WVU's East Region bracket features two other Big East teams, No. 1 Syracuse and No. 6 Cincinnati. But the items that will be of the most interest to West Virginia fans are as follows.
First, WVU's first game, against No. 7-seeded Gonzaga, will be in Pittsburgh, at CONSOL Energy Center. Second, there's a decent chance that WVU will play the Ohio State Buckeyes in their second game. The WVU / Ohio State rivalry has been under-explored because WVU is in the Big East (the Big 12 next year) and Ohio State is in the Big Ten. But if the two teams do get to face each other, fans on both sides, and especially the West Virginia side, will be psyched. One only needs to look at a recent Facebook meme about how West Virginians see the rest of the U.S. to see why. The state of West Virginia will have a ton of fun rooting against Ohio State, should WVU make it to that point.
No. 1 Syracuse vs. UNC Asheville, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 8 Kansas State vs. No. 9 So. Miss, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Harvard, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Montana, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Loyola (Md.), Thursday 3/15/12
No. 7 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 West Virginia, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 14 St. Bonaventure, Friday 3/16/12
No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Texas, Friday 3/16/12
For more on West Virginia basketball, check out The Smoking Musket.