The Washington St. Cougars and the Pittsburgh Panthers will face off in a best-of-three series for the right to be possibly the 101st team in the nation. It doesn't get bigger than this, does it?
Washington State could be without Brock Motum though, which would put them at a severe disadvantage.
The only true advantage Washington State has stems from the better shooting offense, particularly with two pointers, but most of that efficiency comes from Motum. The big man being out could seriously strain how efficient the WSU offense can be on the basketball court. Additionally, Motum is the team's best defensive rebounder, and he'd be needed against a Pitt unit that has one clear advantage--crashing the offensive boards. Getting extra possessions is always a liability for two evenly matched-up squads.
Otherwise, these are two heavily flawed teams. Washington State and Pitt are pretty poor ball-handling teams, so you should expect a turnover-heavy contest. Neither team defends all that well--the Cougars are bad at defending the perimeter, the Panthers can't protect the paint. Pitt has the size advantage, but they might have trouble scoring with that size. Washington State has the scoring, but probably lacks the consistency to score on every possession
Many things to worry about in this series. All WSU can hope for is that Motum comes back and participate somewhere down the line.