Recent Comments

I'll have what he's having! Cheers!!

16-0 Baby

Don't forget – that recruiting drop off also correlates with Bud Foster leaving. I don't think the two are unrelated.

Understandable lol

I feel weird saying this, but I think I'm pulling for UVA. I don't feel the same hate that I have for their football team.

Outscored iowa by 17 in 4q and both ots to get to s16

The AI response said the same. Expect a final RPI between 30-45, and Top-20 SoS.

Fuente built his recruiting rankings on positions that we already had enough players within while woefully underperforming in recruiting elsewhere on the roster. I think at one point we had 10 RB recruits alone on the roster.

You should look at UT's rankings if you really want to feel better about yourself.

Beamer levels of recruiting should be doable, I agree with that. His ability to recruit was one of the main reasons I thought he would be a good hire for us. Ideally we could be a bit higher - like low 20s or even get a top 20 class every few years. But that is the part that I find hard to believe. Sounds like you and I are making basically the same point though.

What always annoyed me is that Fuente had like 3 classes in a row that were pretty much equal to beamer-level ranking. He just was nowhere as good at player development (and roster management like you said). I mean, 3 classes in the mid-20s should mean we had a good roster. and yet his last couple years (aka when that class was supposed to be upperclassmen and team leaders) we were struggling to make bowls. and then his ability to recruit guys just fell off a cliff. Our recruiting has basically been cursed since the Devyn Ford big dog remarks haha. I think we have gotten like 1 top 200 player since then. oof

Better week than I think most of us expected. Still, the way we closed out the series isn't instilling confidence. Decided to let Anthropic have a crack at the Hokies and give me some insight into what's going to happen the remainder of the season -

Projected remaining: 18-13

Methodology: Based on VT's observed patterns:
- 75% home win rate, 43% road win rate, adjusted for opponent strength
- VT takes 1 of 3 in most road ACC series, 2 of 3 in most home ACC series
- VT beats non-conference opponents at home ~90% of the time
- VT splits or loses road games against quality opponents (RPI < 80)

### Final Projected Record: ~30-23 (.566)
- Overall: 30-23
- ACC: ~14-16

This would put VT on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Their RPI (currently 23) and SOS (2) are strong,
but the win percentage needs to stay above .550 and they'll need a few more quality wins. Taking 2-of-3 at home against
NC State and/or Clemson would be huge resume boosters.

### Key to Exceeding Projections
Based on the statistical indicators above, VT makes the tournament if they:
1. Keep opponents under 7 runs (9-1 when they do)
2. Play clean defense — 0-1 errors per game
3. Score 6+ runs (10-3 when they do)
4. Protect home field (currently 75% — need to maintain)
5. Win Game 3s in series to salvage splits on the road

### Key Risk
The blowout losses are concerning. VT has 5 losses by 7+ runs. If the pitching staff can avoid those catastrophic
outings, the underlying team is probably a 33-20 caliber squad. If the blowouts continue at the current rate (~1 in 4
games), they'll finish closer to 27-26.

A few other nuggets:

• Our RPI is #23 in the country right now, and SOS is #2 (holy hell... the record is starting to be a lot more understandable)
• the series against Pitt and NC State are the most critical
• The season finale against Clemson would score major bonus points
• We're going to need at least 1 win in the ACCT, maybe 2 to feel safe for an at-large NCAA bid

Uva up on iowa by 5 at half... Uva with lots of turnovers but iowa shooting like the inverse caitlin clark. They have looked beatable the whole tourney