Bracketology 2024: Virginia Tech, New Mexico, and Utah among week's biggest losers

Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies are in the same position as several other ACC teams around the bubble, including Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, NC State, and Miami. These are teams that have looked good at times but lack either enough quality wins or overall metrics. For Va Tech specifically, they have a NET ranking of 62, thanks to a poor last week.

First off, the Hokies lost on the road at Miami, despite having a halftime lead. They allowed 56 second-half points in an 82-74 defeat, despite 40 points combined from guards Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor. But the biggest problem came this past weekend at Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish has an 8-16 overall record and is a Quad 3 game on the road. But they’ve been feisty as of late and they played the role of spoiler for the Hokies, pulling off the 74-66 upset. Cattoor had 18 points but it wasn’t enough to avoid the worst loss of the season.

With a 4-9 record against Quad 1/2 opponents and now a bad loss, Virginia Tech is in a bad spot. They do have a big opportunity this weekend on the road at North Carolina to get their best win of the season. But first, they have to make sure they don’t lose at home to Florida State on Tuesday.