West Virginia men's basketball has missed the NCAA Tournament. After finishing their regular season slate with two consecutive wins, it was assumed by most that West Virginia would make the bracket.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and others predicted that WVU was an NCAA Tournament lock heading into conference tournament play, and they were still projected safely in the bracket despite losing to Colorado in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. WVU was still predicted to be in the field, and the Bracket Matrix breakdown saw WVU in the field in 111 out of 111 brackets.
But once the dust settled on the bracket reveal, West Virginia was incredibly left out of the final field. They were named the first team out of the tournament, leading to tremendous devastation for the Mountaineers.
Bracket Matrix brackets with West Virginia IN: 111/111
— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) March 16, 2025
Truly INSANE that they were left out.
I feel awful for the fanbase.
Was West Virginia snubbed?
The short answer is, yes. Yes, they were.
If we were to provide some detail and compare WVU’s resume to that of the four bubble teams playing in Dayton’s First Four this week, a strong case can be made for WVU being wrongfully left out of the tournament field.
North Carolina (22-13)
North Carolina makes the big dance with a laughable record of 1-12 in Quad 1. This is a record that might not be outdone for the next century. Their lone Q1 win is a 2-point win over 7-seeded UCLA on a neutral floor. Aside from that, North Carolina played a difficult non-conference schedule, and they lost every single one of those games. They also had a Q3 loss at home to Stanford. WVU finished with an unblemished record in Quads 3 and 4, while collecting 6 Q1 wins.
San Diego State (21-9)
The Tar Heels will matchup with the Aztecs of San Diego State. SDSU had a 3-6 Q1 record and also had a bad Q3 loss. They ranked one spot below WVU in the NET rankings at 52. But they have the best win of any team in Dayton’s First Four with a win over Houston, who WVU was felled by twice this season.
Xavier (21-11)
The NCAA Tournament Committee must love teams with just one Quad 1 win, because like UNC, Xavier did not beat many good teams. Xavier finished with a Quad 1 record of 1-9 and did not play nearly the caliber of non-conference schedule that UNC did. They lost to both Georgetown and TCU, two teams that WVU beat by double-digits.
Texas (19-15)
Regardless of how impressive the SEC was this season, a 6-12 conference record making The Big Dance is highly questionable. While they did pick up seven Quad 1 wins, they had a losing record in both Q1 and Q2, 7-10 and 3-5 respectively.
Bonus Head-Scratcher: Oklahoma also made the field (and apparently safely) as a 9-seed. Like the Longhorns, OU finished with a 6-12 conference record.
West Virginia (19-13)
The Mountaineers finished with six Quad 1 wins, including wins over Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Iowa State. No team mentioned above has four better wins. They finished 10-10 in a Big 12 Conference that is certainly no slouch, though admittedly not as good as the SEC this season.
The Mountaineers and their fanbase are heartbroken, and they have every right to be. For a team that exceeded expectations and faced adversity, West Virginia had a season to remember, unfortunately, it just won’t be remembered as an NCAA Tournament team.