Ross Hodge has made a ton of progress building the Mountaineer basketball program since the end of the season, reeling in a top 15 high school class and transfer portal class . It's reasonable to think that with the incoming talent, West Virginia will be a near lock (if they stay healthy) to make the NCAA Tournament next season, especially since the field has now expanded to 76. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi is not buying the hype, however. At least not right now. In his very first projection for next season that features 76 teams, he has West Virginia as his first team out. The teams that just snuck in ahead of the Mountaineers? Ohio State, NC State, UCLA, Creighton, TCU, Oklahoma, Marquette, and Stanford. I get the hesitation, but... Miles Sadler Ross Hodge won 21 games and finished in seventh place in the best league in America with a roster that had extreme limitations. He had no rim protection, no true backup point guard, no consistent scoring outside of Honor Huff, and just one true center.…