The second-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers escaped a narrowly-fought, low-scoring battle against No. 6 seed Colorado on Saturday night with a 48-47 victory in Kansas City to advance to the Big 12 Tournament Championship on Sunday.
And while the victory wasn't pretty – in fact, head coach Mark Kellogg called it "ugly" – WVU pulled out a win facing adversity, and in doing so achieved a program-best win total since Kellogg took over the program and achieved a milestone that has so far eluded him in his first two seasons with the Mountaineers.
West Virginia earns 26th win of the season and moves on to the Big 12 Tournament Championship for first time in 5 years
West Virginia moved to 26-6 on the season with the win over the Buffaloes, which is the most wins the Mountaineers have achieved in Kellogg's three years leading the program – they finished each of the past two season with 25 wins, which the Mountaineers matched with a win against Arizona State on Friday.
The Mountaineers also advanced to the Big 12 Tournament Final for the first time since 2021, marking Kellogg's first opportunity to capture a conference tournament title. Last year, the Mountaineers fell in the semifinals, while they bowed out in the quarterfinals the year before.
With the Mountaineers having achieved these goals, many are debating if it's enough to reach the next big goal on their checklist: which is earning a 4-seed or higher in the NCAA Tournament, allowing the Mountaineers to host the opening weekend of the tournament at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown.
Well, many in the media believe it should be. Charleston Gazzette-Mail reporter Taylor Kennedy is of the belief the Mountaineers have done enough, and On3 national women's basketball analyst Talia Goodman pulled no punches in voicing her agreement with the idea.
It would be asinine if WVU’s women’s team doesn’t host regional games in the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers have checked A LOT of boxes this season and look to check one more tomorrow vs TCU in the Big 12 Conference Tournament title game.
— Taylor Kennedy (@Taylor_Kennedy7) March 8, 2026
They play at 5pm EST tomorrow. #WVU
Yeah, they’ve earned it.
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) March 8, 2026
West Virginia should be a 4-seed. https://t.co/cIfxlyyAIu
The Mountaineers will face No. 1 seed TCU for the third time this season in the Big 12 Tournament Championship, which is set for Sunday, march 8 at 5 PM EST. The Mountaineers lost both meetings with the Horned Frogs earlier this season, with one of the losses coming on a last-second buzzer beater.