Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Mountaineers on Precipice of Hosting NCAA Tournament Women’s Basketball Games
March 11, 2026 03:14 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia could be arriving at another pivot point in its women's basketball history.
A big moment for the program came in 1989, following its Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game victory over Temple, when it earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and defeated Western Kentucky on its home floor before falling in the second round to Virginia.
Three years later, West Virginia cracked the national rankings for the first time, advancing to 11th on the way to hosting an NCAA Tournament second-round game against 20th-ranked Clemson.
A then-record crowd of 8,268 watched West Virginia defeat Clemson 73-72 on Jodi Runner's last-second basket. That triumph put the Mountaineers in the round of 16 for the first and only time in school history.
Mike Carey's Mountaineers made strides by earning a Big 12 regular season championship in 2014 and a tournament title in 2017, while Mark Kellogg's teams have won at least 25 games in each season he's coached here so far.
Two years ago, West Virginia captured the attention of the country by battling second-ranked Iowa down to the wire in a 64-54 second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament that had as many people talking about the Mountaineers' scrappy defense as they were the game's officiating.
Then, earlier this year, West Virginia made headlines by defeating 15th-ranked Duke 57-49 with only five available players at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs. The five players, mostly backups, were dubbed "The Greenbrier Five" and captured the hearts and minds of West Virginians everywhere for their inspiring performance.
Now, following West Virginia's 62-53 victory over 10th-ranked TCU on Sunday to secure its second-ever Big 12 Tournament championship, the program is on the precipice of hosting NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games the weekend of March 20-22.
The most recent ESPN.com Bracketology update has moved West Virginia to a No. 4 seed, which places it among the top 16 seeds in the tournament and gives it the ability to be one of the 16 first- and second-round host sites.
Those sites will be announced this Saturday, one day before the tournament selection show on Sunday night.
This is an important moment for a women's program that will be qualifying for a 17th NCAA appearance in its history but has advanced past the first weekend of play only once in 1992 when the tournament field was comprised of just 48 teams.
It's an opportunity for growth and advancement that's not lost on Kellogg, whose 77.8 winning percentage through 99 games is by far the best ever at West Virginia.
"I want it for the state; I want it for our community; I want it for our program, and I want it for women's college basketball, because I think it will be an electric environment for the other teams that come here to play," he said yesterday.
"(Hosting) doesn't guarantee that you are going to win," he added. "It doesn't guarantee that you get to play a second game. We just know two day's-worth of games (could be) played here. You have to play really well to win the first game of the NCAA Tournament to get an opportunity to continue to play. I don't want us to lose sight of that."
Kellogg's first two years in Morgantown have seen him take teams to difficult NCAA Tournament venues – sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Areana in Iowa City, Iowa in 2025, and at Carmichael Areana against 12th-ranked North Carolina last year.
In both instances, the home venue mattered in closely contested games.
Getting the opportunity to host NCAA Tournament games in Morgantown will showcase high-level women's college basketball to an entire region.
"Everything is in play," Kellogg admitted. "I don't want to overdo it to where we feel like, 'Oh my gosh, there is so much pressure because we've got one chance for this and it may or may never happen again in our history.' I don't know if I'm ready to go there yet, but I understand it.
"I know what it means. I know this is big. I think this will be a magical place and it will be packed, but I don't know that (for sure)," he said. "I just feel like when you see other sports like a football weekend or men's games, I want people in that upper bowl for the regular season – not just for this."
If the NCAA Tournament comes to Morgantown, it will add to an already busy slate for the city's Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Mountaineer Aquatic Center at Mylan Park will be serving as the host venue for the Pennsylvania YMCA Swimming Championships that same weekend with roughly 1,000 swimmers coming to the area.
Having these two events simultaneously will provide a significant financial windfall to local businesses.
"There are going to be a lot of people here," Kellogg noted. "I think the state will rally around this and outside of the boys state (basketball) tournament, I don't think there is a lot else going on. I hope we get it, and I'm interested to see how many (show up). Is there going to be 6 or 8,000? Is there going to be 10 or 12? Will there be 14(000)? I don't know.
"I want to challenge Mountaineer fans," he continued." This is program-defining … athletic-department-defining; this is women's basketball-defining and all of those things. We are growing a brand, and we are growing women's basketball. These kids have earned the right to experience this for how hard they've worked, and then it will be up to us to take advantage of it. Let's make it unbelievable, because this place can be different than other places."
Kellogg says he knows when there are going to be good crowds during the regular based on the number of ticket requests he receives. Since the team's return from Kansas City early Monday morning, his cellphone has not stopped ringing.
"If nobody asks me for tickets, I know it's going to be a standard night, and I know how this is going to look," he said. "When my allotment of tickets is gone, then I know we are going to have 5 or 6,000 people tonight.
"I want it to go well, and I want it to go right," he concluded.
A big moment for the program came in 1989, following its Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game victory over Temple, when it earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and defeated Western Kentucky on its home floor before falling in the second round to Virginia.
