More fun with magic numbers as they relate to West Virginia and the NCAA Tournament: 9 > 10. The target keeps moving here, says Bob Huggins.

“I’m not sure if we’re 9-9 that we’re not OK,” Huggins said. “I’d feel a whole lot better with 10.”

The Big East is going to be an interesting case study this season. I have a feeling, for some reason, last year’s unprecedented bid count will be held against the conference this season. It’s not as good in 2012 as it was in 2011, so I figure people will seek to demerit the accomplishments of some teams.

And WVU could be one, even though, as Huggins repeats, it has done everything the selection committee “asks” a team to do … but if you want to talk about a moving target, the committee’s criteria is certainly one of those.

Still, the aim is to remove the uncertainty and the best way to do that, apart from winning the Big East Tournament, is to get these next two games. I’d say tonight’s is particularly important and more than the Friday home game against top-10 Marquette, because this is on the road and WVU is “supposed” to win at home.

Stopping the streaking Irish would do a lot of good, of course, for the Mountaineers and it would certainly help them distinguish themselves. That’s going to be important. For example, Seton Hall, at home, crushed Georgetown last night. A WVU win at Notre Dame is a very different thing, even with the Hoyas in the top 10 … and remember, WVU beat Georgetown at the Coliseum and the Hoyas are a weird road team.

There’s a very good chance WVU and Seton Hall and UConn are going to be in the 8-9-10 range in the conference standings and I just don’t see 10 teams getting in this year. Those three might get in, and one team above might suffer a crazy fate, which I’ll get to in a moment, but they need separation.

The three resumes are going to be similar, but WVU lost to both of those teams on the road. A win against at Notre Dame is something neither the Pirates nor the Huskies have.

What the Pirates (8-8) and the Huskies (7-8) have are far simpler finishes to the season. Seton Hall plays at Rutgers and home against DePaul. UConn has Syracuse at home, Providence on the road and Pitt at home. OK, the game against the Orange will be hard, but that’s a major opportunity to snatch the bid. And if the goal is to get to nine, or even 10, it’s not too daunting for them.

And that’s what makes tonight’s game so big, potentially, for WVU. Truth be told, at 9-9, the Mountaineers might be safe, but likely not if they lose these next two. That, quite likely, can’t happen, but you have to hedge all your predictions because of the Big East Tournament and the noise that can be made there.

The Mountaineers have a tough finish beginning tonight, and after playing two ranked, hot teams, they play host to DePaul and then go to Tampa for what could be a fascinating game.

The Bulls are 10-4 in the league (17-10 overall) and might get a two-round Big East bye … and might not make the tournament. Their schedule is really weak, both in non-conference play and, to date, in the Big East.

They’re 1-6 against the RPI top 50 and 12-3 against Nos. 101-344. They’re also 4-7 on the road. Of their 10 conference wins, not one is against a team in today’s top eight in the league. They’re 6-0 against Pitt, Villanova and Providence and cleaned up with Rutgers, St. John’s and DePaul. The best Big East win is Seton Hall.

USF also closes at Syracuse, home against Cincinnati, at Louisville and home against WVU. Major opportunities in there, but also some pitfalls, too. A whole lot could be riding on that WVU game at the end of the regular season and the Bulls, who play really good defense and are very good at home, could have a crowd like no other. Best for WVU not to be in that position at the end.