WVU Still Looking For First "Good" Win.

We thought it was Ohio State on Pat White Day.  But they turned out to be overhyped and have since faded.  Then we thought it was the Hoyas.  But that only turned out to be a bump in the middle of a landslide.   Those are nice wins.  Ohio State and Georgetown are still good teams.  But they aren't they caliber of team you need to knock off in order to gain some recognition that is still meaningful in March.  WVU has had 4 opportunities against the top 4 teams in the league (2 at home and 2 on the road) and has come up short 4 times.  Meanwhile, the 4 teams we have victories against rank at 14, 13, 12, 10 in the Big East standings.   

As the middle of conference season approaches, it is an appropriate time to see where the league is in regards to the NCAA Tournament.  The top 4 teams in the league have become locks.  Marquette, Louisville, Pitt, and UConn will all reach the requisite number of victories in the league to ensure themselves a bid.  The bottom 5 in the league as well have all but been eliminated.  Seton Hall, St. John's, South Florida, Rutgers, and DePaul are all 2-6 or worse and have only a miracle's shot at getting to 9 or 10 wins.  That leaves the 7 teams in the middle fighting for anywhere from 4 to 6 spots (likely 5) available for the NCAA Tournament.  Let's look at a breakdown so far of those teams.

Providence has 6 wins in the conference already which is a huge advantage.  4 more conference wins and they will likely finish high enough to merit a bid.  They don't have any signature wins.  Beating Syracuse is their best win.  They have bad losses against Northeastern and Boston College.  The conference record of their remaining schedule is only 35-40 and that includes Rutgers twice and South Florida.   

Villanova is next at 5-3.  They have a signature victory over Pitt.  They have no bad losses.  Their remaining opponents are 41-47 in conference play.   They only have two "easy" games left versus Rutgers and DePaul. 

Syracuse is 5-4.  Their best win of the season is at Memphis.  They have a loss to Cleveland State.  Their remaining opponents are 41-37.  Their only easy game remaining is Rutgers. 

WVU is 4-4.  We don't yet have a signature victory. We also don't have any bad losses.  Our remaining opponents are 41-37.  Our easy games remaining are Rutgers, DePaul and South Florida.  

Cincinnati is 4-5. They also don't have any signature victories or bad losses.  Their remaining opponents are 36-40.  Their only easy game left is South Florida.

Georgetown is 3-6.  They have wins over UConn and Memphis.  They have also lost to Tennessee and Seton Hall.   Their remaining opponents are 35-37.  They have easy games left against Rutgers, South Florida and Depaul.

Notre Dame is 3-6.  They have a win over Texas.  They have also lost to St. Johns.  Their remaining opponents are 41-36 not including UCLA.  They have easy games left against South Florida and Rutgers.  

And that's it in a nutshell.  Villanova appears to be in a very strong position and Providence would have to completely fall apart to not make it.  Everyone else, however, appears right in the thick of things and it will be an interesting battle.