Top Five Games for Mountaineer Athletics in March

Seven West Virginia teams are preparing for postseason play this month, including one WVU team that is contending for a national title. Let’s take a look at the top games for Mountaineer athletics in March!

Honorable Mention: Women’s Basketball vs #8 Iowa State (March 5th)

The West Virginia women’s basketball team finishes the regular season with a tough matchup at #8 Iowa State. The Cyclones defeated the Mountaineers in their first matchup this year, 88-72, but hopefully the senior day festivities will motivate WVU to get the upset win. This game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

5. Men’s Basketball at Big 12 Championship (March 9th-12th)

It looks like the West Virginia men’s basketball team’s only chance to make the NCAA Tournament at this point would be to win the Big 12 Championship. The Mountaineers started the year 13-2, but two horrific losing streaks have them at 14-15 with two games left in the regular season. WVU will get its conference tournament matchup following those two games.

4. Tennis vs #5 Texas (March 18th)

A three-match winning streak in February helped the West Virginia tennis team improve to 6-4 this season. The Mountaineers have three matchups against ranked Big 12 opponents this month and the biggest one is against the #5 Texas women’s team. The Longhorns are 8-3 this year, but they have struggled on the road, going 1-1 in away matches. Hopefully WVU can use its home-court advantage to pull off the upset in its first conference matchup of the season.

3. #25 Baseball vs Marshall (March 23rd)

The West Virginia baseball team is ranked for the first time this season, coming in at #25 in the Perfect Game Top 25. The Mountaineers are 5-2 with two wins over then-#16 Central Michigan, a win over Kent State, and a series win over Charlotte. The month of March doesn’t present too many tough opponents for WVU, but the busy schedule will test the team’s bullpen. The biggest game of the month will be when the Mountaineers host their in-state rival, Marshall. The game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

2. Gymnastics vs #1 Michigan and #6 Auburn (March 12th)

An incredible upset over then-#22 North Carolina extended the West Virginia gymnastics team’s winning streak to 10-matches and help the team stay undefeated for the entire month of February. Following the senior day matchup with Ball State, WVU will travel to Ann Arbor to face #1 Michigan and #6 Auburn in the final meet of the regular season. This will be an extreme competitive meet for the Mountaineers, but their nationally ranked floor lineup could help them pull off the upsets. WVU will also have the Big 12 Championship one week after this meet.

1. #4 Rifle at NCAA Championships (March 11th-12th)

The #4 West Virginia rifle team is going for its 20th national championship in school history this month, which makes this event the biggest “game” of the month for WVU athletics. The Mountaineers lost a little bit of momentum with their loss to #2 Kentucky to end the regular season and their second-place finish at the GARC Championships, but head coach Jon Hammond will have them ready for the NCAA Championships. Junior Akihito Shimizu and sophomore Tal Engler had the best performances for WVU at the conference championships. Both Mountaineers had 1187 aggregate scores, and Shimizu had a career-high 599 in air rifle. Hopefully WVU can reclaim its title as the best rifle program in the country and win its 20th national championship.

Photo by Jay LaPrete/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Be sure to tune in to support WVU for these games and let us know what other matchups you are looking forward to this month!