Bracketology 2023: USC, Seton Hall and Kentucky suffer big setbacks this week

Virginia Tech Hokies

The massive upset over Virginia kept the Hokies alive for another week, despite being 4-8 in the ACC standings and having a NET ranking around 50. But that meant that they literally couldn’t afford anything outside of a Quad 1 or 2 loss for the rest of the way and stay on the bubble.

Unfortunately for them, they took on a Boston College program that has recently had their number as late, including winning the earlier matchup between them. The hope was at home, the Hokies could return the favor. Instead, they couldn’t stop Quentin Post or Chas Kelly, ultimately losing 82-76. 33 points from Grant Basile just weren’t enough for them.

Virginia Tech nearly made things worse on the road at Notre Dame in what turned into a shootout. But they did get the 93-87 win over the Fighting Irish, thanks to another 33 points from big man Basile. But that win doesn’t do much for them now and the Quad 3 home loss to the Eagles is all but a death knell to the team’s at-large hopes.

The Hokies have Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh up next this week, two games they need to win. If they do that, the back-to-back matchups against Miami and Duke become a little more interesting in that if they sweep those, they could get back onto the bubble.