Thursday was supposed to mark the beginning of the 2020 NCAA tournament.
But at a time that was supposed to be spent breaking down the matchups facing West Virginia in this year’s tourney, life has forced us to skip ahead one year.
There was certainly a chance that the Mountaineers would have reached the tournament’s second weekend this season, but it was not exactly a likelihood with West Virginia a probable 6- or even 7-seed in this year’s field.
As painful as it is to live without March Madness for the first time since 1938 — hopefully while avoiding the economic conditions of 1938 — there is actually reason for optimism when looking ahead at next year’s Mountaineers.