TSLMail #164 - Friday, February 25, 2005

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ACC Rooting Guide
by Nathan Reeves

This rooting guide is for those who want to know which teams need to win in each ACC game, as said games enhance or detract from VT’s chances of receiving an NCAA Tournament bid. For those of you that think we can’t get into the NCAA Tournament no matter what, there still is work to be done as far as getting in the NIT, getting an NIT home game (or games), and quite simply seeing how strong a position VT can end up in at the end of the Hokies’ first ACC basketball season.

First, the current ACC standings, heading into the weekend, because it's good information and because we love looking at Virginia Tech in fourth place.

ACC Standings (as of 2/25/05)
School	ACC	Overall
North Carolina	11-2	23-3
Wake Forest	10-3	23-4
Duke	10-4	20-4
Virginia Tech	7-6	14-10
Maryland	7-7	16-9
Miami	7-7	16-9
Georgia Tech	6-7	15-9
NC State	5-8	15-11
Virginia	4-9	13-11
Clemson	3-10	13-13
Florida State	3-10	11-16

Now, the breakdown.

Games of Saturday, February 26

Duke @ St. John's
Root for Duke over St. John's. VT obviously needs its marquee win to remain a marquee win. Other advantages are that VT has played Duke twice and St. John’s only once, so a Duke win would have a more positive schedule strength impact than a St. John’s win.

GT @ Miami
Root for Miami over GT. Miami and GT are borderline Top 50 RPI teams. The loser may fall out of the Top 50, costing us a Top 50 RPI win. Since we have two wins over Miami and only one over GT, root for Miami, because it gives two Top 50 helps our schedule strength more as well. (two games versus one).

VT @ NC State
Root for VT over NC State. Duh. I think VT needs to win three out of its next four (yes, I’m counting the ACC Tournament first round) to even have a chance at the NCAAs.

Games of Sunday, February 27

FSU @ Clemson
Root for Clemson. They are on VT's schedule for two games, while FSU is on VT's schedule for just one. I'd also like to be able for Clemson to have as much cred as possible for this three-game season-ending VT stretch, as I’m sure the committee looks at late games with more scrutiny as those games are fresher in their minds.

UVA @ Wake
Root for UVA. Two games versus one again. Although this one doesn't really matter a whole lot as we don't play either team again and neither are close to the 4th-7th place logjam.

UNC @ Maryland
Root for UNC. VT needs as many bubbles to burst as possible, regardless of which team we might have played more, and I’d rather have Maryland come to the Cassell on a downer than with any confidence.

Games of Tuesday, March 1

VT @ Clemson
Hmm, I guess you should root for VT. But seriously, If VT loses to NCSU, this would be a must win, as far as any NCAA tourney hopes go. If Clemson beats FSU on Sunday, they’ll be hungry for that NIT bid, and Purnell will have them ready to play some ball to improve their chances.

Games of Wednesday, March 2

GT @ Wake
Root for Wake. If VT ends up at 9-7 in the ACC, I’d like to see a clear line drawn between 4th place and the rest of the league. Losses by GT, MD and Miami would do that. This is a case of “Should I root for the team that VT beat, or root for a bubble team getting knocked out?” I’d say go with the latter at this stage of the game.

NC State @ UVA
Root for UVA. NC State is on the brink of falling out, but if they beat VT, they’d have life again. A loss to UVA might put an end to their hopes.

Games of Thursday, March 3

Miami @ Duke
Root for Duke. We need that Duke win to have as much clout as possible. We also need Miami to finish behind VT in the standings, especially if they are able to beat GT, because they’d look good for a bid after that win. Couple that with VT sweeping the Canes and it’s another plus for the schedule and VT’s top wins.

FSU @ UNC
Doesn’t really matter. VT has played and lost to both teams once. I say root for UNC to make the ACC look stronger come selection time.

Games of Saturday, March 5

Clemson @ GT
Root for Clemson to pull the upset. This could possibly be the final nail in the coffin for GT and open up another slot in the tourney. (Possibly for another ACC team?)

MD @ VT
Root for snot bubbles in Cassell Coliseum.

Games of Sunday, March 6

UVA @ FSU
Root for UVA, so they’ll improve their NIT chances. Hopefully, they’ll win the NIT and extend Pete Gillen’s contract an additional 10 years.

Duke @ UNC
As far as VT’s tourney chances go, I’ll say root for Duke. However, I have never, ever, ever rooted for Duke in a Duke – UNC game, and I will not start now. But if Duke wins, I’ll certainly take the boost it gives to VT's win over the Dookies.

