Breaking Down West Virginia's Big East Scenarios

Entering the final week of the regular season, West Virginia finds itself tied for third place in the Big East with Pittsburgh.

The Mountaineers were picked to finish second in the league by the coaches.

With Syracuse clinching the Big East regular season title with a dominating performance over Villanova on Saturday, what is at stake for the Mountaineers this week?

They can finish second in the league or as low as sixth depending on the outcomes of several games. They have clinched a first round bye in the Big East Tournament but are hoping to be one of the top four teams and clinch a double-bye.

West Virginia has two tough games this week, starting off on Big Monday, hosting No. 13 Georgetown, and finishing the regular season on the road versus No. 8 Villanova.

The easiest way to ensure themselves of a double-bye is to beat either Georgetown or Villanova. West Virginia has a two-game lead on Georgetown and holds head-to-head tiebreakers on both Marquette and Louisville, who are both one game back.

Should West Virginia lose both games, they are looking at finishing sixth in the league. With five league losses, the Mountaineers would then finish with seven, which would be the same as Georgetown. Georgetown would own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

West Virginia would then be behind the winner of the Louisville-Marquette game, assuming that game's winner would win their remaining game. This would be an absolute worst-case scenario for West Virginia, and it would knock them off a potential two seed in the NCAA Tournament to roughly a four seed.

The best-case scenario for West Virginia would be to finish second, but they will need some help. They are currently tied for third with Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker, which is the record versus the team that wins that leads the league. Pittsburgh defeated Syracuse in earlier January, while WVU lost to the Orange.

For WVU to finish second, they must defeat both Georgetown and Villanova. This would put them in a tie with Villanova. The tiebreaker in the Big East is a confusing one, as it goes by record versus the highest ranked teams in the league. Should both teams finish with the same record, it goes down the standings until the tie is broken.

West Virginia needs Georgetown to finish above Notre Dame in the standings for them to own the tiebreaker over Villanova. West Virginia would have defeated Georgetown, while Villanova already lost to them.

West Virginia would also need Pittsburgh to lose to either Providence or Rutgers, which are both home games for the Panthers. Should Pittsburgh win both, and West Virginia win both remaining games, Pittsburgh would finish second, West Virginia third, and Villanova fourth.

The most likely, and simplest, scenario is West Virginia defeats Georgetown to clinch at least fourth place in the Big East and a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.