MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Final Four is all fired up in Phoenix, with nary a Big 12 team in it.
That stings for Kansas, which had a 1 seed, a national player of the year, lottery pick Josh Jackson, and the Elite 8 staged in its backyard.
It’s no less painful for West Virginia, which lost a last-minute lead to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 and endured a severe case of what-could-have-been as the Zags crushed Xavier by 24 in the followup.
“After watching Gonzaga play Xavier, I think everybody on our team feels like we should be playing in the Final Four,” said Mountaineers assistant Erik Martin.