The Monday morning prophecy is West Virginia ought to be on upset alert. The top 16 seeds are all favored, but WVU is the smallest favorite at minus-5. Among the fellow No. 4s, Miami is minus-13 1/2, Texas A&M minus-13 and Utah minus-8. The top-ranked No. 3 seed — it’s true — plays the toughest No. 14. Stephen F. Austin has won 20 games in a row, the longest winning streak in the country this season, and though it’s seeded as the final No. 14, it’s rated higher than Green Bay, Buffalo and Fresno State in the RPI and by KenPom.

So there is a trend to pick against the Mountaineers, but compare the two teams for yourself and tell me why that is. The Southland Conference is so bad — 29th out of 32 conferences in the RPI — and SFA’s only three RPI top 100 wins this season are against the same team by five then 12 and then 22 points.

WVU thought it deserved a No. 2 seed and expected the No. 3, but the part that seemed to amuse Bob Huggins most was the path his team has to take to get to the Final Four. No one has it easy, but the Mountaineers might have some awkward interactions along the way, beginning with the Lumberjacks.

They’re coached by Brad Underwood, who was an assistant coach at Kansas State from 2006-12 and was hired by Huggins for the lone season he coached the Wildcats.

“And they say none of that stuff matters, it’s all just numbers,” a skeptical Huggins said of the matchup.

Underwood, in his third season at the school, is 59-1 in regular season and postseason conference games. In 2014, he led the school to an upset as the No. 12 seed over the No. 5 VCU in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“Very sharp guy,” Huggins said. “He’s done a great job.”

The first game could be just the start of a familiar path for Huggins. Friday’s winner advances to Sunday’s game and will face either former Big East foe Notre Dame or the winner of Wednesday’s Michigan vs. Tulsa play-in game. Michigan’s coach, of course, is former Mountaineers coach John Beilein.

The No. 2 seed in the region is Xavier, a heated rival for Huggins when he coached at Cincinnati, and the Musketeers could be a Sweet Sixteen opponent, though it’s possible Pitt, the No. 10 seed, could be there, too.

The Elite Eight could present the No. 4 seed Kentucky and Huggins’ friend, Wildcats coach John Calipari.

“Couldn’t have planned it any better,” said Huggins of Calipari, who called Huggins to predict the two would again be in the same region. “It just kind of seems like these things just happen.”