NCAA Previews: Recognize the West Virginia Mountaineers

Conference: Big East
Record: 22-9, 11-7 in conference
RPI: 27
How They Got In: At-Large
Seed/Bracket: 7/West

Mascot: Mountaineer. The only mascot that has and fires a flintlock rifle. West Virginia has had students serving as the embodiment of the Mountaineer since the late 1920s.

Big Wins: Pitt, Marquette, Winthrop

Notable Loss: Cinci (by 23 points)

Player You Should Know: Joe Alexander has emerged late in the season. The forward has great range and has stopped settling for jump shots and now goes closer to the basket. He's also the team's leading rebounder.

Outlook: The Mountaineers are still in transition from the motion offense and zone defense of John Beilein to the more aggressive defense and traditional offense under Bob Huggins. They came on stronger later into the season, but have spells where the defense gets passive. They can definitely win a game, but getting to the Sweet 16 this season seems unlikely.