabuohien, center, looks to shoot between Kansas State's Cartier Diarra, left, and DaJuan Gordon (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

West Virginia is in the midst of its worst stretch of the season, having lost four of its last five games. The Mountaineers struggles are reflected in the latest NCAA Tournament forecasts.

ESPN’s Bracketology has WVU as a No. 5 seed in the East Region. That’s down two seeds from Joe Lunardi’s earlier projection. Lunardi has the Mountaineers playing in the Tampa, Fla., pod and opening against the First Four winner between 12 seeds USC and Providence. Penn State (four seed) and Arkon (13) are in the bracket opposite WVU in the Tampa pod https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology.

WVU dropped a line in the CBS Bracketology forecast. CBS Jerry Palm also has the Mountaineers as a No. 5 seed in the East Region. Palm is calling for a long trip for the Mountaineers in their first- and second-round games. CBS has WVU playing in the Spokane, Wash., pod and opening against Liberty (12). Palm also has Penn State (4) and Akron (13) in the Spokane pod bracket opposite WVU https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/.

NBC’s forecast calls for an even steeper fall for West Virginia. NBC has the Mountaineers as a No. 6 seed in the East Region. The NBC projection has West Virginia in the Albany, N.Y., pod and opening play against East Tennessee State (11). Villanova (3) and Wright State (14) are in the Albany pod opposite West Virginia https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2020/02/24/ncaa-tournament-bracketology-projection-bubble-kansas/.