IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatWake Cassell 4:30 PM RSN pic.twitter.com/H00pPl2K3W— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) March 4, 2017
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: March 4, 2017 / 4:30 p.m.
Opponent: Wake Forest
Site: Blacksburg, Virginia (Cassell Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: Regional Sports Networks
Talent: Bob Rathbun & Jason Capel
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
XM Radio: XM 205 (Internet 965)
Where can you watch the @VT_MBBall vs Wake Forest game? Check out a new #HokieHuddle for all the affiliateshttps://t.co/nmCTrXi2Ra pic.twitter.com/bR2vHybEQr— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) March 3, 2017
Senior Night, can they go out right?
Buzzketball is home for the last time this season unless they fall to the NIT. One way to ensure that isn't the case is to take care of business on Senior Night against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons come in fighting for their NCAA tournament spot as well, smack dab in the middle of the bubble right now. Wake's only super win game in their last game out against #8 Louisville, winning 88-81. Other than that they have won the games they were expected to and lost the games they were expected to both OOC and during the ACC schedule. Wake needs a win in this contest to finish their ACC slate at .500, an event that hasn't happened at Wake since the 2009-2010 season.
Hokies host Wake Forest on Senior Day: Sold out game set for a 4:30 p.m. tip https://t.co/KK7qw6yvXG— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) March 3, 2017
At home to a sellout crowd, saying our home goodbyes to Seth Allen, Zach Leday, and Johnny Hamilton, the Hokies need to find focus for basketball amidst all the hoopla. Wake Forest will be focused on one thing which is to leave that much closer to an NCAA tournament bid. One thing to keep in mind is that Wake Forest is 2-28 in their last 30 ACC road contests but both wins came this season against NC State and Boston College.
This will be the Sixty Third meeting between the Hokies and Demon Deacons. The Hokies lead the all-time series 32-30. The Hokies won last years matchup at Wake Forest 81-74. The Hokies own a 14-7 edge on games played at Cassell and are 3-1 against Wake under Buzz Williams.
The Demon Deacons are coached by Danny Manning, who has been at Wake Forest since 2014. His first season the Deacons were a dreadful 13 -19 while his second year was even worse at 11-19 with only 7 ACC wins between the two seasons. This season the Eagles have already surpassed the ACC win total for the previous two seasons having won eight games so far. Manning as a coach is renowned for being able to get the best out of big men, drawing on personal experience as an NBA player and years of coaching as part of Bill Self's staff at Kansas. That reputation has shown itself to be true in how dominant John Collins has been for Wake Forest.
Defensively, the Eagles rely on pressure using a 2-2-1 three quarter press which they then drop into a 2-3 zone. One thing Danny Manning preaches to all his players are quick feet. He expects his defenders to be able to stay in front of offensive player's intent on driving into the lane. He is big on help defense, especially in crashing the lane. All of the above is true but Wake Forest is not very good on defense. They are in the bottom half of the ACC in almost every statistical category. They allow 80.1 points per game in ACC play. They commit almost 20 fouls per contest and average almost 12 turnovers per game.
Offensively, Wake Forest has made a huge improvement. They average the second most points per game in ACC play at 81.1 points per game. They have two bigs that combine for over 30 points per game, along with 16 rebounds per contest as well. The pull down almost 10 offensive boards per game so something to keep in mind when playing the Hokies. Most of the Wake Forest offense goes through the lane either by big or by driving guard. They do not rely on the outside shot for a significant portion of their offense which could be good news for the Hokies.
What does that mean for the Hokies?
The Hokies are going to be challenged by Wake Forest's height and size. This is a big team as far as the starting lineup goes. That said, the Hokies need to get the starters in foul trouble because the further down the bench Wake is forced to go the talent level drops off precipitously. John Collins is the driving force down low defensively. One player we didn't feature below due to lack of overall contribution is Doral Moore but in terms of adjusting shots, he is averaging almost 1 block per game in just nine minutes on the floor. Something the Hokies will have to keep in mind if they are able to get deeper into the bench.
The Hokies have to come out ready to hit perimeter shots to stay in this game. I expect Wake Forest to dominate inside, especially on the offensive glass, so to account for the extra possessions Wake will get the Hokies will need to be sharp with the three ball.
Offensively Danny Manning has made drastic strides in improving this team. Wake Forest has improved their scoring by almost 14 points per game since Manning took over. Expect this game to be a shootout so if either team goes cold for a significant period of time it could mean a big difference in the outcome of this game.