Three years later, West Virginia cracked the national rankings for the first time, advancing to 11th on the way to hosting an NCAA Tournament second-round game against 20th-ranked Clemson.
A then-record crowd of 8,268 watched West Virginia defeat Clemson 73-72 on Jodi Runner's last-second basket. That triumph put the Mountaineers in the round of 16 for the first and only time in school history.
Mike Carey's Mountaineers made strides by earning a Big 12 regular season championship in 2014 and a tournament title in 2017, while Mark Kellogg's teams have won at least 25 games in each season he's coached here so far.
Two years ago, West Virginia captured the attention of the country by battling second-ranked Iowa down to the wire in a 64-54 second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament that had as many people talking about the Mountaineers' scrappy defense as they were the game's officiating.
Then, earlier this year, West Virginia made headlines by defeating 15th-ranked Duke 57-49 with only five available players at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs. The five players, mostly backups, were dubbed "The Greenbrier Five" and captured the hearts and minds of West Virginians everywhere for their inspiring performance.
Now, following West Virginia's 62-53 victory over 10th-ranked TCU on Sunday to secure its second-ever Big 12 Tournament championship, the program is on the precipice of hosting NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games the weekend of March 20-22.
The most recent ESPN.com Bracketology update has moved West Virginia to a No. 4 seed, which places it among the top 16 seeds in the tournament and gives it the ability to be one of the 16 first- and second-round host sites.
Those sites will be announced this Saturday, one day before the tournament selection show on Sunday night.
This is an important moment for a women's program that will be qualifying for a 17th NCAA appearance in its history but has advanced past the first weekend of play only once in 1992 when the tournament field was comprised of just 48 teams.
It's an opportunity for growth and advancement that's not lost on Kellogg, whose 77.8 winning percentage through 99 games is by far the best ever at West Virginia.
"I want it for the state; I want it for our community; I want it for our program, and I want it for women's college basketball, because I think it will be an electric environment for the other teams that come here to play," he said yesterday.
"(Hosting) doesn't guarantee that you are going to win," he added. "It doesn't guarantee that you get to play a second game. We just know two day's-worth of games (could be) played here. You have to play really well to win the first game of the NCAA Tournament to get an opportunity to continue to play. I don't want us to lose sight of that."
Kellogg's first two years in Morgantown have seen him take teams to difficult NCAA Tournament venues – sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Areana in Iowa City, Iowa in 2025, and at Carmichael Areana against 12th-ranked North Carolina last year.
In both instances, the home venue mattered in closely contested games.
Getting the opportunity to host NCAA Tournament games in Morgantown will showcase high-level women's college basketball to an entire region.
"Everything is in play," Kellogg admitted. "I don't want to overdo it to where we feel like, 'Oh my gosh, there is so much pressure because we've got one chance for this and it may or may never happen again in our history.' I don't know if I'm ready to go there yet, but I understand it.
"I know what it means. I know this is big. I think this will be a magical place and it will be packed, but I don't know that (for sure)," he said. "I just feel like when you see other sports like a football weekend or men's games, I want people in that upper bowl for the regular season – not just for this."
If the NCAA Tournament comes to Morgantown, it will add to an already busy slate for the city's Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Mountaineer Aquatic Center at Mylan Park will be serving as the host venue for the Pennsylvania YMCA Swimming Championships that same weekend with roughly 1,000 swimmers coming to the area.
Having these two events simultaneously will provide a significant financial windfall to local businesses.
"There are going to be a lot of people here," Kellogg noted. "I think the state will rally around this and outside of the boys state (basketball) tournament, I don't think there is a lot else going on. I hope we get it, and I'm interested to see how many (show up). Is there going to be 6 or 8,000? Is there going to be 10 or 12? Will there be 14(000)? I don't know.
"I want to challenge Mountaineer fans," he continued." This is program-defining … athletic-department-defining; this is women's basketball-defining and all of those things. We are growing a brand, and we are growing women's basketball. These kids have earned the right to experience this for how hard they've worked, and then it will be up to us to take advantage of it. Let's make it unbelievable, because this place can be different than other places."
Kellogg says he knows when there are going to be good crowds during the regular based on the number of ticket requests he receives. Since the team's return from Kansas City early Monday morning, his cellphone has not stopped ringing.
"If nobody asks me for tickets, I know it's going to be a standard night, and I know how this is going to look," he said. "When my allotment of tickets is gone, then I know we are going to have 5 or 6,000 people tonight.
"I want it to go well, and I want it to go right," he concluded.
2026 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament Champions Recap
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Big 12 WBB Tournament Champions | Mark Kellogg, Jordan Harrison and Sydney Shaw
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Mark Kellogg, Sydney Shaw & Jordan Harrison | Big 12 Tournament vs. TCU
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Mark Kellogg, Meme Wheeler & Jordan Harrison | Big 12 Tournament vs Colorado
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