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.

After a splendid week of basketball that saw the Virginia Tech program pull off an upset at home against #7 Duke on Thursday, followed by a crucial home victory on Saturday against Miami, it is time to start getting out long ago instruments and utensils that will help make some sense of a season that stopped doing so a month ago.

How often do you see a Duke basketball team whipped at its own game? We witnessed that on Thursday in Cassell Coliseum, when the Hokies out-scrapped and out-hustled Duke and thoroughly dismantled the Blue Devils on the boards by the tune of 17 rebounds, while withstanding two last-second three point attempts by the Blue Devils.

Virginia Tech out-rebounded Duke by 17? Let me get this straight, they out-rebounded the Duke men’s team by 17? And this wasn’t a Sega video game?

Yes, we witnessed that and because of that, the season has taken a definite uptick. The fortunes have changed since last weekend at this time, when the team was reeling from three consecutive losses and seemed hardly poised to be in the frame of mind necessary to take down Duke.

It was only 44 hours after the Duke game that the Hokies took the floor for a game that had all the makings of a "trap" game. Would Tech respond so quickly after one of the biggest victories for the program in quite some time? Would the Hokies be tired from Thursday's mentally and physically exhausting game, especially when you consider that Miami was coming off two additional days rest and, as a "bubble team", had a lot riding on this game as well?

Instead, the Hokes took control of this game right from the opening tip, did a fine defensive job on Rob Hite, Guillermo Diaz and Anthony Harris and sailed smoothly to victory over a Miami team that didn’t play with any sense of urgency or understanding of the importance of this basketball game.

And because of this bonanza of basketball fortune last week, it is time to hunt down all notable instruments from the dust storage bin, clean them all off and see if we still understand how to utilize them.

Let’s see, where are my old oversized, black-rimmed Kurt Rambis-style spectacles? The ones that are such a babe magnet. Let me tell you, chicks dig the long ball and the oversized black eyeglasses, trust me. In fact, now that my divorce is final, I am keeping these babies out and letting them work their magic again. Okay, here they are. And that protractor and slide rule, wherever are they? Right here, at the bottom of this box. Hmm, let me throw that white dress shirt with the short sleeves in the washer so that it gets clean.

Alright, I’m seeing some progress now, starting to feel the buzz building. It is all coming back to me now. Wait though, I remembered that I need new lead for my mechanical pencil and you must have a Pocket Pal for that, right? That is a no-brainer.

Okay, my search is complete and I can sit down with my advanced Calculus book, turn on my computer and get busy with some serious Bracketology. Yep, all the nerd instruments from my past are ready to take on some serious 2005 March importance and help me navigate this head-spinning "bubble" talk and comparative analysis.

First off, what is Bracketology? Perhaps it is a self-help class that you take at Home Depot? No wait, it has to be the new DYI network show that teaches you how to build bookcases, right? I know I have heard that term somewhere, it just has been quite a while since it crossed my mind. Bracketology. Hmmmm, it’s a vague, distant concept.

RPI? Prediction/Projections? Bracketography and Trend Analysis? Who talks like this? I mean who is familiar with all of these terms now, outside of a linear physicist or someone like that? Are you sure this is basketball related? Have I forgotten the relevance and meaning of all of this in the ten years it has been since I dropped my nerd act and moved on to my Goth stage?

Well, ten years is a long time to some people and not a long time to others. It has been ten years since Virginia Tech participated in the NCAA Tournament. It was back in the 1995-96 season, when the Hokies were still in the Atlantic 10 Conference, that this program participated in NCAA Tournament play as an at-large team. Under Bill Foster, the Hokies went 23-5 and won their first round game by a 61-48 margin over Wisconsin-Green Bay, before going down to Kentucky in the second round by a score of 84-60. That team had Ace Custis, Shawn Smith, Shawn Good, Damon Watlington, Jim Jackson and Travis Jackson. You remember those guys, don’t you?

Ahh, the distant memories of long-past glory days. Man, what a ride that was back then, and is it really returning to favor again? Like Nehru jackets and ducktails?

I am just going to enjoy this ride for the next three weeks. Never mind the fact that this team might end up not getting into the tournament. This year has been an unexpected surprise and who is to say what lies ahead. Being in the ACC has to help get you into the Dance, correct?

It does if you finish in the top two teams in the conference during the regular season. That is all that is guaranteed. No team has been excluded from the tournament that finished the regular season in the top two. However, the Hokies might need to finish the season with a flourish to insure their participation.

In 2000, Virginia finished with a regular season record of 9-7 in the conference. The Cavs finished in a two-way tie with North Carolina for third place in the conference. Their regular season record going into the ACC Tournament was 19-9. But, they were overlooked when it came time for Selection Sunday. Ouch, I am not liking that now, if I'm a fan of Virginia Tech. Oh yeah, Virginia went one-and-out in the ACC Tournament, then to show that was no fluke they went one-and-done in the NIT, finishing the season with a 19-11 record and feeling like a jilted lover watching their mate drive off with someone else.

On the other hand, the NCAA selection committee has selected a team with a conference record as poor as 6-10 for the tournament. That happened back in 1998, when Florida State tied for sixth in the conference with Georgia Tech, then was selected for the tournament. The bad news for Tech fans is that Wake Forest finished in a fourth-place tie that year with Clemson and was omitted from the tournament. Clemson went dancing and the Deacs settled for the NIT, watching Florida State leapfrog them into the NCAA Tournament.

You have to go back to the 1995 season to find a conference team with an 8-8 mark that was excluded from the tournament. Georgia Tech finished in sole possession of fifth place in the conference that year, and after their first-round loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament, they finished with an 18-12 mark, not good enough for the committee.

7-9 isn’t a particularly heartening record to have either. Maryland went 7-9 last year, finishing sixth in the conference, and parlayed that into an NCAA appearance. Georgia Tech went 7-9 and finished fifth in the conference in 2003 and was left out. The Jackets and Virginia tied for fifth in 2002 with 7-9 records and both were excluded. In 2000, it was Wake Forest’s turn to sit at home as they went 7-9, while finishing fifth in the conference. Wake was also fourth in 1999 with a 7-9 record and again, nada from the selection committee. Clemson did get to the tournament in 1998 with a 7-9 conference mark, tying them with Wake for fourth place in the conference. Of course, you can see where this is going. Wake stays home again that year with the same record.

I’m not sure what can be gleaned here, but I do know that every step taken in these last three weeks will be critical. I do know that the NCAA loves how you finish the season, and it’s always a good thing to win in your conference tournament. Don’t go one-and-home. I also know that teams that go 10-6 in the conference will go to the Dance. With three remaining games, Virginia Tech can do just that with a sweeping finish.

Yeah, that’s a tall order indeed. It says here that there will be six teams from the ACC in the NCAA tournament. North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke have their tickets punched. Maryland is as good as in. Georgia Tech looks pretty safe, especially given the fact that the NCAA looks upon key in-season injuries in your favor. B.J. Elder is now back in the lineup and his earlier loss will be taken into consideration by the committee. That leaves Virginia Tech, Miami and North Carolina State battling for what might be one remaining slot. The Wolfpack will also get some consideration for their earlier injury to guard Tony Bethel, as will the Hokies to a lesser extent with Coleman Collins.

Getting to 9-7 gives you a chance, but there is precedent for being omitted there as well. Getting to 10-6 makes one feel and look real good, going into the conference tournament.