NCAA Seeding Update

Many people have WVU penciled in as a #8 seed, which is somewhat of the kiss of death. Eight-seeds are an even 58-58 against #9 seeds since the NCAA began seeding teams this way. Also, the winner of the 8-9 must play the #1 seed, assuming the #16 team does not make history and defeat the #1. In the second round, #8 seeds are 12-46 against the top seeds.

Probably the most popular bracket website is ESPN’s Bracketology by Joe Lunardi. Lunardi’s current projection has a seventh-seeded West Virginia facing off against Kent State in Raleigh, with a second-round road game against Duke looming. Jerry Palm has been in the bracket game for a long time as well, and he has WVU as an eight-seed, facing the #9 seed Kansas State. Palm and the NCAA committee probably love this matchup, as it pits Bob Huggins against his former team, and Joe Alexander against Michael Beasley. Palm has the winner facing off with overall #1 North Carolina, again with the regional pod taking place in Raleigh.

Every tournament game is tough and you have to beat great teams in the tournament anyway, but in my estimation an 8 or 9 seed sucks. You face an evenly matched opponent in round one, then you have to face one of the top teams in the country, who will probably be playing within a short drive of their own campus. All the potential #1 seeds have a regional location that gives them a clear home-court advantage, Duke/UNC in Raleigh, Memphis in Little Rock, UCLA in Anaheim, and Kansas in Omaha. Tennessee could play in a neighboring state in Birmingham. Apparently Georgetown cannot play in the Washington regional so they will probably be shipped to Birmingham or Tampa.

Other potential first-round opponents for the Mountaineers: Miami, St. Mary’s, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Kent State, Baylor, UNLV, Davidson, Arkansas, Arizona, Arizona State, South Alabama. Of course we won’t know for sure until tomorrow evening, but there are some teams on that list that barely squeaked in to the tournament. I think we’d have to luck into a 6 seed to realistically face some of these teams. I don’t think we’re a six-seed unless we get on the seven line and get moved up for scheduling. But as they say, it’s a fluid situation.

Tags: Bracketology, Jerry Palm, Joe Lunardi, March Madness, NCAA tournament