NCAA Tournament Projection: West Virginia Still Has Work to do to Host Regional

A poor end to the regular season pushed the West Virginia Mountaineers out of a regional hosting spot, but with a strong couple of days in Arlington, they could be right back in the mix.

On Thursday, WVU took it to the eighth-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats, winning 10-3 and advancing to the Big 12 Conference semifinals. Prior to the start of the tournament, head coach Steve Sabins said that if the Mountaineers win the 'ship, there would be no way the committee could keep them out of hosting.

According to D1Baseball.com's latest tournament projection, West Virginia is a No. 2 seed in the Knoxville region, hosted by Tennessee. Others in the region include No. 3 Miami (FL) and No. 4 Miami (OH).

A loss today or tomorrow shouldn't hurt WVU's stock to the point where they would drop to a three seed, but if they can win it all, they'll be in the mix to host.

Tonight, WVU will take on Arizona, a team that took two of three from them earlier this season in Morgantown. Should they win and advance to the championship, they'll meet the winner of Kansas/TCU. WVU did not face TCU, and Kansas, of course, swept the Mountaineers to end the regular season.

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