MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s route to a Final Four potentially is lined with a Bob Huggins protégé (Brad Underwood), a Huggins predecessor (John Beilein) a longtime Huggins rival (Pitt or Xavier) and a Huggins BFF (John Calipari).
“I couldn’t have planned it any better,” he joked Sunday night after West Virginia earned the No. 3 seed in the East Region.
The Mountaineers (26-8) open the NCAA tournament in Brooklyn against Stephen F. Austin (27-5) on Friday at 7 p.m. and would face a second-round matchup against No. 6 seed Notre Dame (21-11) or the play-in game survivor of Michigan (22-12) and Tulsa (20-11).
The regional’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be staged in Philadelphia.
Despite keeping tabs on Armstrong’s success, Huggins couldn’t guess how his team matches up against SFA and the region field.
“I don’t know how we match up against Stephen F. Austin,” he said. “And I don’t know much about Notre Dame, Michigan or Tulsa. I haven’t watched (them). That’s the bad thing about being in the Big 12—because the league’s so hard you don’t get to watch anything else.”
WVU nabs “top” No. 3 seed: According to the NCAA committee’s 1-through-68 rundown of the field, West Virginia received the first No. 3 seed. So it seems apparent a win over Kansas in the Big 12 title game would have vaulted the Mountaineers up a notch.
“A 2 seed would’ve been good but we’re happy where we’re at,” said guard Jaysean Paige. “We’re still there and we’re going to work.”
Oklahoma (25-7) received a No. 2 seed despite finishing a game behind West Virginia in the regular-season standings and being ousted by the Mountaineers in the tournament semifinals. Then again, the Sooners feature a better RPI and swept the home-and-home series.
“They beat us two out of three, and (committee members) say it doesn’t matter but they’ve been ranked higher than us most of the year,” Huggins said. “They’re a good basketball team. That’s kind of splitting hairs really.”
NYC homecomings: Tarik Phillip grew up close to where the Barclays Center opened in September 2012 and Paige lived in the Bronx before his family moved to Jamestown, N.Y., Both junior-college transfers shared knowing glances when West Virginia’s destination was revealed.
“It’s close enough for everybody to make it and it’s just big-time to be able to be a part of the tournament,” Paige said.
Last year’s tournament games at Columbus and Cleveland gave the Ohio collection of Devin Williams, Juwan Staten and Elijah Macon the chance to play in front of their families.
Huggins has seen past tourneys affect local players differently, particularly when ticket requests outnumber each player’s allotment.
“It depends on the person,” he said. “Some people put too much pressure on themselves and some people enjoy it.”
Top-seeded Tar Heels: North Carolina secured the East’s No. 1 seed by winning the ACC tournament title over Virginia just a few hours after the Big 12 final ended.
Not that the Mountaineers were watching.
“We didn’t get back until 5 o’clock,” Williams said, “so I didn’t see much but the sun.”