Wake Forest is not a team that deals with pressure very well, as they average over 11 turnovers per game in ACC play. Buzz needs to find ways to turn the pressure up, especially early on in each half. Create some turnovers, get some transition baskets, and force the Demon Deacons to have to play from behind.
Speed versus size. Athleticism versus Monster Lurking down low. The transition game and ability to play behind the defense will be huge in providing the Hokies an opportunity to win this game. Wake Forest makes more mistakes as the tempo increases. Pushing the pace, getting the ball in the hands of the shooters in the fast break before the Demon Deacons can close in on the perimeter. The Demon Deacons are allowing opponents to shoot 37% from outside, so a good chance for the Hokies to have a strong night.
Demon Deacons Backcourt
Bryant Crawford (#13) 6'3, 200 Lbs Sophomore Guard is averaging 15.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.4 APG and 1.5 SPG. He is shooting 35% from behind the arc and 43% overall. He hits from the stripe at 78%. Crawford has the ability to drive to the hoop but is always looking for an open teammate but can also finish when the chance presents itself. This will be another tough matchup for Justin Robinson.
Keyshawn Woods, (#1) 6'3, 205 Lbs Sophomore Guard is in his first full season under Danny Manning after transferring to Wake Forest from Charlotte. He comes in averaging 12.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG. He is shooting 47% from outside. He is shooting 50% inside. He hits at the free throw line around 77%. He is known for his quick first step but his ability to hit from outside would have my ultimate focus. The Hokies can ill afford for this guy to get hot from outside.
Mitchell Wilbekin, (#10) 6'2, 175 lbs Junior Guard is averaging 7.3 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 1.6 APG. He is almost strictly an outside shooter for the Demon Deacons. His shot outside the arc is going in at about 40% while inside the arc it drops to 35%. He is a terrific free throw shooter as well, hitting from the line at an 92% clip. Wilbekin is on the floor so much though for his defensive abilities. His long arms and aggressive play make him an ideal player to guard perimeter shooters. Expect to see him match up with Bibbs or Outlaw quite often.
Brandon Childress, (#0) 6', 190 Lbs Freshman Guard is averaging 6.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 2.3 APG in a backup point guard role. So far this season he is shooting 35% from the field, 33% from behind the arc and 76% from the line. He still is managing 21 MPG because of where Wake Forest stands in their rebuilding process under Danny Manning.
Demon Deacons Frontcourt
John Collins, (#20), 6'10, 235 Lbs Sophomore Forward is averaging 19.3 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 1.7 BPG. Collins' interior scoring is at 62%. Just to round things out, he shoots just under 74% from the free throw line as well. Collins has scored 20 points or more in Wake's last 12 games with a high of 31. Across that stretch he also has 8 double-doubles with 16 boards in their game against Boston College.
Konstantinos Mitoglou, (#44) 6'10, 255 Lbs Junior Forward comes in putting up 9.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1 APG. He is shooting 42% from the field, and puts up 33% from outside. He is a strong free throw shooter 82%. Mitoglou struggles with foul trouble, averaging 2.3 per contest so far. He doesn't have the height that many of the ACC bigs do but he does have some bulk to throw around down low. The Hokies will likely struggle to keep him off the boards.
Austin Arians, (#34) 6'6, 230 Lbs Senior Forward is a graduate transfer from Milwaukee where he played three seasons before coming to Wake Forest for his final season. He is averaging 7.7 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.2 APG. He comes in shooting 45% from the field, 40% from outside the arc and an impressive 87% from the free throw line. He also experiences foul trouble at almost 2 per game, limiting him to about 22 minutes per game compared to the 30+ he had played the last two seasons. He has managed to hit double figure scoring in 10 of Wake's 29 games so the potential is there to have a big game. If he can stay out of foul trouble, expect the Demon Deacons to utilize his size quite often against the Hokies.
Names the Announcers will Butcher
Several candidates this time. Konstantinos Mitoglou is the winner but honorable mention goes to Sam Japhet-Mathias.
What to expect from Wake Forest?
The Demon Deacons rely on a rotation of seven players when things are going smoothly. They are extremely balanced when it comes to who puts the ball in the basket. The bad news is that there are several big scorers that do a lot of damage for the Deacons. The Hokies are going to have their hands full underneath. I am not sure that Khadim Sy will be able to make the first media timeout down low against John Collins without either picking up several fouls or allowing Collins to have a big opening few minutes.
