NCAA Basketball: Dayton, Texas, Nevada, and Southern Utah headline Sunday Mailbag

Does Virginia Tech have time to turn it around? – Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD)

The Hokies are currently on the bubble as they enter the day. I will say that if the season ended today Virginia Tech would probably be left out of the tournament and it isn’t because they have any terrible losses but they don’t have a single win that moves the needle much with the committee. Virginia Tech has a top 40 NET and has a chance to rack up a ton of wins down the stretch.

The Hokies still play Duke, North Carolina, Florida State, Miami twice, and Virginia. Those are presumably all the other bubble teams who are going to be competing with the Hokies the rest of the season. This season is different than other seasons for members of the ACC though, as there are not going to be a ton of opportunities to rack up quad 1 wins. The committee has to fill the field so there are likely going to be four teams from the ACC that get a bid. Will they all be worthy of a bid? That is another question but they need to find 68 teams for the tournament.

Virginia Tech plays an efficient style that leads to a bunch of made threes and not many turnovers. They have a ball-control offense and a defensive style that slows the game way down and forces teams to operate in the half-court. They are a good shooting team as they shoot 39% from deep and 46% overall. They also allow under 60 points a game and contest threes. On the defensive end, they don’t force many turnovers but they do force teams into bad shots. This is going to be a recipe for success. Virginia Tech is currently on a two-game winning streak after a little bit of a slump they were in earlier in the month.

All the Hokie faithful need to remember that February is the month that you want to be playing your best basketball and they still have the ACC tournament. Virginia Tech has a high NET rating which is exactly where you want it to be for at large consideration. The Hokies have to win the games they are expected to. They can not lose to Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Boston College again, or Clemson. Those losses at this point would be a crushing blow to their resume.

There are still enough games left for the Hokies to get it figured out and make up the ground lost by the recent loss to Boston College. Do that and get a win over one of the top teams in the league and Virginia Tech shouldn’t have to sweat too much heading into Selection Sunday.