MORGANTOWN — Unless you are holding out for some sort of miracle, do not waste your time checking out the NCAA’s NET rankings today or pay an ounce of attention to Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.
Both may give you some sort of hope, in that West Virginia’s 78-72 loss against Texas Tech on Saturday wasn’t as damaging to the Mountaineers’ postseason hopes once the computers get done spitting out all the numbers.
Especially when the exact opposite is true.
The eye test from the on-court result will tell you a much different story, one in which the Mountaineers (15-12, 4-10 Big 12) — at least as of Saturday — do not deserve a spot in the 2023 NCAA tournament.
“You can not talk to them, show them and drilled them any more than we did that we need to win these games if you want to continue to play in the postseason,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said.
In saying that, Huggins put a heavy emphasis on “if,” because it was pretty evident by Huggins’ postgame demeanor that even the most optimistic person has to see this season is at least beginning to crumble apart for WVU.
“What else do I do?” Huggins continued. “We got out-rebounded 39-28, that’s almost directly the opposite of what happened at their place. How do you explain that? It’s the same guys. You’re asking me questions you ought to be asking (the players). I don’t have the answers.”
It’s at this puzzling point that we do mention that, yes, WVU isn’t officially eliminated from NCAA-tournament consideration.
Technically, WVU could come back and beat Oklahoma State on Monday, a game that serves little purpose other than avoiding a final nail being driven into the Mountaineers’ coffin now.
Then, WVU could walk into the hallowed halls of Allen Fieldhouse and upset the Kansas Jayhawks and follow that up with another road win at Iowa State.
“It means we’ve got to steal one on the road, for sure,” WVU guard Erik Stevenson said. “Obviously we have to take care of business at home on Monday, like we should have today. Then we have to steal one, maybe two on the road. I think today, makes us have to win one (at the Big 12 tournament) at least, possibly two.”
That’s also like saying you could possibly win the lottery tomorrow, too, or that Bryce-Ford Wheaton could technically be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Those things just aren’t going to happen, though, and how can anyone picture this group of Mountaineers pulling off such a feat?
Not after Saturday, when, on two consecutive trips to the foul line, it was Texas Tech players grabbing crucial offensive rebounds.
“How do you explain a guy on the inside not even moving on the foul line to block out the guy next to them?” Huggins asked. “I can’t explain that. Obviously that’s something you practice. I don’t know.”
And certainly not after watching WVU players just fumble the ball around like a hot potato and throw curious passes out of bounds to players who should have been ready to catch the pass, but clearly weren’t.
These are mistakes you see in youth rec leagues, from kids who are seven or eight years old, not from paid college athletes well into their 20s.
Except you’ve seen silly stuff like this from WVU all season, but it still believes it has a shot to qualify for a tournament that will decide the national champion.
No way, no how.
“We had a fifth-year guy throw the ball out of bounds,” Huggins continued. “Can you explain that? I can’t. I don’t have any idea how to explain that. Why would we do that? Why would you just take it and throw it? I don’t know.”
Despite what the computers say today and despite how hard of a schedule WVU has played, the Mountaineers have spent the better part of the last 50 days proving there are more reasons to keep them out of the NCAAs rather than including them in it.
Can all of that take a sudden turn for the better? Yeah, sure, there is still time remaining for WVU to change that narrative.
There’s also still time left to go buy a lottery ticket, too, and the odds of who wins first is closer than you may think.
TWEET @bigjax3211