Wake Forest has five players that average more than 2.1 fouls per game. John Collins and Bryant Crawford, the Demon Deacons top two scorers are the most foul prone, this could become a big focus of this contest if either of those two players is forced to sit for a significant amount of time.
One area that Wake Forest really seems to take advantage of is penetration along the baseline with either a dump off to the bigs underneath or a cross the basket layup so the rim provides protection for the ball handler. The Hokies need to find a way to force those drives out into the lane rather than allow free use of the baseline.
The Demon Deacons on defense will utilize Mitchell Wilbekin and Austin Arians as their baseline corner defenders against the perimeter shooters. They will be looking to force bad shots that will allow Collins to rebound and find Crawford in transition.
The Hokies
Tech needs to drive inside to get fouled. Controlled drives right at John Collins or from the perimeter trying to get Bryant Crawford to reach as they drive past him. Early foul trouble could give the Hokies a window to work against a similar sized opponent. Regardless of this, points from the line will be a premium so having a lead in that category could help come the end of the season.
Ty Outlaw Ahmed Hill and Justin Bibbs need to be steady scorers for the Hokies. Shooting from the arc needs to probably be around 45% for the Hokies to find a win in their final regular season game.
Justin Robinson and Seth Allen have to be in control of their drives today. They must limit the turnovers and prevent Wake Forest from being able to score easy transition baskets.
Last, they need to be able to keep their emotional keel steady in the water. Its Senior Day so there will be a lot more intense energy in the building so the Hokies need to be careful to not let the game get away from them with everything else that is going on to commemorate the three seniors.
Highlight of the Miami Game
In his last five starts, Ty Outlaw has been something special...#getBETTER pic.twitter.com/o3YqD3O8Qe— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) March 2, 2017
Ty Outlaw just stroking checks from the perimeter all night. Cashing in a school record on his way to leading the Hokies over the Hurricanes
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In Closing
Wake Forest to be successful needs to get the ball into the lane either by pass or by drive. The Hokies have to find a way to keep the ball out of the interior. Expect to see a lot of 3-2 frontal zone. The key to this game isn't necessarily stopping John Collins because of how steady a contributor he is, the key is to limit those around him, forcing them into jump shots.
The question mark with any Hokies opponent is how well they will end up shooting from outside. If the Hokies can hold Wake under 40% shooting than they likely have a big advantage in this contest. Anything above that number and this game becomes a lot closer.
The Hokies should have some mismatches in terms of speed versus size on the offensive end so using that to their advantage and getting the Wake Forest starters in foul trouble could play a key role in a final regular season Hokies win.
Hokies go out on an emotional senior night and win their final regular season contest to move to 11-7 in the ACC. Hokies win 91-83.
The loudest & most influential voice you hear is your own inner voiceIt can work for U or against U, depending on the messages you allow— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) March 3, 2017
Comments
Thanks for all your work on these previews, it's very appreciated!
Those Ty Outlaw stats are unreal.
Hokies are looking to win 11 conference games for the first time ever
Hey folks, gonna be at a bar in the Lynchburg area for this game - any idea as to what channel this might be on so I can tell them what to turn it to? It looks like a blackout on WatchESPN, so my phone's a no-go.
Looking at the Hokie Huddle link I would guess you are looking at Fox Sports South or Fox Sports Carolinas. There is a link in the second tweet I imbedded in the original post that will get you to the TV list for the game.
Which bar?
Rivermont Pizza 4ever.
Beer 88 in Wyndhurst - looking through the guide on the TV right now with no luck. None of the regional sports networks are available.
I'm out in forest. Ridiculous none of the networks have the game. Just gonna listen to laze and Mike.
I'm in RVA and it's on CSN for xfinity tv
Maroon leader checking in for the last regular season game.
Orange leader checking in we have UVA salty tears in sight
Who's watching in RVA and where?
Stupid Blackout on WatchESPN and CBS showing GT Syracuse
So there's really no way to watch around here?
It's on Comcast Sportsnet. Channel 846 for Comcast
Sadly, I had to go to three notchd. Only sad cause it's from hooville. Great Taphouse all things considered.
Any chance we see LeDay and Sy on the court together to try and match WF height down low?
Why not play smaller and make Wake match our quickness and shoooting ability?
It's clear Sy and LeDay aren't Buzz' favorite together, why play a less than optimum lineup?
Because I don't see any way we stop Wake bigs or get a rebound with the small line up. Hope I'm wrong because I think you are right. Buzz will go small and quick.
Gotta get the win keep the momentum rolling and go above uva on the season
LET'S GOOOOOO!
