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The Roanoke Times: Press Box

with our sports staff

Tourney talk and Tech

Posted Feb27, 2008 at 02:48 PM

You want your email inbox to fill up as a columnist? Write an NCAA tournament bubble column. Presto. Filled. Simple as that. My take that Virginia Tech still needs three wins to get in generated a variety of responses this morning.

From Jason in McLean, Va.: "First of all-if we go 10-6, we're in, win or lose in the ACC tourney. Just no way to dispute that. Leave a 9-7 ACC team behind, yes, it has happened before, but not 10-6 and that's not going to happen this year either. Not to mention, our RPI would be in the mid-40s (RPI factors in win-streak and we would've beat a top 25 RPI Clemson team). You should check out realtimerpi.com so you can get more up-to-date info than citing "Sunday's RPI" for a Wednesday article (even if it was written last night)."

More on this a bit later.

From Brett in Washington, D.C.: "I think it's time to give VT a new nickname attributed to success in all sports: 'Defense U.' Think about it....football, nuff said. Basketball? We wouldn't have won like we have this year or the past 2 years if the defense wasn't nasty. Soccer? I hear a very stingy defense as well. Don't know about baseball. Nonetheless, it's just funny how Greenberg has taken the 'business model,' if you will, of the football team, and applied it directly to basketball. Awesome coaching. Defense U. We take pride in defense."

I have no doubt Brett -- a devoted Tech fan and frequent emailer, particularly during football season -- makes good money as a financial analyst in the big city, but I think he'd do all right for himself in this business, too.

And even my own colleague threw in his two cents. Mark Berman, our Virginia Tech men's basketball beat writer, sent me this in reference to the column: "So what if no ACC team has been left out at 10-6? Sure, back when ACC had 9 teams and everyone played Duke and UNC twice, a 10-6 record meant something. But in the watered down 12-team ACC we have now, a 10-6 mark does not mean the same thing as it used to because teams' schedules aren't the same."

That's the main reason I think Tech needs at least one win in the tournament, too. Although I stand by my assertion that leaving them out at 10-6 would be historic. Probably not unfair. But by definition, historic.

Here is ESPN's updated take on the bubble situation.

And, as usual, here is a fresh piece of fake news for all to enjoy.

-- Aaron McFarling

Comments

# 1

[February 28, 2008 11:35 AM]

Greg Bowyer

If you had told anyone that the Hokies would still be in the NCAA picture on March 1, they would have thought you were crazy. McFarling nailed it on the head -- win 3 more straight and they are in. Beating Wake, Clemson, and another good team in the tourney quarters will not be easy for a young team. But all any ACC team, not named the Blue Devils or Tar Heels, can really ask this time of year is to have "control of your own destiny." I sure will be rooting for them.

I like the Defense U comment by Brett in DC...intense and relentless. Too bad it does not translate to the offensive side on the ball in football. Tech lacks that kind of passion from the offensive coaching staff...OC and QB Coach. Unlike Foster, those two guys offer no inspiration at all.

Sorry for the detour into football, but some will understand. Football is 24/7/365 and basketball is 12/4/180. Maybe Greenberg is on the way to changing my mindset. I can't wait for 2009 and 2010 in both sports! The Hokies really have a chance to raise the bar on the national scene.

# 2

[February 28, 2008 2:13 PM]

Fred

For what it's worth, I think Aaron is right. Even if Tech wins out to finish 10-6 in the ACC, an 0-1 ACC tourney performance lands them in the NIT.

Here is their resume (rankings as of right now, and assuming they were to win the remaining 2 games):

Pros: 10-6 in ACC (#1 conference according to RPI); quality road win over Clemson; strong finish (7-3 in last 10 regular season)

Cons: Bad non-conference losses- Richmond (RPI 106), Old Dominion (111), and Penn State (159); only 1 win vs. RPI Top 50; marginal RPI; 39-pt. loss to UNC on national TV in mid-February; all non-conference wins against teams with very low RPI

Even with 1 win in the ACC tourney, it's still a shaky case. They would need some help (i.e., losses) from other ACC teams (Maryland, Wake Forest) and other bubble teams seeking the limited at-large spots.

Of course, they could just win the ACC tourney and be done with all of this... :-)

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Quick thoughts

  • Poll voters get it right -

    Who knew the Virginia football program carried so much weight? Southern Cal moved up from No. 3 to No. 1 in the Associated Press media poll, and from No. 2 to No. 1 in the coaches’ poll, after its 52-7 rout of UVa in Charlottesville. “To see a team go on the road and play a New Year’s Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?” voter Stewart Mandel of SI.com told the AP. Now we all know UVa is hardly the same team that played on Jan. 1. But the voters still got this right. USC proved more at UVa than a Georgia team that beat Division I-AA Georgia Southern or an Ohio State team that beat I-AA Youngstown State. — Mark Berman

  • ACC stinks it up -

    Arkansas State won at Texas A&M. Bowling Green upset Pitt. Louisiana Tech beat Mississippi State. But the ACC laid the biggest egg of all in Week 1, reinforcing its reputation as a weak conference. Preseason ACC favorite Clemson was squashed by Alabama. ECU upset the Hokies. USC flattened UVa. Maryland only beat Delaware by a 14-7 score, and UNC had to rally to beat McNeese State. On Thursday, South Carolina shut out N.C. State. At least Wake Forest beat Baylor. But the ACC was an object of ridicule on national sports talk radio Saturday night, and rightly so. And it won’t get any better next weekend when Miami visits Florida. — Mark Berman

  • Intriguing ACC games for VT hoops -

    The 2008-09 schedule for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team was released this week, and the Hokies will begin and end the ACC portion of it in noteworthy fashion. Their ACC opener will be a Sunday night visit to Durham on Jan. 4 to take on Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski and Duke in a game airing on Fox Sports Net. Their next game features a visit to Cassell Coliseum by Virginia. And the Hokies better hope they have a good record before their final three games of the regular season, because that will be the toughest stretch of their year by far. They host Duke in an ABC game on Feb. 28, followed by a March 4 visit from Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina in an ESPN game. The regular-season finale is a trip to Florida State, where Tech always loses. — Mark Berman

  • Good showing for UVa at Olympics -

    With the Olympics over, UVa has plenty to be proud of. Ex-Cav Angela Hucles, the leading goal scorer in UVa history, now has to be considered one of the best female athletes UVa has ever produced. Not only did she win her second gold with the U.S. women’s soccer team, but she scored a team-high four goals in Beijing — including two in the semifinals and one in the quarterfinals. Ex-Cav Lindsay Shoop also won gold — one of three UVa grads to medal in rowing. And Dawn Staley was part of a winning basketball team as an assistant. As for Virginia Tech? Well, ex-Hokie Ieva Kublina had a few good basketball games for Latvia. And Queen Harrison reached a hurdles semifinal at the age of 19. London could be in her future. — Mark Berman

  • Hightower making us look good -

    Tim Hightower is making The Roanoke Times — and Division I-AA football in this state — look good. Hightower was a standout running back at Richmond last fall, helping the Spiders reach the I-AA semifinals. We chose him as the Roanoke Times’ state Division I offensive player of the year, eschewing I-A stars. Now comes word that the fifth-round draft pick will likely be Edgerrin James’ top backup with the Arizona Cardinals. Good for him. I just hope he fares better off the field than our offensive player of the year picks in 1999 and 2004, Michael and Marcus Vick. — Mark Berman

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The Press Box blog will post entries on a variety of sports at both the high school and collegiate levels in Southwest Virginia. Contributions come from staff writers of The Roanoke Times sports section.

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