Pitt at West Virginia. Senior Night. A whole lot on the line. Spooky.

This may very well be an elimination game for WVU. Pitt’s probably in the NCAA Tournament already. The resume is a little stronger and a road win would push the Panthers over the top, for sure. The guess is WVU is in, but barely and only if the season ended right now … and obviously, the season does not end right now. Getting swept by a team you so closely resemble isn’t a great distinction.

Coach Bob Huggins was asked if his team needed a signature victory.

“Marquette’s not a signature win?” he said calmly, but clearly annoyed at the insinuation. “You’re listening to the wrong people. That’s people trying to make a living. I’ve got no problem with people making a living, but to say we don’t have a signature win is ridiculous. And we’re hopefully going to end up with 10 or 11 wins in this league. That’s not good enough? If that’s not good enough, then we have problems. We have serious problems.”

Eh, sounds like politicking. There’s no telling how many games WVU needs to win, but the best — and only — bet is to win tonight and win at St. John’s Saturday. Winning at home and avoiding bad losses is a pretty good formula. Wouldn’t you know it, Huggins agrees.

So just where does West Virginia stand in relation to the NCAA tournament? Coach Bob Huggins actually said Saturday that he isn’t all that worried because he likes a lot of the things his team has accomplished this season and figures the committee will, too. It also helps that this just seems to be one of those years when a lot of bubble teams appear pretty mediocre.

“I saw the other day where somebody was making a case for a team and used as an example a win over Ohio University,” Huggins said.

He didn’t follow that up. He didn’t have to. Ohio was 18-9 going into the weekend and had the fourth-best record in the MAC. The Bobcats also had an unofficial RPI of 58. Nothing against OU, which I’m sure has a fine team, but this is a resume-building win?

But Huggins isn’t exactly sleeping easy, either.

“We need to win two so I’d feel a lot more comfortable, but I think we’re fine,” said Huggins, whose team has regular-season games remaining with Pitt Monday and at St. John’s Saturday. “I really do.”

Oh, and lastly, let’s stop the ESPN Conspiracy Theory before it goes any further. It happens every year and it’s absurd, and maybe even egotistical, to say ESPN has singled out one school and attempts to bury it every March. Already got an e-mail that stated ESPN lists the Mountaineers record as 19-9 so to deny them 20-victory status and that when analyst Doug Gottlieb listed their wins he said they swept Rutgers and never mentioned Marquette so to deny the best league win.

Stop. Please stop. There is no conspiracy. First, WVU is 19-9 as far as anyone should be concerned. The win against Arkansas Monticello does not count. Only games against Division I teams count. Secondly, well, people make mistakes. Even Doug Gottlieb. Rest assured the selection committee would not make the same error.

Simply revel in the comfort that is knowing Gus Johnson is almost here.