The seniors' numbers are on the floor. That's awesome.
Seth "Fearless" Allen.
Who is SM? Guessing Student Manager but wasn't sure
You're right. Not sure about his last name, but I saw in a tweet that his first name is Sean.
I've ranted about this many times in my life. The jumping into contact and throwing up a shot is one of the worst parts of basketball. You are creating the contact, it is such cheap bullshit. Other than the hack-a-Shaq strategy, it's maybe the worst thing about organized basketball.
I rate it 3rd worst, maybe.
Flopping will always be first.
Flopping is stupid, but it doesn't take advantage of stupid rules like the other two do.
Not making them reach or force their bigs into fouls so far. Really need to get into their bodies down low on our drives.
3 on Collins y'all!
Nice Collins headed to bench for the rest of the half
Galloway letting them back in it
This just shows how thin our lineup is in terms of defensive capability.
Even then it was a bad time to make that substitution and Wake recognized it and took full advantage of it. Game went from 13 points to 6 almost immediately.
Save the senior night substitution for the last minute after the game is well in hand.
Only other guys available had two fouls each and Buzz didn't want them picking up their third before the half.
Seriously. Collins is on the bench with 3 fouls and yet we have Galloway in giving up easy 3 point plays. Immensely frustrating to say the least.
Love that Galloway got in
Now get him out, his defense is allowing the Deacs to go on this run.
Allen and Leday driving the turnover train again. So frustrating.
Nice scoring finesse by LeDay!
I'm trying to listen on the HokiesXTRA app and I've got the Wake Forest broadcast. I'm assuming this is a IMG Sports issue, since they handle both of the school's broadcasts.
You'd think someone would've noticed before this point and switched the Tech broadcast on. I wonder if Laaze and Burnop are on the Wake Forest app.
This may be late but sounds like TuneIn has the correct feed.
Pretty ridiculous that we got their top scorer to the bench with 9 minutes to go and have done nothing but surrender our lead with that advantage
Halftime with a lead.
I'll take it, even if it's smaller than what I expected.
Jesus we need some bench players
Red Panda sighting?
Uh oh, that's usually a good sign for us.
Just out of curiosity, how full is the Cassell? Hope it's packed for Senior Day but it's also the start of Spring break.
Looks pretty packed in. Was an official sellout, and I'd guess 90-95% of the students showed up from the broadcast. The alumni sections look packed in pretty well.
Good. Glad to hear the students stuck around before spring break.
It was possibly 90%, possibly a little less. The student section was completely full, but many empty seats throughout.
That cheeky finger gun from Robinson though.
Please just take it to the paint and pump-fake to catch Collins in the air.
OK so if you breathe on Collins it's a foul
LeDay did literally the exact same thing Collins did on the other end of the floor and got called twice. Complete crap.
Collins is going to own us this half.
Of course he will when Wake brings their fucking refs to the stadium
This is getting absurd
That's 3 horseshit calls in a row for simply playing defense against Collins
Come the fuck on
ACC refs can all suck a fat one. No other conference has this big a descrepancy between quality of basketball and quality of officiating.
Every game
It's really bad, and I say that knowing we've gotten our fair share of the calls in our favor, especially at home. It truly is pathetic how bad the refs are allowed to dictate games in this conference.
It seems like the refs always miss the home cooking memo when we're the home team
Collins didn't play for half of the first half and Hokies couldn't extend a lead. Stop blaming it on the refs.
At some point you have to play and make shots
I agree. As bad as the officiating is, Buzz is equally to blame for keeping Galloway in for so long and letting Wake hang around with Collins out. This L is gonna be on Buzz.
Lots of time left
Man, what is wrong with Med?
Charge much, cocksuckers?
Blatant charge in the middle of the court.
Is that Ron Cherry out there?
Collins picked up #4 on a weak call, refs still biased?
Not biased, just shit all around.
Are they making the Hokies throw the ball away left and right?
Our offensive mistakes don't excuse the terrible officiating
But they certainly are exacerbating the issue.
Whining is easy, the Hokies are going to lose because they can't hit a bucket and keep turning it over
How about LeDay encouraging the students to chant "Bullshit" louder after the foul on Robinson
Lol comedy of errors by these refs
Can't play defense without a whistle. And now that bullshit goaltending call. We're gonna have to earn this one against a tough team and the ACC
To be fair we're doing more than enough on our own to piss this one away. Have to drive the basket to get open shots and were far too content keeping the ball around the perimeter until the shot.
