The men's and women's basketball teams at the University of Charleston and West Virginia State all know one thing for certain in terms of the upcoming Mountain East Conference tournament. The path for all four of them won't automatically begin at the Civic Center.
The top four teams on both the men's and women's sides were decided this past weekend, and with that, the four first-round byes for both sides were locked in. West Liberty, Wheeling Jesuit, Fairmont State and Concord's men's teams and West Liberty, Wheeling Jesuit, Glenville State and Notre Dame's women's teams all are guaranteed at least one game in the Civic Center starting Thursday, March 3 for the women and Friday, March 4 for the men. Where those teams will be seeded will be decided this week in the MEC's last two regular-season games.
The rest of the conference must battle its way into the Civic Center through the first round, to be held Tuesday, March 1, on the home courts of the higher-seeded teams. For UC and WVSU, this week will clear up all the questions as to what the future lies.
The Golden Eagles host Concord University and the Yellow Jackets visit the University of Virginia College at Wise on Thursday before UC and State meet Saturday at the Civic Center in the regular-season finale for both teams. Of the four squads, only the WVSU men's team is locked into its seed. The Yellow Jackets men (6-19, 4-16 MEC) sit 10th. The UC men are seventh and the WVSU and UC women are seventh and eighth, respectively, but that could change depending on how this week shakes out.
UC's men are 10-10 in conference play and sit in a group with Notre Dame, Shepherd and West Virginia Wesleyan, all four teams sitting within two games of each other with two to play. The fifth through eighth seeds all host first-round games. The Fairmont State, Urbana, WVSU and UC women currently sit fifth through eighth, all within two games of each other as well. UVa-Wise is ninth, a game behind UC.
Any ties in conference record are broken, first, by head-to-head records. If two teams split their regular season series, then, in descending order, the tied teams' record is considered against other teams in the standings starting with first place. For instance, if team A went 1-1 against the top seed and team B went 0-2, team A wins the tiebreaker. If the records against the top seed are tied, the league then compares records against the No. 2 seed.
So for UC's men (13-13, 10-10 MEC) and women (10-16, 8-12 MEC) and WVSU's women (12-14, 9-11 MEC) opponents and possibly home court could be at stake this week. Two wins could mean hosting the MEC's No. 12 team. Two losses could send a team into an 8-9 matchup. For the UC women, two losses could put the Golden Eagles on the road in the first round.
UC men's coach Dwaine Osborne said it would take an entire page just to map out all the possible scenarios with two games left. So, instead of having them worry about the unknown, Osborne said coaches keep players honed in on what is concrete - the next game.
"A lot of times, as coaches, we know that stuff more than maybe we necessarily tell our team or talk to our team about," Osborne said. "Obviously, this week, we're going to be focused on two things - getting ourselves better and trying to prepare for Concord. When we get done with that, we'll worry about what comes afterward."
Yellow Jackets men's coach Bryan Poore also has told his team not to worry about what the MEC tournament may bring. It's a little easier for him to do, since his players know they're headed on the road for the first round. Even so, Poore wants his team to believe it can score an upset and make waves in the Civic Center.
"All I've been preaching to them is worry about today, get better today and try to find some momentum today," Poore said. "It has made them a little more loose, though nobody likes to lose and it's been frustrating for all of us around the program. It's been a little bit challenging to keep their spirits up. We'll push hard this week and see what we can do."