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Article:
WVU Men's Basketball Season Preview by: Jonathan Bentz There is positive talk of post-season tournaments for West Virginia University. Surprisingly, that talk has nothing to do with the football team. While the boys on the gridiron have already accepted an invitation to the 2005 Toyota Gator Bowl, the 2004 WVU men's basketball team is looking towards making a storybook run at the NCAA Tournament. Reaching college basketball's elite tournament is something the team hasn't accomplished since 1998. That year, they were one of the tourney's Cinderella stories, making it all the way to the Sweet 16. Getting to the tourney will not be an easy task. WVU plays in the Big East conference, considered by many to be one of the toughest in all of Division I. The Mountaineers' out of conference schedule is no pushover, either: they play Louisiana State at Baton Rouge, and have a huge showdown against ACC powerhouse North Carolina State in Raleigh. 'We don't want to be sitting there on bubble night saying, I wish we had played a tougher schedule,' said Mountaineer coach John Beilein. 'We might not get to the bubble, but we won't know unless we try.' If Beilein's coaching history is any indicator, then a tournament trip would seem likely. Beilein's previous three coaching stops (Division II Lemoyne, Canisius, and Richmond), all made the NCAA tournament by the end of his fourth year as coach. Finding positive things to say about West Virginia's basketball program was once a struggle. That was, before Beilein arrived. The Mountaineers did not have a memorable 2001 campaign. They started the season strong, going 7-'2
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