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 wait until we have some depth and more time to recruit.
Pure nonsense.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.
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.
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.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.
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.
Sounds about right to me.My guess is 8 bids for ACC this year. The 4 blue bloods, plus ND, UVA, Pitt, and Miami.
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.Sounds about right to me.
ND and Louisville should be fine, Syracuse has some work to do.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.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.