Wake @ NC State
Depends on State’s record. If NC State is hunting an NCAA bid, this could put them over the top, thus you would root for Wake. But if they’ve been knocked out, a win could make our victory (or sweep??) look better, so you might root for State.

There you go. This is my opinion on how the remaining games might sway VT’s tourney hopes. However, the main thing is that VT needs to keep winning games, else the rest doesn’t matter a whole lot. I think 17 wins come selection time gives VT some hope, though I’m not sure how much, and 18 would virtually put VT in.

Editor's Note: Also handy, on a national scale, is VTHokie2006's NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheet.

ACC Releases Basketball Matchups for Next Three Seasons
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com

The ACC released their "three-year rotation model of conference basketball games," as they like to describe it (from 2005-06 through 2007-08), and it's an interesting read. Here's how it works:

Each team has two "primary partners" that they play home and away every season. (VT gets UVa and Boston College.)
Each team has three teams that they play home-and-home. These matchups rotate from one season to the next.
Each team has three teams that they play just once, at home. These matchups rotate from one season to the next.
Each team has three teams that they play just once, on the road. These matchups rotate from one season to the next.

Here's what the next three seasons worth of matchups look like for the Hokies.

Year
	Primary Partners Home & Away	Rotating Partners
	Primary Partners Home & Away	Home & Away	Home	Away
2005-06:	UVa, BC	Duke, FSU, Clem.	GaT, UNC, NCS	Md., WF, Mia.
2006-07:	UVa, BC	Mia., UNC, NCS	Clem., Md., WF	Duke, FSU, GaT
2007-08:	UVa, BC	GaT, Md., WF	Duke, FSU, Mia.	Clem., UNC, NCS

The 2005-06 schedule is a good one for the Hokies, from the standpoint that they only have to play four games against this year's "Big 3" of Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest, and the league is once again sending UNC into Cassell Coliseum, without the Hokies having to head to the Dean Dome.

The lack of games against the Big 3 is balanced out somewhat by having to play Boston College twice. The Eagles have a very strong program at the moment and would be very competitive in the ACC this season.

Most winnable home games: UVa, FSU, Clemson, NC State, Georgia Tech, and perhaps BC. Most winnable road games: FSU, Clemson, Miami, and maybe Maryland. That's 8-10 games the Hokies have a very good shot at winning (based on how things have gone in the league this year, which is of course only a small indicator of how things may go next year). Win 2/3 of those, and that's 5-7 league wins, with 6-8 other games to play.

But that's all just projection. Time will tell.

For the complete press release showing all teams, click here.

Win an Actual VT Game Football, Signed by the Coaches and Players!

Brain Injury Services of SWVA and Brain Injury Services, Inc. in Northern Virginia are offering Hokie fans a chance to win a truly unique prize: a "game-winning" football signed by the Virginia Tech football coaching staff and players.

The football up for grabs is the football being carried by Cedric Humes in the picture above, during Cedric's game-clinching 37-yard TD run against Virginia this past season. The ball was taken from the field -- "It still has dirt on it," yours truly was recently told -- and later signed by Virginia Tech coaches and players.

The ball is now being raffled off. Only 600 raffle tickets are being sold, and each ticket costs $100. To make things even better, the cost of your raffle ticket is tax-deductible as a charitable donation to Brain Injury Services of SWVA and Brain Injury Services, Inc.

These two organizations are the only two case management programs serving kids with brain injuries in the state of Virginia. The services needed by brain injury survivors are scarce, and these two programs make a difference in people's lives. Proceeds from the raffle will be used to fund desperately-needed case managers at these two organizations.

Interested? Here are the details:

Prize: One Signed Game-Winning Virginia Tech football from the 2004 Virginia Tech/UVa football game.
Raffle Ticket Cost: $100
Drawing Date: April 16th 2005 (you do not need to be present to win)
Tax-Deductible Amount of Raffle Ticket Purchase: $100 (unless you win, of course!)
How to Purchase: Call or email Brain Injury Services Inc. of Northern Virginia (703-451-8881, email [email protected]) or The Jason Foundation in Radford, Virginia (540-633-2225, email [email protected]) for details on how to purchase a ticket. When you purchase a ticket, you'll receive a ticket stub and a receipt for tax purposes.

The Virginia Tech football program and head coach Frank Beamer (click the link to see a letter written by Beamer) are behind this effort to raise much-needed funds. Buy your ticket and get your chance at winning the football pictured above!

