SBNation.com has an awesome article that looks at teams on the bubble of the NCAA basketball tournament. Among local teams, Pitt is obviously in. But what about the West Virginia Mountaineers? They're 11-4 and have beaten one ranked team (Georgetown). Here's what SB Nation has to say:
The Mountaineers have faced a schedule that's a bit more challenging than it appears on the surface, playing only six games outside of the RPI Top 100 to date. Curiously, they step out of conference for a pair over the next week, with a home game against Purdue providing a statement opportunity for both sides, and the game against Marshall in Charleston being a little trickier than normal, since the Herd is playing well for Tom Herrion. This week: Purdue (Sun.), Marshall (N) (Wed.)
The Purdue game will be a big one for the Mountaineers - the Boilermakers are ranked eighth in the country.
Georgetown, by the way, is one of the teams that has played its way into trouble by losing to WVU and Pitt. The Big East teams with the clearest path to a tournament berth are now Syracuse, Pitt, Villanova, UConn, and Notre Dame.
This week is a big one for Penn State's tournament chances, as well. The Nittany Lions have pulled out big wins against Michigan State and Illinois in the last week, but they lost to Purdue, and several early-season losses have them on the bubble. Pulling out a big win against Ohio State or Purdue in road games this week could give their chances a huge boost, SB Nation points out.
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