Do you remember that one Bob Huggins video from his time at Cincinnati? The one where he pops out of a casket and declares that "we're not dead yet?" You've probably seen it circulating around at least once over the past decade – it's become a viral meme among WVU basketball fans, even once tweeted by Huggins himself during his time coaching the Mountaineers.
Well, Huggins is no longer leading the West Virginia Mountaineers, but the energy exuded in that viral video still applies. Because while things haven't been anywhere near perfect on the hardwood for the WVU this season, they're still in the hunt to return to the NCAA Tournament this year – which the program hasn't pulled off since the 2022-2023 season.
West Virginia Mountaineers Still In Hunt For NCAA Tournament
Despite a tough loss to the Baylor Bears last week in a winnable game, the Mountaineers bounced back with a big win on Thursday against Cincinnati – and that has been enough to move them back into a group of teams still in consideration for the NCAA Tournament, according to the latest Bracketology update from ESPN's Joe Lunardi.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 7, 2026
Lunardi lists the 68 teams he would currently have in the NCAA bracket, as well as the first four teams out and the next four teams out. From there, he also lists other teams he considered – after appearing in this section earlier this season, the Mountaineers had been absent from recent Bracketology updates. But on Saturday, the Mountaineers re-emerge this section.
Currently, WVU's losses to Baylor (also in the "considered" section) and Ohio State (who are in the "Last Four In" section) will hurt the Mountaineers hopes. But they do still have matchups with Oklahoma State (First Four Out) and TCU (Next Four Out) remaining on the schedule, as well as four games with current projected tournament teams – Texas Tech, BYU, and UCF (twice). Their performance in those games will be crucial in determining their postseason hopes.