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TechSideline.com Updates From the Past Week

It's RPI Versus History in a Fight to the Finish!
by Chris James, TechSideline.com, 2/24/05, 4:25 pm
Generally this is the time of year that the Hokie Nation begins to worry about the latest position change on the football team and gearing up the tailgating crew for the spring football game. A small minority would discuss what had to happen for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team to back their way into the Big East Tournament. This year however, that small minority has grown into a fan base that is discussing something a lot more important…what it will take for the Hokies to get an invitation to The Big Dance.
in TSL Pass

Bryan Randall Rookie Diary #2: Randall Departs for the Combine
by TechSideline.com, 2/24/05, 1:45 pm
I’m leaving Thursday morning, catching an 8:30 flight heading out of Atlanta. I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen day-to-day at the Combine. I know Thursday when I get down there, I’m getting weighed in, measured and get my height taken. Basically, it’s not really physical tests, just other tests such as doing X-rays, checking to see if you’re healthy, and things like that. I don’t think we actually get to the physical part until Friday and Saturday. So tomorrow we just walk through, I guess, and do interviews.
in TSL Pass

A Gym Rat's Notebook: The New Word of the Day
by Elijah Kyle, 2/24/05, 12:50 am
The best thing about being a pack rat is that if you display patience and an even temperament, then those items that you've stored away might again be relevant at some point in time. You know those pack rat people. The ones who simply cannot stand to ever throw anything away, lest they have some uncertain future need for it. Those same people who keep everything from their past crated away in boxes, under lock and key in their basement or attic. Well, the time has come to throw off the dust and uncover a few items from ten years or so ago and see what usefulness they might have here in the next three weeks.
in TSL Pass

In the Thick of It
by Jim Alderson, 2/23/05, 2:25 pm
The basketball games remaining in this exhilarating inaugural ACC season for Virginia Tech are dwindling down to a precious few. Three games remain for Tech to continue its long-shot bid to reach the NCAA tournament. The Hokies have a basketball opportunity before them that hasn’t been seen around these parts in quite a while. At a late February time when Hokie Nation attention is usually turning towards Spring football prospects, the Tech basketball team has diverted attention away from Tech’s signature sport. It would seem that basketball again matters at Virginia Tech.
in TSL Pass

Inside the Numbers: Ranking the 2005 (and 2004!) Recruits
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 2/22/05, 4:10 pm
It's time for TechSideline.com's fifth annual "Inside the Numbers: Ranking the Recruits," in which we mash together recruiting rankings from various recruiting services into one complex ranking system that gives each VT recruit a composite ranking ... but wait, imagine my horror when I realized we never did this for the 2004 class! So buckle up, because you're about to get two articles for the price of one.
in TSL Pass

Advance Auto Parts Hokie Hotline Notes for 2/21/05
by Phil Noftsinger, 2/22/05, 1:30 am
Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg basks in the glory of wins over Duke and Miami, and is as interesting and as informative as usual in talking about the two wins plus the upcoming game against NC State this weekend.
in Hotline Notes

TechSideline.com Recruiting Report, 2/17/05 (MP3 Audio)
by TechSideline.com, 2/21/05, 2:20 pm
From last Thursday: Mike Harris and Chris Horne talk about late VT signee Todd Nolen, then take a sneak peek at recruits from the class of 2006, concentrating on players from central Virginia and the two rising seniors from Landstown (Va Beach), Percy Harvin and Damon McDaniel. (Time: 23:12 minutes, Size: 5.6 MB)
*Also available in ZIP format
in TSL Pass

Hokies Throttle Miami, 71-58
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 2/19/05, 11:30 pm
Blacksburg, VA -- Virginia Tech shot 60% in the first half, took a 13-point half time lead, and never looked back, burying the Miami Hurricanes 71-58 in a key ACC contest before a sold-out Cassell Coliseum crowd. With the win, Tech is now 14-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference, tied with Maryland for fourth place. Coleman Collins led Tech with 18 points, and Zabian Dowdell had 17, including two straight three-pointers that fought off a second-half Miami comeback.
in Men's Basketball

Game Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Miami
by Stefan Adams, TechSideline.com, 2/18/05, 4:00 pm
* Includes roster card in PDF format *
I would not be shocked to find out the Virginia Tech men’s basketball staff used several pens in drawing a large number of circles around February 19 on the calendar. The University of Miami is coming to Blacksburg and will take on the Hokies in a game with gigantic implications.
in Men's Basketball

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