MORGANTOWN — West Virginia has a date for the NCAA tournament for a third consecutive season.
This one comes with a No. 6 seed in the Birmingham 2 Region, which will take the 16th-ranked Mountaineers to Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday for a first-round matchup against the winner of the Columbia/Washington play-in game.
The tip-off time for Saturday’s game is expected to be released Monday.
It’s the highest seed for WVU (24-7) since it was a No. 4 seed in 2021.
“To me, the NCAA tournament is your last time, basically,” WVU guard J.J. Quinerly said. “With me, being a senior, it’s really my last time. I think we just have to go out there and leave it all out on the floor and enjoy the moment.”
A win in the first round could possibly set the Mountaineers up with third-seeded and 12th-ranked North Carolina (27-7), which lost to N.C. State in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.
North Carolina faces Oregon State in the first round.
A year ago, there was disappointment surrounding the WVU women’s program after earning a No. 8 seed and getting shipped out to Iowa City, Iowa to face Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes in the second round.
A year later, the Mountaineers appeared to be more content with their placement by the NCAA selection committee.
“We weren’t expecting what we got a year ago,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “I think I went in with let’s wait and see what happens. Once you hear your name called, there’s excitement. Now, we’ve just got to piece it all together a little bit more.”
Still, there was some questions as to how much attention the selection committee used the NCAA’s NET rankings in determining the seeds.
WVU is ranked No. 12 overall in the NET and earned a six-seed. North Carolina got a three-seed, while ranked No. 20 in the NET.
“I’ve never been in the room to know what all the metrics are,” Kellogg said. “The question is why do we put so much weight on the NET all year long and then don’t weigh that as heavily when they’re going through it all? They’re supposed to take the human element out and make it computer based.
“We’ve seen in year’s past they don’t go just off the NET, so it’s not overly surprising. I just don’t understand the whole formula.”
The Mountaineers won’t know who their first-round opponent is until Thursday. That’s when Columbia and Washington — both No. 11 seeds — face each other in a play-in game.
Columbia (23-6) won the Ivy League regular season title, but was beaten by Harvard in the conference tournament championship game.
Washington (19-13) finished 12th in the Big Ten and lost to Michigan in the second round of that conference tournament.
Both teams have high-scoring backcourts. Washington guards Elle Ladine and Sayvia Sellers combine for 32.3 points per game.
Columbia guards Riley Weiss and Cecelia Collins combine for 31.5 points per game.
Kellogg said scouting reports would be drawn up on both teams and WVU would spend some practice time this week on both opponents.
“Once we know who we play, they’ll essentially have a one-day prep to get ready for us,” Kellogg said. “I would think that would be an advantage for us, but you never know.”
In either situation, WVU will face a non-Big 12 opponent for the first time since Dec. 15, which brings with it a sense of hitting the rest button a bit.
“It’s refreshing in certain ways,” Kellogg said. “Some of the stuff that hasn’t been working late in the year may work now, because the other teams aren’t as familiar. For the most part it will be fun to have new teams to prepare for.”
A win in the first round would hand WVU a 25-win season for the eighth time in program history.
If WVU does meet up with the Tar Heels in the second round, Kellogg may be able to draw off his experience as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin.
In the 2022 NCAA tournament, North Carolina beat SFA, 79-66.
“It was a real good game,” Kellogg said.
Otherwise, there’s not much history between WVU and North Carolina. The two teams have only played once, and that came in 1979.
“I think everybody wanted something more regionally based,” Kellogg said. “I know we have a good alumni base in the Charlotte area. Hopefully we can draw off that.”
