West Virginia has eyes locked on national title

It didn't take long for West Virginia to start thinking about Washington.

Mountaineer forward John Flowers jogged off the court at HSBC Arena after the 68-59 victory over Missouri to advance to the Sweet 16 of the 2010 NCAA Tournament and raised four fingers into the air.

"Four more," he yelled to the fans around him as he walked toward the tunnel; four more games until the Mountaineers are named national champions.

It's been a running motto for the team since it won the Big East Conference Tournament. After that game, senior forward Wellington Smith yelled out "six more."

The goal is simple: win a national championship.

West Virginia hasn't deviated from that one bit.

"This is business more than anything, because I want to win," said WVU senior forward Da'Sean Butler. "I'm happy to win this game, and I will celebrate it lightly, but we need to win the next one."

After the team entered the locker room Sunday, it congratulated for mere seconds before media barged in on the scene.

There were no emotion-filled hugs or tears of joy. It was a quick cheer of no more than five seconds – a few hoots and a holler and that was it.

Junior point guard Joe Mazzulla said the team didn't celebrate much because it's "on a mission."

"If we started celebrating after this one, it would be like we were settling for mediocrity," Mazzulla said.

He added the team will enjoy it for the rest of the day but will focus on the Huskies as soon as possible.

The consensus from everyone surrounding the program was that West Virginia still has work to do.

"They're going to enjoy it, but they have higher aspirations," said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. "They want to do more. That's good."

It was completely opposite two years ago, the last time WVU advanced to the Sweet 16. In that year, the Mountaineers were a seven-seed and faced off against Duke in Washington, D.C., for one of the final 16 spots.

After the 73-67 upset of two-seed Duke in the second round, the Mountaineers were joyous.

"It's totally different," said WVU forward Cam Thoroughman. "We were screaming and yelling. We just upset the two-seed."

After West Virginia won its first Big East title more than a week ago, it found the confidence it needed to head into the NCAA Tournament expecting to come out as champions.

Thoroughman said the team had been down prior to the late run leading up to what was West Virginia's eighth-straight win Sunday against the Tigers.

"When we came back from Connecticut, we were low," Thoroughman said. "Then we beat Cincinnati, Georgetown, Villanova and then the Big East Tournament."

Now, West Virginia couldn't be more confident.

When the Mountaineers take on Washington Thursday, it will be a battle between the nation's hottest teams – both with soaring confidences.

But what makes West Virginia so strong is its ability to keep it loose and not take the game too seriously.

Check out Flowers' Twitter (it's @jflow41 if you didn't know) at about midnight Saturday. Then, check out the box score just 16 hours later.

Despite all the fun in a hotel room, a victory was inevitable.

The Mountaineers are winning – and enjoying the ride – but not celebrating too much.

"We're like a big family," Flowers said. "This is one of the best times of our lives. We're not going to be able to have fun with Da'Sean and (WVU forward) Wellington (Smith) next year, so we're just going to have all the fun that we can have now with each other."

The Mountaineers aren't stopping in Syracuse, either, if they get their way.

There's a reason they break each huddle at the start of practice by screaming "national championship."

They want it. And they won't stop until they get it.