#1- HOW on earth did Virginia Tech not make the tournament?
6 ACC teams made the tournament, and of the top 7 in the conference, we were the only team to not make the tournament. How this is possible? Well there are a few reasons.. but the reasons some of the other ACC teams got in is not right. see #2 for those issues.
Well, obvi we had a TERRIBLE non-conf schedule. IDK why Seth or our AD schedules such crap teams (i.e. uncg, col. of charleston, brown, UMBC, etc.) THey should have learned from the past few years and started to schedule tougher teams. Sure we've been getting easy wins at the beginning of the season but we need to have quality wins or "good loses" as they call it on espn. We have terrible wins and only a few good wins (at Iowa, at GT, at Wake, Clemson &UNC&Miami at home to name a few) and a couple bad losses (at miami & at BC in the regular season). As long as they can start scheduling us more quality teams, I think that will make ALL the difference.
Another issue I have is how on earth did we not make the tournament and other crap teams (i.e. FL, Wake, UTEP, Cal, and Clemson) make the tournament and we didnt???! Here's an excerpt from a comment made on ESPN and I could not agree with it more:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/6323/
"If VT doesn't belong in because they didn't play anyone (despite going 10-6 in one of the top 3 conferences in America), please explain who the following teams beat that are better than Georgia Tech (#10 seed), Wake Forest (#9 seed), and Clemson (#7 seed):
UTEP? Didn't beat a single NCAA team.
Cal? Other than beating Washington (#11 seed who they lost too not too long ago, AKA yesterday, on a neutral court)? Next best win was at home vs. Murray State (#13 seed).
Utah State? Beat BYU at home (BTW, look up BYU's nonconference schedule for a laugh) and New Mexico State (who is only in the tournament because they beat USU in the conf. tournament)
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Final point: All the pundits want to say "They had the opportunity to win down the stretch and didn't get it done." I guess beating Georgia Tech in the last game of the regular season, on their floor, convincingly, is "not getting it done." I guess you can justify putting Wake Forest, who got blown out in Round 1 by Miami, in over VT, who got a first round bye and played a suddenly-confident Miami team, losing by just 5 - the same Miami team that turned around and only lost to #1 seed Duke by 3 in the semifinals."
I couldnt have said it better myself.
#2- BIAS
well, Wake Forest's AD is on the selection committee. Maybe that is a reason they got in and we didnt? Wake Forest's schedule was utter crap and they played terribly. Even ESPN recognized that:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4994869
"Wake Forest (21). The Demon Deacons have ended the season disastrously, losing five of their last six and bottoming out with a 21-point loss in the ACC tourney to last-place Miami. Coach Dino Gaudio is 0-4 in postseason games as Wake head coach. In each of those four games, Gaudio's team had the higher seed -- and in each of those four games, it lost by double digits."
Wake is TERRIBLE this year and how they got in the NCAA tourny, only their AD/selection committee knows. THey also lost to the 12th ranked team in the ACC tournament on the FIRST DAY and it was a BLOWOUT. idk...what is going on in the world.
Here are the standings of the top 7 teams after the ACC Championships:
| Duke | 13-3 | 29-5 |
| Maryland | 13-3 | 23-8 |
| Florida State | 10-6 | 22-9 |
| Virginia Tech | 10-6 | 23-8 |
| Wake Forest | 9-7 | 19-10 |
| Clemson | 9-7 | 21-10 |
| Georgia Tech | 7-9 | 22-12 |
My thoughts--
Of course Duke was going to make it in, they got the automatic bid b/c they won the ACC tournament. Same with Maryland--as much as I hate to say it, they are a good team this year even though they lost in their first game of the conference tournament.
I swear, I love Duke almost as much as I love VT but if you're not wearing a shade of blue w/ the type of season we're having, then you're not going to get into the tournament. Clearly there is bias and I dont think that could have been more on display than Jay Bilas' rant on ESPN's bracketology. Did he have to be that rude? No. Did he have to take shots at VT? No. He was going off on VT, even after Seth Greenberg, being the classy guy he is, called in and did not call anyone out and simply stated that he and the team were dissapointed and felt like they should have gotten into the NCAA tournament as the 3rd place team in the ACC behind the Duke and maryland powerhouses. WHAT THE HELL JAY BILAS.
#3- Moving on..
Sooo we;re going to the NIT. We're the #1 seed so as long as we keep on winning, we'll play at home until the semifinal/final on March 30/April 1 in Madison Square Garden in NYC. We are playing Quinnipac on Wednesday night at 7pm in Cassell. I hope we can win, I dont know much about Quinnipac but rest assured that I will learn come Wednesday. According to hokiesports.com, this will be our first meeting w/ this school... I know we can make a run in this ridic NIT tournament (who paired unc v w&m AT unc????! Wtf) and show the ooc selection committee what they missed in our Hokies.
Ok, I am done w/ my rant and ready to move on and focus all of my positive energy to my Hokies on Wednesday so they can bring me a W! :) IF they win, I will make a special trip up to bburg on Friday for the game, anyone want to come with??!?
Oh Cassell Coliseum. So many great memories circa 2004-2008..
love you HokieBird! <3
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