West Virginia's Margin for Error is Razor Thin, and Darian DeVries is Well Aware of it

The runway to Selection Sunday is shortening, and West Virginia still has work to do.

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Playing a perfect game in the Big 12 Conference is not required, but sometimes it can feel like it due to the level of competition, the way a game is officiated, or in last night's case, both.

West Virginia hasn't been an efficient offensive team this season, but they had to be in order to keep pace with the high-powered attack that BYU brings to the table. All night long, WVU was able to shoot the three-ball with just as much consistency, finishing the night 9-for-27.

Unfortunately, some turnovers, lapses on the defensive end, and a handful of very questionable whistles played a part in the Mountaineers' four-point loss to the Cougars.

“The margins are always thin, and like we’ve talked about all year for us, it’s really thin," WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. "That’s why we have to have our defense carry us. For a game where our offense was rolling the way it was, that’s a game we should have put away. We didn’t do that because our defense wasn’t what we needed it to be.”

West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries applauds his defense in the first half of the NCAA basketball game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Because of the loss, West Virginia finds itself in a bit of an uncomfortable position. As highlighted earlier this morning, the magic number for the Mountaineers to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament appears to be 19. That's four more wins with seven games left in the regular season, plus you have the Big 12 tournament to help get you there.

WVU has three home contests remaining - Cincinnati, TCU, and UCF - the combined Big 12 road record of the three schools is 5-13. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it - if you want to get to the dance, you need to chalk all three of those games up as wins.

The committee is going to study your conference results long and hard, and showing that you were unable to win on your floor at the end of the season is going to give them major cause for concern.

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