WVU basketball needed to beat the odds and pull off some serious resume-boosting wins in the Big 12 Basketball Tournament if they wanted to keep their hopes of an NCAA Tournament appearance alive in their first season under head coach Ross Hodge. What happened instead was that the Mountaineers failed to win even a single game in Kansas City.
The Mountaineers opened action in the tournament on Wednesday against BYU, and the Cougars got some revenge for the loss they suffered in Morgantown earlier this season as they manhandled West Virginia in a 68-48 win. They were on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament bubble before the loss, and will certainly miss the tournament now as they finish their season at 18-14 overall.
What comes after Big 12 Tournament loss for the West Virginia Mountaineers?
Well, the Mountaineers don't have to be finished for the season if they don't want to be finished. The College Basketball Crown will enter it's second season of existence, and offers spots in it's eight-team field to the top two teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East that don't receive NCAA Tournament bids, as well as two at-large bids. Most likely, WVU will be in consideration for this field.
And if WVU is overlooked for this tournament, they are also still able to play in the NIT – though if they decline an invite the College Basketball Crown, it will prevent such an opportunity due to contractual obligations.
Now, it is up to the Mountaineers as to whether they want to continue on with the season or not if such opportunities are presented, but it fits Ross Hodge's track record to do so – he took North Texas to the NIT in each of the past two seasons.
The Mountaineers turned down postseason opportunities last year after being snubbed from the NCAA Tournament field, but that may have had something to do with then-head coach Darian DeVries having designs to leave West Virginia to accept the same role at Indiana, which occured within days of WVU declining postseason play.
Ironically, Indiana is also currently one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament in projections, and plays in the Big Ten – show a grudge match for the Mountaineers against Darian and Tucker DeVries could be in the works in the College Basketball Crown.