Have to adjust this with this timeout. When we drive the paint we dominate. When we don't, we play into Wakes hands.
We are doing this to ourselves much more than the officials. We have been nonchalant on defense for about 12 minutes of this half
Who invited the Bubble to this party?
Down 7
Unacceptable. All around failure today from the team to execute their game to the coaches putting in Galloway in the first half kick-starting the comeback to the refs. Just an all around bad game.
But at the end of the day if we do lose we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Our play went to shit the second Collins came into the game. We forgot how to execute our game.
Hope we can still pull it out but it definitely has the feel of a game that is snowballing.
Great timeout by Buzz
Interesting for the Deacs as they were playing very well without Collins and as crunch time approaches I wonder when we will see him again.
Down 7 points with almost 5 minutes left and people want to write this team off. Still think we've already lost?
Kinda
This is pretty typical of our basketball threads when we aren't winning by 20
Paging Seth Allen, come in please.
Yes it's over
The more they are right the more they will do it.
It's called watching the game and the choke job
What?
We were up 13 and we're going to end up losing by 7 or so
You're in the wrong place if you're looking for a I told you so moment
Again, what?
This didn't make sense to me. So I asked what he meant. How am I looking for an I told you so moment...?
The Hokies blew it. For most of us, we have never seen the Hokies accomplish anything basketball wise (and I'm 34).
I was addressing your point that people will count us out if we are watching a game where they are blowing it. Winning some games mid season after being down to middling teams is not going to change that impression, and giving up leads at home to middling teams certainly wont.
The best part is because we blew it we probably get Wake again in the ACCT. How confident are you about that matchup on a nuetral site? We aren't dancing yet and losing to them 2 times straight won't help
Never said we didn't blow it. All I said was it wasn't over when we were down 7 with 5 minutes to go. I stand by that.
I understand tensions are high after a tough loss but it seems like y'all are just arguing for the sake of arguing at this point. Good job, you were right when you said we'd lose. I chose to hold out hope that we could pull it out. Not looking for an "I told you so moment" considering I was clearly proven wrong now that we've lost.
To be fair to this team, we finished the year 15-2 at home. This loss stings but yes I have confidence that Buzz finds a way to beat this team on a neutral court, especially when Wake will be playing back to back days to face us.
I mean, were we wrong?
To say that we had already lost with about 5 minutes left, yes. We've seen this team come back from worse than 7 points with 5 minutes to go. But congratulations.
It'd be one thing if it was a back and forth game and we had clawed back to within 5 like we had so many times this year. But it's a completely different feeling when you dominate a game and then things go south. It was pretty easy to see that L coming with 5 minuts to go.
Not sure you wanted Robinson taking that 3
Terrible shot by Robinson there
As the announcers have been pointing out, the zone defense Wake has employed has seemingly kept Allen and Robinson from making the pass into the corner to Outlaw. I think the guards are giving it too much respect which takes away a huge amount of our offense.
This won't go down as a bad loss but it damn well feels like one
We have no business losing to this team. We got up big and forgot how to play our game.
A home loss on senior day to another bubble team? When you can really lock in your dancing ticket? And hurt your conference tourney seeding
That's a bad loss, regardless of what RPI says.
We were never actually up "big" (that would be 15-20), and yes we do have business losing to this team. Wake is a good team with great guard play combined with solid bigs. They aren't a good match-up for us. Unfortunately we will probably see them again next week.
Yeah I don't get why people in this thread are acting like Wake is garbage. They're ranked higher on kenpom and have an elite offense with a guy who should be in consideration for player of the year. They're dang solid
Dangit Zach...
Sorry twos won't cut it here.
That 3 point attempt was an incredibly stupid possession such a waste
Typical Senior Night performance for Virginia Tech basketball when tournament seeding is on the line
OK bash away on the officials. That was ridiculous. Especially since he hit the next one.
Awful call but the game was over really I was hoping for a better effort on a senior night
Except if Allen goes to the line there and hits all three, the Hokies are at 84 to Wake at 87 and it would have meant they could set up a set piece to prevent the inbounds which would have shortened the clock loss at worst. If Wake still hits 1 of 2 then Allens next three would have made it 87 to 88 with a chance to send Wake to the line again, even if they hit both they are only up three, which means Tech has a chance to tie with the final possession.
The refs were shit and took control that entire second half.
I mean they called a goaltending when the ball was going up 6 inches from the backboard. That's all you need to know about how bad we got screwed tonight.
