Comments on: More from Hokies, JJ on win over Iowa

By: markberman

markberman — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:51:12 +0000

Exactly. You can’t count on ACC schedule carrying you into NCAAs because of the unbalanced scheduling Once VT, Miami and BC joined the league, no one was playing everyone twice a year anymore. So it didn’t matter if you had a winning ACC record — it was a question of who those ACC wins came against. Greenberg used to maintain a winning ACC record should be good enough to get in, but the NCAA committee is interested in how many of your ACC wins came against the league’s good teams.

Now, with Syracuse and Pitt joining next season, and apparently Louisville coming in the season after, there will be more gpod teams in the league. But you will still need to beat some of them as part of your ACC record to impress the committee.

By: BJ

BJ — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:44:08 +0000

There has been a shift in college basketball in the last decade or so and I think it snuck up on Greenberg and others. There is clearly more parity with the likes of George Mason, Butler (twice), and VCU all making the final four. It used to be that you could hang your hat on the ACC schedule but it hasn’t been that way for several years.

By: markberman

markberman — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:18:33 +0000

It is not some secret club. Now, VT is not good enough to be asked to be in a made-for-TV game on an aircraft carrier like when Syracuse played San Diego State or UNC played Mich. State. VT is not a perennial Top 25 team so it won’t get that invite.
But it can play in a good November tournament if it wants to. Those tourneys always try to book one ACC team. Last year it was in the preseason NIT and made it to Madison Square Garden and lost to Syracuse. Two seasons ago it played in the Anaheim tourney and lost to UNLV. It 2008=09 it played in the Puerto Rico tourney and lost to Xavier. In 2007-08 they played in the Great Alaska Shootout and lost to Butler and Gonzaga. In 2006-07 I was in Orlando to cover them in the Old Spice Classic where they lost to So. Ill.
And nothing is preventing VT from scheduling a home-and-home series against a good team, like the recent one vs. K-State. And the series with Oklahoma State has resulted in the No. 15 team in the nation coming to to town. And they are heading to BYU to finish a series that saw them play NCAA tourney participant BYU last year.
It took a long time for Greenberg to realize you always need to schedule tough nonleague teams if you want to make the NCAAs. Hopefully Johnson’s future schedules will reflect that.

By: VT_Bubble_Boy

VT_Bubble_Boy — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:45:15 +0000

I also notice how every November top basketball programs like Duke, UNC, Michigan State, Kentucky, etc. arrange to tango with one another in high school caliber gymnasiums in Hawaii, Carribean resort hotel ballrooms, on top of aircraft carriers, inside Tibetan monasteries, on top of my beer gut, etc. etc. They do this because obviously it’s crucial to rack up high quality victories (and unlike college football, the cost of losing isn’t what you would call high) and they want to mutually inflate their RPIs and SOSs. It’s like some kind of not-so-secret handshake pact between college basketball’s elite.

***********That’s also why Michigan State can make the 2011 NCAA tournament with a 19-14 overall record (wow, IMPRESSIVE!!!!) and a 9-9 conference record (SUPERB!!!). Because it self-flagellated itself with its schedule.*********

So my question is, why can’t VT JOIN IN ON THE FUN with elite matchups and preseason tournaments taking place on top of my beer gut? I guess it’s like a high school clique where only the COOL KIDS (UNC, Duke, MSU, Kentucky, Louisville, etc.) ARE ALLOWED, EH??????????

By: VT_Bubble_Boy

VT_Bubble_Boy — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:16:25 +0000

I hope VT realizes how important the Ok. St. game is. To get into the NCAA tournament you NEED those quality wins.

I remember in ’09-’10 when VT went 13-1 (or was it 14-1?) in its non-conference slate with the only loss coming to a good Temple team, but even so, the tournament committee USED VT’S NON-CONFERENCE CREDENTIALS AS A SIGNIFICANT REASON TO KEEP VT OUT OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. ***THE MESSAGE WAS: BY SIMPLY HAVING CUPCAKES AND HARDLY ANY GOOD TEAMS ON THE NON-CONF SCHEDULE AND LOSING TO WHATEVER SPRINKLING OF GOOD TEAMS YOU DO PLAY, YOU’VE ALREADY LOST BEFORE THE GAMES HAVE EVEN BEEN PLAYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!****

In ’10-’11, Colorado went 5-6 against the RPI top 50 (including beating a very good K-State team THREEEEE times) and won (I believe) 21 games, yet managed to be shafted by the NCAA tournament committee simply because of its cruddy non-conference schedule. In my opinion, who CARES? You got 5 RPI top 50 wins for God’s sake. But unfortunately, that is how the committee operates.

Greenberg clearly got the message after the 2010 NCAA tourney snub and thus beefed up the non-conf sched significantly in ’10-’11 with teams like Kansas State and Purdue and UNLV (which was great for Greenberg to do), but of course we managed to lose to ALL OF THEM. (Scheduling good teams is important but not enough; HOW ABOUT BEATING THEM FOR GOD’S SAKE?)

Do not underestimate the boost that UVA got last season by beating Michigan in its non-conf slate, a win that was very important in getting UVA into the NCAA tournament.

Anyone else notice VT’s inability to win big non conference games? Even in 2006-2007, the one time VT made the NCAA tourney (and as a 5 seed to boot), ALL OF THE DAMAGE THAT VT DID WAS IN THE ACC (the capstone of which was the sweep of UNC and Duke). In 2006-2007, VT blew an opportunity for a quality OOC win against Southern Illinois (though to be fair, that Southern Illinois team which would go on to be a #4 seed in the NCAAs was pretty darn tough) AND LOST TO WESTERN MICHIGAN. WESTERN MICHIGAN!!! Also, I remember in 2008-2009 when VT lost on a desperation heave by Xavier; that was infuriating.

I DEFY YOU TO NAME A SINGLE *NON CONFERENCE* VICTORY OVER A TEAM RANKED IN THE FINAL RPI TOP 40 BY VIRGINIA TECH IN THE SETH GREENBERG ERA.

Why am I screaming about the non-conf games Tech has? BECAUSE THE ACC IS DOWN, PEOPLE; You CANNOT JUST WAIT UNTIL ACC PLAY BEGINS TO GET QUALITY WINS. In 2006-2007 (when VT last made the NCAA tournament), ****SEVEN**** teams from the ACC made the NCAA tourney. In 2011, FOUR ACC TEAMS made it to the NCAAs—FOUR!!!!!— and in 2012, only five teams made it. And Tech doesn’t get to play both Duke and UNC twice and always manages to find a way to get the ACC bottom feeders twice a year (hello, BC). The ONE TIME NC State is a hotshot team, of course NC State only shows up ONCE on VT’s schedule. It’s comically tragic. Or tragically comic.

It’s early, but I think that Ok. State will be comfortably in the RPI top 50 when all is said and done because they play in a good conference & you don’t bash the Wolfpack by 20 if you aren’t pretty good.

THEREFORE TECH, DO YOURSELVES A MAJOR FAVOR AND BEAT OKLAHOMA STATE!!!!

VT BASKETBALL SHOULD COME OUT WITH THE SAME URGENCY AGAINST OKLAHOMA STATE AS VT FOOTBALL DID AGAINST FSU THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: 1971 Hokie

1971 Hokie — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:23:13 +0000

Congratulations to coach Johnson and the team. Nice victory over Iowa. The players seem to have accepted Johnson’s system and are performing well.