West Virginia (16-3, 4-2 Big 12) is moving up in the latest NCAA Tournament projections after going 2-0 the past week.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has moved WVU up to a No. 2 seed in the West Region in his latest Bracketology forecast. Lunardi has the Mountaineers playing in the Cleveland pod, which would be ideal for WVU fans wanting to travel to the first- and second-round games. ESPN has WVU opening against 15-seed UC Irvine in the latest forecast. Lunardi has Rutgers (seven seed) and Florida (10) opposite WVU in the Cleveland pod https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology.
CBS Jerry Palm isn’t as impressed with the Mountaineers. He has WVU as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region. Palm also had WVU as a four seed in his last forecast. CBS does have WVU playing in Cleveland, the closest tournament venue to Morgantown. Palm has the Mountaineers opening against 13-seed Liberty. Creighton (5) and Northern Iowa (12) are opposite WVU in the Cleveland pod. Palm also has Texas Tech, WVU’s opponent Wednesday, out of his 68-team projection https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/.
NBC Sports also has WVU as a four seed, with the Mountaineers in the West Region. NBC’s forecast calls for farther travel than the others as it has WVU playing in the Tampa pod and opening against 13-seed Stephen F. Austin. Stephen F. Austin stunned the Mountaineers as a 14 seed in 2016 when the Lumberjacks upset third-seeded WVU. NBC has LSU (5) and Akron (12) in the pod opposite West Virginia. NBC has Texas Tech as its last team in the 68-team field https://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2020/01/27/ncaa-tournament-bracketology-projection-1/.