The ACC wanted Wake in the NCAA Tournament and if that meant we had to get bent over to accomplish it, so be it.
Very very disappointed in this performance not the way to end such a good season but this team has some issues
We're locked into the 7 seed against the winner of BC and Wake. Winner would get Florida State.
Those are really bad matchups based on the way the team played tonight
So basically we're gonna get Wake back-to-back. Sweet..... /s
I would welcome that. We're a better team than them and I think the team would love a chance to prove it
Agreed.
I'm not sure why we expect this team to be any good defensively when they have proven to be a poor defensive team all year. We have to outscore teams to win and we have done pretty well at that.
Regardless, this is still a wild success of a season and we get to watch meaningful March Hokie basketball for the first time in 10 years.
We're solidly on the bubble with this loss. Chances are we get Wake again next week in the ACCT. Not trying to be "that guy" or a debbie downer....but hello again NIT. I hope I'm wrong.
We're solidly in. Wake isn't a bad loss.
At worst, if we lose in our first ACCT game, we are a 10 seed. Most likely we'll be in the 8/9 matchup.
You've lost the narrative.
Not sure my comment deserved a downvote...what community guideline did I break?
Like I said not trying to be that guy, but I'm not convinced we are solidly in. No, Wake isn't a bad loss. But it's a loss against a bubble team at home...and we started with a 14 point lead. We know the committee doesn't love us as a program. So I don't see us as being in for sure.
+1 even though I disagree with you
I appreciate that. Not a big deal if it stayed at -1, I was just curious why it was downvoted.
Don't sweat the random downvote. Most likely was someone inadvertently hitting it on mobile wile scrolling.
No idea why there have been downvotes. I think you're on to something here. We are not safe at all come selection sunday. If we can't win two games in the ACC tourney we should all be sweating through the weekend
You think we need to beat FSU to not sweat? Hope you have a lot of extra shirts.
The selection committee has definitely been known to do some insane things at the last minute, remember SMU 2014, and South Carolina last season. Both outrageous snubs punished for a weak nonconference schedule, which we technically have from a numbers standpoint. I think we have the resume to get in but that's been true before, not going to take anything for granted until we get on the bracket.
I don't think so. The bubble is so weak this year. Even if we lose to Wake again, we can't get left out for the mediocre teams still on the bubble
This loss took us from NCAA 7 seed to 8/9 because it was at home. Another loss to WF pushes us to 9/10. A win over WF pushes us back to 7/8.
But our dreams of a 6 seed are dead
And a win over Florida State potentially puts us back to a six. Wins beyond that are likely bonus material. All depends on how the next one, or two, or more games go. The more games the better. Maybe BC pulls off a stunner against Wake.
The only thing that worries me is "we've heard that before"
We should be in, but we are still talking about why we have been snubbed multiple times over the last decade. Would be nice to win a freakin game once in awhile to get rid of that. Teams don't get the benefit of the doubt when they never give a reason to provide doubt
Why different situation this year than those. Those years we collapsed down the stretch. Even the year we beat Duke we followed it up by BAD losses to BC and Clemson. And those years also saw us with some head scratching losses early.
This year is different. Our overall resume is much stronger this year than any of those bubble years. Strongest since 2006.
Even in a stronger year we're still likely in. 10 wins in this conference, a boatload of Top 50 wins, no bad losses, wins over numerous currently ranked teams, and a RPI in the Top 40 would get it done any year.
What's frustrating is that this game could have played us into a 6 or 7 seed. Now we're probably in that 8/9 game with a second round matchup against a 1 seed. Our potential bracket just went from potentially sneaky run territory to tough, especially considering who the 1 seeds will be. Just hope we draw Gonzaga.
I never count on a top 40 RPI being enough because of the auto bids to really bad conferences. When bad conferences have upsets in their tournaments you start seeing teams with quality RPI not getting in. If that happened though the ACC would only have 7 or 8 teams in instead of the 10 to 11 people are expecting now.
welp, that happened
Boy, that speech by Zach got me all up in my feels...proud of you Zach, Hokie through and through! Keep on fightin' big guy.
This game/thread is proof that
This was not a "bad" loss. Wake has a better RPI than we do.
We get to play them again (unless Boston College recruits Curry, Lebron, and Durant), and I have complete faith in Buzz to make some adjustments that will help us win that game. After that, we get Florida State, who we played close @ FSU, without arguably our best player in Seth Allen.
Even with all that said, we're in the tournament. I know people are skeptical, but we're in.
Edit: Deleted & posted on the other thread