Selection Sunday is just about here. In fact, it will be THIS Sunday.
The women’s basketball team has finished up their Big 12 Tournament, and are waiting to see where they show up in the bracket. They are a lock to make it, and depending on how the selection committee treats their resume, they could be anywhere from a 4-6 seed. A four seed would be ideal, because they would get to host two rounds. My expectation, based on how bracketologists have been predicting the field is that a five or six seed is more likely.
The men, on the other hand, still have a chance to improve their standing. At this point, with the regular season done, they are pretty much considered to be in the tournament. The bracketologists have WVU as a 9 or 10 seed right now, which definitely seems safe. The Big 12 tournament started yesterday, and continues through Saturday. Consult your preferred online sports news source (or use wvusports.com) to find out the next game(s) for the Mountaineers.
Even if they lose their first game in the conference tournament, WVU shouldn’t have to sweat on whether they make the Big Dance or not. Long time Mountaineer fans will remember other years that WVU has been snubbed by the selection committee, but given how the bubble looks this year, the Mountaineers should be safe no matter what. However, if WVU can win a couple of games, especially against a Top 4 seed, that will give the Mountaineers a chance to get a higher seed.
The indoor Track and Field team had a pretty successful Big 12 Championship. They finished fourth overall, which is their highest placing since joining the Big 12 in 2012. This is especially impressive when you consider that WVU doesn’t really field a full team (they don’t have the number of sprinters or field athletes that other teams do). Leading the way was Ceili McCabe, who won the 3000m run. She was also a member of the winning Distance Medley Relay team. There were plenty of other solid placings as well. Joy Naukot had a pair of second place finishes (3000m and 5000m), Naomi Kemboi was fourth in the 3000m, Sarah Tait was third in the mile. And Madison Trippet was fourth in the 1000m run.
Next up, the Indoor season concludes with the NCAA Championships this weekend. McCabe will be the only Mountaineer participant, when she competes in the 3000m run.
The first season of the Brent McDonald era for WVU Swimming is over, and all in all, it was a successful one. WVU broke 3 school records at the Big 12 Championships, and there was a whole host of season best times and personal best times. It definitely looks like he (and his staff) can get his swimmers to perform well, so now the challenge will be to recruit at a higher level than before. The way swimming recruiting has worked in recent years would mean that it will take a few years to really find out, because many top swimmers have been committing before their senior year has started. And during their junior year, they are narrowing down their list of finalists. That being said, swimming is undergoing an overhaul in the current landscape of college athletics. After the House lawsuit settlement, many teams are going to have capped roster limits, and that is resulting in many swimmers being cut from their current teams. Many of those will be entering the transfer portal, and it is possible that WVU may be able to build some quality depth via the portal. (I plan to talk about the House settlement and its impact later – partly because schools are still trying to figure out exactly what the impact will be).
The baseball team has had its best start since 1964, when they began the season 18-0. They are among the last four undefeated teams in Division 1 (along with Alabama, Florida State, and Tennessee).
All of the wins, to be fair, are against teams that will likely not be in the Top 100 of the RPI at the end of the season, but it is still impressive to get to over double digit wins to start the season.
Notes: Selection Sunday is this Sunday, March 16. The men’s bracket reveal will start at 6:00pm, while the women’s bracket show begins at 8:00pm…The rifle team won its 17th GARC Championship, beating out Kentucky. They head to Lexington this weekend to try to win the NCAA Championship. They are the second seed, behind Alaska-Fairbanks, and ahead of #3 Kentucky, #4 TCU, and #5 Ole Miss. Rounding out the eight-team field is Murray State, Georgia Southern, and Air Force.
