ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Continues to Climb, Earns Higher Seed

Darian DeVries' squad is starting to catch the nation's attention.

West Virginia University guard Javon Small / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

While it may be the most stressful time of the year trying to find last-minute Christmas presents for your loved ones, at least the West Virginia men's basketball team did Mountaineer Nation a favor by making this part of the schedule cupcake central.

WVU took care of North Carolina Central and Bethune-Cookman last week and will have one more game to go against Mercyhurst before entering Big 12 Conference play on the road at Kansas. With a win over the Lakers on Sunday afternoon, West Virginia will have matched its win total from all of last season,

The Mountaineers have won four in a row and have continued to climb up Joe Lunardi's bracketology projection on ESPN. They began the season not included in the projection, to being featured in the First Four Out to Last Four In and are now the top team in the Last Four Byes, meaning by next Tuesday, they'll likely be off the bubble and safely in the field...for now.

Lunardi currently has West Virginia as a No. 11 seed in the East Region.

Lunardi's East Region Projection:

1. Iowa State vs. 16. Merrimack

8. Georgia vs. 9. Utah State

5. Michigan State vs. 12. Liberty

4. UConn vs. 13. Furman

6. Clemson vs. 11. Texas

3. Oregon vs. 14. Milwaukee

7. St. John's vs. 10. West Virginia

2. Alabama vs. 15. Central Connecticut

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