It is that time of year, again—the sun is out, the days are longer, the weather is warmer, your mind feels a little clearer, and March Madness is freakin’ here! With spring, it gives animals (and humans) a chance to shed off those winter layers, become more active, and most importantly, it gives everyone and everything the ability to start anew. And after what happened in the Big 12 Tournament last week, the 3-seed West Virginia Mountaineers will need to do the same in their first round matchup against 14-seed Morehead State.

First off, to give credit where credit is due, Oklahoma State played incredible, beating WVU 72-69. In addition to beating the Mountaineers in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, they went on to beat Baylor, and ended up losing in a close Big 12 Championship game to Texas. However, there were still plenty of missed opportunities for the Mountaineers in this game. In what should have been a sustainable momentum swing at the end of the first half when Miles “Deuce” McBride stole the ball twice to give the Mountaineers a 36-30 lead at halftime, turned out to be just a “flash in the pan.” With the combination of Oklahoma State answering in the second half and West Virginia playing “not to lose,” Oklahoma State went on the win the game, 72-69, and Bob Huggins is still looking for his 900th win.

While it would be incredible to win a Big 12 Tournament one day, legacies are not created in conference tournaments. Once the First Four begins, conference tournaments are an afterthought. Everyone has heard the sayings: “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,” “one game at a time,” “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” etc., but here is the most important saying of them all— “survive and advance.”

“It’s the NCAA Tournament, you are going to have at least one game where your team isn’t clicking. There will be times where you have to change your game plan. Whether you have to switch up ball screen defense, your offensive plays, or just depend on a unit you are not used to depending on, it is March; anything can happen. The name of the game is survival—just survive and advance,” said Ryan McIntyre, Video Coordinator for the West Virginia Men’s Basketball Team.

McIntyre goes on to say, “The greatest challenge of the Tournament is no looking ahead. You have 18-22-year-olds that have the pressure of the whole country on them; that’s why they call it March Madness. In past years, we’ve seen Loyola-Chicago, South Carolina, VCU, and George Mason make it to the Final Four. Why? Because everyone said they couldn’t and then went on to play like they had nothing to lose. This is why we can’t look past Morehead State.”

McIntyre was the Graduate Assistant from 2017-2018 at South Carolina under Frank Martin when the team went to the Final Four. The two years following that, he was the Director of Basketball Operations at Austin Peay State University where they played Morehead State University on a consistent basis in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Selection Sunday

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee believes West Virginia is capable of going far. Yes, you heard that correctly, not only do the West Virginia faithful believe this, but the most important selection committee to ever exist (excuse the drama, but this really is the greatest time of the year) believes we are capable too. One might be thinking, “it is always us against the world, yes, maybe some sports analysts or tv personalities like us, but there is no way the NCAA Tournament has our back.” Well, let’s take a closer look…

Would you look at that, who is that familiar foe that can’t stop being talked about and what is their seeding? That would be 4 Oklahoma State; the same Oklahoma State that beat West Virginia in Morgantown on senior night preventing Huggins’ 900th win and the same Oklahoma State that beat West Virginia again (back-to-back) in the 2nd Round of the Big 12 Tournament and preventing Huggins’ 900th win, again. Even with all this craziness and the story lines behind these games, the NCAA Tournament selection committee still feels like West Virginia is a better team than Oklahoma State. Even with a one-seed difference, this dramatically changes West Virginia’s potential matchups and puts off potentially meeting 1 Illinois by one round. Little details like this is the difference between upsets and making a run, between National Champions and losing in the 1st Round.

“We are good to go [in terms of the player’s health and stamina]. Everyone knows, if you want to win the Tournament, you have to ‘will your way.’ This is the time of year where you are not allowed to be hurt or tired. Players need to find that 5th gear and go,” said McIntyre.

The Round of 64

Since losing to Clemson on December 21, at Clemson, Morehead State went on to win 19 of their last 20 games. In addition, 10 years ago in the NCAA Tournament, 13 Morehead State upset 4 Louisville who was coached by Rick Pitino.

“Morehead State is always ‘pounding their chest.’ They are playing with ‘house money;’ they have nothing to lose. They are going to try to beat us by wearing us down. They want to turn this game into a 40 minute ‘slug fest’ and we cannot let them do that. We have to come out fast, sharp, hitting shots, and hustling on all ends of the court. That is how we beat them,” McIntyre explained.

McIntyre has every right to take this game seriously, not only because it is single elimination, but when McIntyre was a senior student manager in 2016 at West Virginia, 14 Stephen F. Austin upset 3 West Virginia in the 1st Round (same seeding as Morehead State and West Virginia this year). Hopefully, the Mountaineers learn from recent history.

The Round of 32 (and beyond)

McIntyre ended the conversation by explaining what he thought of the Midwest Region, “There are a lot of good teams in the region, but I like where we are. Everyone saw what 1 Illinois did in the Big 10 championship in Indianapolis—the same building where the national championship will be. They can handle this stage, but it is our job to show we can handle it too. 2 Houston only has 3 losses and we saw what 4 Oklahoma State is capable of, especially with the potential player of the year, Cade Cunningham; we have our work cut out for us. However, none of this matters unless we beat Morehead State.” 

If West Virginia beats Morehead State, they will play the winner of San Diego State and Syracuse. According to ESPN’s Pickcenter, 6 San Diego State is favored by 3 points over 11 Syracuse and 3 West Virginia is favored by 13 points over 14 Morehead State.

(Updated) Prediction

My prediction is West Virginia and San Diego State will meet in the Round of 32. In terms of the overall tournament, I see West Virginia making it to the Elite Eight. It has been a fun amazing season so far, and Huggins has done and incredible job coaching this team, but why stop now?

SURVIVE AND ADVANCE.