Already this morning I’m seeing and hearing WVU get criticized and/or ripped for reaction to its positioning in the NCAA Tournament. Seems a little misplaced to me.

WVU was given a No. 2 seed in the East Region Sunday night and I don’t think that came as a surprise to the Mountaineers. They wanted a No. 1 seed and they talked up the possibility, but when you talk about something so much and on such a big stage, people start to listen. As Big East champs, they had a pretty big audience to speak to, so they put their goals out there for others to digest. Or accept.

Crazy-as-a-fox Seton Hall Coach Bobby Gonzalez nailed it this week. With the loss to Notre Dame, it was assumed the Pirates were out of the NCAA Tournament, but Gonzo gave a half-dozen reasons why that was bogus before relenting and revealing one reason his team was in trouble.

“I think we should be on the board. I think all this talk about the bubble has burst and now we’re out and we’re done and we lost and that’s it and it’s over, I don’t think people know what they’re talking about. I don’t think they have a clue. I think they listen to what everybody else says and they repeat what they hear.”

So it’s a twist the other way, but publically the Mountaineers wanted to talk about the No. 1 seed and even seem confident they’d get one in hopes others might, too. Privately, it was a little different and most figured they’d be left out in favor of Duke, provided the Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament.

Turns out the Mountaineerw were left out, though in favor of Syracuse, which was jumped by Duke, a decision I still can’t grasp. And I’m not alone. CBS’s Greg Anthony last night pointed out Syracuse had the edge in four meaningful measures and asked the selection committee chairman “how you could possibly see (Duke) being a better No. 1 seed than Syracuse?”

The Mountaineers were still happy, but also “surprised and disappointed,” according to Wellington Smith, becuase they wanted it. Not because they thought they were entitled to it. There’s a difference.

Yet as I sat there and watched players — exhausted, by the way — and the head coach answer questions about seeding, I knew it was going to come back on them. And it has.

Take the Associated Press account, which is where many people are getting their quotes.

“I thought statistically we were a 1,” Huggins said Sunday. “The disappointing thing is that when they stand up there and say, ‘Let’s look at the full body of work,’ and if you look at the full body of work, we were probably a 1.”

OK, and from where does the outrage come? Statistically, WVU was a No. 1 seed. The chairman said it. Huggins said it. And I can understand the disappointment when you’re told you have to to A, B and C to merit consideration and you do all three and it doesn’t matter. Also, there was another part of that quote the writer omitted. Huggins continued …

“I didn’t think we’d be a one. I thought we’d be a two, but the third two – I don’t understand that.”

Again, wanted a No. 1, had accepted a No. 2, can’t comprehend the third No. 2, for the reasons we’ve already discussed. Seems like a very clear dissemination to me.

I think the best — and by that, I mean worst — part of this is about WVU’s supposedly disingenuous players who, it is said, have no room to complain.

“We deserve a 1-seed,” Butler said. “We’ve done a lot to get a 1-seed and we didn’t get it and it kind of sucks. Personally, I’m going to keep that in the back of my mind.”

Help me, but I’m not seeing the problem here. WVU was, by all the statistical measures, worthy of a No. 1 seed. The numbers say it, the resume says it and the selection chair said it. What’s wrong with Butler saying it? Oh, and there are many things Butler thinks “sucks,” or “kind of sucks,” or “might suck.” He says it a lot.

Why, had Georgetown chosen to guard the inbound at the end of the game Saturday night and forced Butler from the top of the key to catch the pass, that “probably would have sucked” because he could have prevented him from getting to the basket.