I like the way this short-handed team competes.
Buzz is earning his pay.
Just wait until we have some depth and more time to recruit.
Buzz is earning his pay.
Just wait until we have some depth and more time to recruit.
Just lost a BB game at Notre Dame but
- Thread starter BigDaddyHokie
- Start date
I agree. Just might take several more years. Looks like Tech is only bringing in one three star recruit next year. Team is still young, but it's gonna take awhile.
With respect to recruiting we've already got the core of our team for the 2016-17 though 2018-2019 seasons in house right now, and they are plenty talented enough, coached well enough, and should be experienced enough by next season to start competing for NCAA at large bids. We only had one open scholly even available for next season which is taken by the kid at Oak Hill (Sy). That's not to say there won't be more attrition at the end of the season but even if there isn't we are still in good shape going forward to start making a run at an NCAA bid.
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Finally got to watch a VT basketball game from start to finish and although they lost, I come away extremely impressed. This team is fundamentally sound and hustles. That in itself is huge. They look to be gaining confidence and buying into what Buzz is coaching (liked the high5 a player gave him coming to the bench). One game at a time...
I think it depends on what you mean. It will take several more years for VT to be a top 20 team. I agree with that. I think next year VT can be a NCAA bubble team and possibly make it in.
I believe if VT can pull a few more wins in conference they could be a bubble team this year. The ACC seems to be down at the top overall compared to the last few years. UVA, Duke, Syracuse, Notre Dame are all down while the bottom seems to have improved lead by VT, Clemson and GT. The middle of the conference is going to be a battle. No reason a VT couldn't slip into 5th - 6th place and grab an at large bid, the next 4-5 games will be important if VT is going to make that push. Teams at the top that are down but have good recruiting classes coming so I don't expect them to be down as much next year, so this might be a great year to slip in....
VT's starting to come on but unfortunately it took them some extra time to get there this year with so many new players, so they won't have the OOC resume this year. The not so strong OOC resume means they have to win an awful lot of conference games to make it to the bubble - probably more wins than they are capable of pulling in a conference which is always very strong whether Duke and UVA are invincible in a particular year or not. It would be absolutely amazing if Buzz could pull it off in year 2 but we are probably still looking at year 3, and I don't believe relative overall weakness or strongness of the league being a special issue for VT. This league is always going to be so very talented that I don't see it changing so much from year to year that it dictates how VT will finish or make the NCAA field. Its really all about VT.
You make a good point about the early OOC loses.....hope you didn't take my post as a slight on VT in anyway, I just think some of the notorious better teams are struggling and this is a good year for someone to get hot and slip into position to steal a bid. Road loses are common, protecting the home court and stealing a few road wins will be big.
No, but I have a different perspective from what you were saying. To me its always starts with the blue blood programs, and then everyone else gets into the chase. Except for oddball seasons, you can pretty much count on UNC, Duke, Louisville and Syracuse always being in the NCAA tournament. I expect them in every year. I think most fans probably would agree with that much.
So, the rest of the teams are always playing for bids that can be anywhere from 2-4 additional bids to the 4 blue blood bids, how many bids depending on how the NCAA selection committee perceives the relative strength of the league. But the committee's relative strength perception seems to be more centered around if the blue blood programs are doing well rather than the other teams beating the blue bloods. It seems when the blue bloods are losing more games to the other teams, then the perception is the league is down (same as your post), rather than crediting the rest of the league for being stronger, and the league gets LESS bids, say 2 or 3, instead of 4. The blue bloods still go to the NCAA as lower seeds, and a couple of the others end up being left out. So in a year that the ACC only gets two more bids, VT had better aim for a top 6 conference finish and have at least a decent OOC resume to go with it. If we improve the OOC we can possibly fall to top 7 ACC. Past that I think we flirt with no bid. So in that sense, I always root for the blue bloods to win their games, unless they are playing VT.
So, the rest of the teams are always playing for bids that can be anywhere from 2-4 additional bids to the 4 blue blood bids, how many bids depending on how the NCAA selection committee perceives the relative strength of the league. But the committee's relative strength perception seems to be more centered around if the blue blood programs are doing well rather than the other teams beating the blue bloods. It seems when the blue bloods are losing more games to the other teams, then the perception is the league is down (same as your post), rather than crediting the rest of the league for being stronger, and the league gets LESS bids, say 2 or 3, instead of 4. The blue bloods still go to the NCAA as lower seeds, and a couple of the others end up being left out. So in a year that the ACC only gets two more bids, VT had better aim for a top 6 conference finish and have at least a decent OOC resume to go with it. If we improve the OOC we can possibly fall to top 7 ACC. Past that I think we flirt with no bid. So in that sense, I always root for the blue bloods to win their games, unless they are playing VT.
I'd be surprised to see us get a bid this year. Like you say,we're not a name team. But the ACC is as balanced as I've ever seen it. We just lost a close one on the road to the team that beat Duke at Cameron. I think injuries(or recovering from them) will be the key to the ACC this year. If Duke gets their starter back or,say, if one of UNC's starters gets injured, that could change things real quick.
Florida State,Miami, and Notre Dame sometimes look like scary teams if they stay disciplined. I think Buzz is getting more from his team than anybody in the league. If this continues,I think he's a front runner for ACC coach of the year, but he probably won't get it.
The Big 12 will get a lot of bids, not sure how many the ACC get.
I think a lot has to be decided this year and will probably boil down to the ACC tourney. Syracuse, ND, and Louisville are going to have to earn the right to go dancing this year. One or two of them might not make it. Really balanced year. We have an outside chance.
We are not out of it, but my opinion is very outside. Other than BC we have the worst RPI in the conference because our OOC schedule/resume is bad. While some teams can make it with a top top half finish we have more work to do. My guess is, with this OOC resume, we need a solid top 5 ACC finish with some impressive wins (Louisville and UNC type wins) and a good ACC tournament showing, at least 2 wins there. The same issue killed us 3 different times with Seth Greenberg's teams that had competed very well in the ACC only to get kicked to the NIT. I also think VT's margin for forgiveness (by the selection committee) is never the same as it is for the bigger basketball brands. I watched one year when Wake Forest was selected over us when IMO we clearly had the resume advantage. We're fighting perception too.
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