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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.
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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Virginia
Tech's best players picked the wrong game to have a bad shooting
day. The Hokies got off to a good start, but went cold in the second
half and lost to #12 seed Miami 70-65 in the quarterfinals of the
ACC Tournament.
Eastern
region runner-up Maury (Norfolk, VA) finished with a 22-8 record in
2009/2010, in a season in which head coach Jack Baker captured the
600 victory of his career. A solid group, led by a talented
backcourt that includes sophomore guard Jamal Ferguson and
junior point guard Sim Frazier, will return next year.
Cannon
School (Concord, N.C.) finished the 2009/2010 season with a 17-14
overall record. The team was led by senior Jarell Eddie, a
6-7, 210-pound forward who averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds and four
assists and two blocks per game. Eddie will now move on to Virginia
Tech, the school he signed with last November and where he expects
to enroll in late May.
I
was supposed to write a football article today, but I can't bring
myself to do it. I'm too keyed up on the ACC Tournament, Virginia
Tech basketball, and college hoops in general. I'm going to put off
the football article until next week, and judging from the
basketball traffic on the subscribers board, I don't think you'll
mind.
Ocean
Lakes (Virginia Beach, VA) has certainly produced its share of top
prospects over the past several years, from current Virginia Tech
wide receiver Marcus Davis to 2010 class receiver Justin Hunter to
2011 class quarterback Lafonte Thourogood, among others. Wide
receiver/defensive end Eli Harold, a 6-3, 211-pound
sophomore, is in line to continue the run.
Malcolm
Delaney was a unanimous pick by all 53 voters for this year's
All-ACC team, which was released on Monday. He joins two other
conference players, Greivis Vasquez and Jon Scheyer, as unanimous
selections. Virginia Tech's Dorenzo Hudson was selected to the third
team.
It's
always noteworthy when history is made, and on Saturday, the Hokies
reached a new high-water mark in program history with their 23rd
regular season win. They did it in classic '09-'10 fashion,
shorthanded and with their backs against the wall. They won anyway,
and it's only fitting that a team that has consistently defied
expectations gets to write its name in the record books.
The
regular season concluded over the weekend, and the ACC tournament
field has been set. One team helped itself in their quest to make
the NCAA tournament, and another suffered a damaging home loss. The
Maryland Terrapins won a share of the regular season championship,
while Saturday night's Duke-Carolina game wasn't the battle that we
have grown accustomed to.