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Despite Loss, Hokies Should be Dancing
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com, TSLMail #423, March 12, 2010

Despite the loss to Miami in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, Virginia Tech should still safely be in the NCAA Tournament. Enough bubble teams have been "popped" that the Selection Committee shouldn't have to spend much time when discussing the Hokies on Sunday afternoon.

Earler in the week we saw Seton Hall, Memphis and UAB get knocked to the wrong side of the bubble, and Dayton went down tonight. With those three teams looking like they are out right now, Virginia Tech should feel pretty safe. Even if a couple of other bubble teams work their way in, such as Rhode Island or Mississippi State, it shouldn't be enough to knock the Hokies out of the field of 65.

There are arguments for and against Virginia Tech. Well, to be more accurate, there is just one argument against them: their strength of schedule. Their strength of schedule is significantly lower than that of the other bubble teams, and it's also the worst of 12 ACC teams.

However, that one negative shouldn't be enough to overshadow the positive things the Hokies have accomplished this year.

  • 23-8 overall record
  • 10-6 ACC record
  • Tied for 3rd in the ACC standings
  • 3 top 50 RPI wins

No 10-6 ACC team has ever been left out of the NCAA tournament. Considering the relatively weak bubble field this year, Virginia Tech is not likely to be the first.

As I see it, there is too much focus on Tech's strength of schedule by the TV talking heads. Let's compare them to a couple of other ACC teams, Wake Forest and Clemson.

Wake Forest has lost 5 of their last 6 games. They were blown out by Miami in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. They finished below Virginia Tech in the ACC standings, have a worse overall record, and the Hokies beat them head to head.

Clemson lost to #11 seed NC State in the opening round of the ACC tournament. They finished below Virginia Tech in the ACC standings, and the Hokies beat them head to head.

Tech finished 10-6 in the ACC, Clemson and Wake went 9-7, and the Hokies beat both head to head. Tech also has a better overall record than both of those teams. Both the Tigers and Demon Deacons are considered safely in the NCAA tournament right now, so why shouldn't Virginia Tech?

Simple: the bracketologists are looking only at the strength of schedule of Wake and Clemson, while choosing to ignore the fact that the Hokies outperformed them in those other categories.

While some of those bracketologists are making a fuss out of the situation, I don't think the Selection Committee will give it much thought. The Hokies have simply done too many good things this year to keep them out of the NCAA tournament.



 

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