March Madness: Ranking the remaining teams of the East Region

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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 18: The West Virginia Mountaineers bench celebrate at the end of the second half against the Marshall Thundering Herd during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 18, 2018 in San Diego, California. The West Virginia Mountaineers won 94-71. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) /

3. West Virginia Mountaineers (5 seed)

Strength: Element of surprise

Similar to Syracuse, there’s no simlating “Press Virginia”. The full-court press can wear down some of the best guards, and confuse and disorient any offense. Even though Villanova will get several days to prepare for this, the first couple of years will be rough.

The Mountaineers also have some good depth behind them, with Esa Ahmad joining a cast of underclassmen capable of scoring 20 points on a given night. It’s all spearheaded by Jevon Carter, one of the best two-way players in the countries. If he has a great shooting night, West Virginia can beat anybody.

Weakness: Scoring droughts

This team could easily be a higher seed, if they could’ve beat either Kentucky or any time they faced Kansas this season. There were a few times where the Mountaineers squandered a double-digit lead in the second half against them, losing a game they were clearly the better team most of the night.

This year’s West Virginia team is better offensively than season’s past, but there are still lapses sometimes. They were able to overpower both Murray State and Marshall, but with stiffer competition coming, those droughts might come back.

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