West Virginia Basketball: What Experts Say About Mountaineers' NCAA Chances

West Virginia has had one of those seasons that has been up and down. Although the Mountaineers are in the tournament they are not expected to do much due to their inconsistent play throughout the season.

It seems that the verdict is still out on this team when it comes to their run in the NCAA tournament and they have a tough road ahead if they wish to get to the Sweet 16 and beyond.  

Here is what the experts have to say about the West Virginia Mountaineers. 

Katz thinks that this could be a very good matchup, if West Virginia plays to its potential. Katz thinks that if the Mountaineers can get up and go with the Zags and play some physical basketball, they will be able to beat Gonzaga.

With Gonzaga coming to the Mountaineers region, it's going to give the Mountaineers an advantage in terms of home court. 

Gottlieb thinks that West Virginia has a very good shot at winning this game. With their two big post men, they will be able to beat up Gonzaga. 

He thinks that the way to beat Gonzaga is being physical with them, and that's surely what this Huggins team will do. If they can get some tough physical play out of their guards, this will be a good win for West Virginia. 

Parrish has West Virginia advancing past Gonzaga in the second round, but then losing to Ohio State in the third round.

It's true that even if West Virginia can win against Gonzaga they will have to face a very tough Ohio State team that has a lot of talent and is likely mad after losing to Michigan State in the tournament.

They would have a lot of issues hanging with such a talented squad.  

Dodd is a bit unorthodox when it comes to his picking and tends to lean a bit towards the East Coast when he chooses, but he does have the Mountaineers going to the Sweet 16 for what it is worth.

Dodd has them getting past the Zags and Ohio State to meet Florida State in the Sweet 16 matchup. 

Dodd also has 'Cuse as his champion. 

Doyel also has West Virginia making it past the Zags, but then losing to the tough Ohio State team out of the Big Ten. 

Doyel is with the crowd on this one as it seems no one is picking the Zags to make a deep run in this season's tournament. 

Borzello has the Mountaineers losing in the first round. With the tough play of the Zags, it's easy to see how they could take out West Virginia.

With how young this Bob Huggins squad is, it could be very difficult to keep up with a team on the perimeter that is as tough as Gonzaga. Either way, though, it should be a great game to watch and a great game in general.

Borzello is definitely in the minority with the first pick though.  

Along with Borzello, Goodman also has the Zags advancing. He must think that this West Virginia team just isn't good enough on the perimeter to make this game a victory. 

Goodman is generally a decent picker, but he can sometimes be off especially on games of this caliber that anyone can take. 

If the Mountaineers are going to win this game, they need to play their pace in front of their fans and just make the Zags play them physical. 

Norlander also has Gonzaga winning the matchup. This is going to be one of those games that no one really knows who is going to win until that final buzzer. 

This will surely be one for the ages especially if Gonzaga can avoid being upset in an away region. 

Jerry Palm is great with brackets and is often overlooked for more prominent people in the industry such as Joe Lunardi. Palm knows his stuff though and is usually pretty spot on with his picks and who is in and out of the tournament.

Palm has Gonzaga winning the game and that cannot be a good sign for fans of West Virginia. With this great expert picking the win, it could mean numerous things, but it can't be good. 

He also has Gonzaga winning. With the experts leaning toward Gonzaga it looks like West Virginia is the underdog in this one. 

They should like that role, though, because they don't have many expectations. If they can get physical with this team, though, they will have a very good shot at victory. Physicality is going to win this game.

It's basically a home game for WVU, so they should play the way they want to play, hard, tough and physical.