Sometimes you can give it all, but your best just isn't good enough. That's the frustrating reality facing the West Virginia Mountaineers as the season inches closer to an end.
WVU had climbed back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble before a loss to Utah earlier this week severely damaged the team's hopes to go dancing in Ross Hodge's first year at the helm. But the Mountaineers still saw themselves being discussed in Bracketology projections ahead of Saturday's road trip to TCU, though it was going to take a gargantuan close to the season to make some magic happen.
Unfortunately, despite a gritty effort from the Mountaineers that left Hodge satisfied with his team's work ethic, WVU gave up a second-half lead and allowed the Horned Frogs to rally late to steal a victory. It marks the first back-to-back losses since November for the team, and pretty much puts a dagger in their hopes of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
And while Hodge appreciates his team's fight, he's beginning to admit that sometimes, your best effort doesn't get the job done. Which was not only the case for the Mountaineers against TCU on Saturday, but it is also likely something you could say about WVU's season as a whole as they've been looking for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2022-2023 season.
"I thought our guys played really hard, our effort was impressive," Hodge said. "We had negative plays early on offense that turned into super hustle plays on defense. You can play hard, but at some point you also have to play good, and we didn't play good enough."
The Mountaineers were considered the last team in the 'Next Four Out' category of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology projection Saturday morning, and a loss against a team that was listed as Lunardi's first team outside of the field this weekend will likely damage things beyond repair as the Mountaineers move to 16-11 overall.
Now, fans will have to hope for an undefeated run to end the season and a big conference tournament showing if they want to cling to any lingering March Madness visions. But most likely, WVU will find itself in the NIT or College Basketball Crown should they accept an invitation.