MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Miles McBride had never even heard of Ken Pomeroy before, that was until he began his college basketball career at West Virginia.
Offensive and defensive efficiency ratings weren’t on his radar either.
NET rankings? Forget about it.
“It’s kind of amazing all the numbers that go into your team’s rating for the NCAA tournament,” the WVU freshman guard said. “They just don’t look at wins and losses. They look at how much you win by and things like that.”
Just win, baby? Well, not entirely.
“I thought just winning games was enough,” McBride continued. “They’re breaking teams down by points per possession and so many other things. It’s really kind of crazy how one team can get picked over another.”
Pomeroy’s team effciency ratings, as well as every school’s strength of schedule, margin of victory and overall record are just some of the factors that go into the NCAA’s Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.
Those NET rankings are used by the NCAA selection committee in determining not only which teams get an at-large bid into the tournament, but also in handing out seeds to all 68 teams that get in.
A season ago, the 13th-ranked Mountaineers (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) didn’t have to worry about any of it.
They were 9-12 at this same point last season, needing a miracle run just to get onto the NCAA tournament bubble.
That run didn’t come and the Mountaineers wound up in the CBI.
“There’s definitely more pressure on these games now,” West Virginia guard Chase Harler said. “In order to get a good seed for the conference tournament, you’ve got to win in the regular season. We definitely want to win the conference tournament.”
As the Mountaineers prepare for Wednesday’s home game against Iowa State (9-12, 2-6), they are alone in third place in the Big 12 standings.
WVU still has three games remaining — one against Kansas, two against Baylor — with the two teams ahead of them in the conference.
Still winning the Big 12 is not out of the realm of possibility.
Moving ahead of Kansas for second place is well within reach.
Getting there is the question. West Virginia’s margin of error is basically zero in terms of catching the Jayhawks or Bears over the final 10 games of the regular season.
“What I’ve learned from playing in the Big 12 for four years is you can’t rely on other teams losing,” Harler said. “We’ve got to take care of our business and whatever happens will happen.”
“You play a part of the season just working on different things,” added WVU forward Derek Culver. “You try to work out the kinks and get everyone on the same page.
“This is a different time of the season. There’s more pressure to win. A lot more pressure.”
TWEET @bigjax3211
