West Virginia is coming off its worst week of the season after dropping three-straight with losses to Oklahoma, Kansas and Baylor. Despite the current free fall, the Mountaineers (18-7, 6-6 Big 12) held their place in the latest ESPN Bracketololgy NCAA Tournament forecast.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has WVU as a No.3 seed in the West Region in his latest Bracketology projection. That’s where Lunardi had WVU in his previous forecast as well. Lunardi has WVU playing in the Cleveland pod. He has the Mountaineers opening the tournament against South Dakota State (14 seed). Lunardi has Michigan State (6) and the opening-round winner of USC (11) and Georgetown (11) in the bracket opposite West Virginia https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology.
The Mountaineers losing streak did cause them to drop in the CBS Bracketology projections. CBS Jerry Palm has WVU as a No. 4 seed in the East Region. Palm had West Virginia a three seed in his previous forecast. Palm also projects a long trip for the Mountaineers for their first- and second-round games. Palm has WVU playing in Spokane,
Wash., and opening against Vermont (13). Palm has Colorado (5) and Liberty (12) in the bracket opposite WVU in Spokane https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/.
NBC’s projection calls for a bigger drop for the Mountaineers. NBC has WVU as a No. 5 seed in the East Region, down from a third seed last week. NBC also predicts a long trip for the Mountaineers to open tournament play, placing them in the Sacramento, Calif., pod. NBC has West Virginia opening against Liberty (12). NBC has Kentucky (4) and Yale (13) on the opposite Spokane bracket https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2020/02/17/ncaa-tournament-bracketology-projection-bubble-big-ten/.
