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VT has come of age in the ACC

Posted at 1:00 am on Monday, January 29th, 2007 by Vince

Most Hokies think Virginia Tech proved its worth to the ACC the first year the Hokies were in the conference. In 2004 and 2005, the football team won the conference and the basketball team finished a surprising 4th place in the regular season standings. Those Hokies who believe we proved our worth that year as members of the Atlanta Coast Conference wouldn’t be wrong. While we may have already proved our worth, I believe we have truly become a peer in the eyes of the rest of the ACC, thanks to the success the men’s basketball team has enjoyed thus far.

The men’s basketball team presently sits alone at the top of the standings at 6-1. They have beaten Duke in Cameron, previously #1 North Carolina, and Maryland on an icy night. Those teams have won 3 of the last 6 national championships. With Sunday afternoon’s win over Georgia Tech, the Hokies are now 3-1 on the road in the ACC. This team has the confidence that they can play with anyone in the nation, and that they can go to an opponent’s home court and bring home a win. That’s a very dangerous combination.

It is most unreal that 4 more wins should get us into the big dance. I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but we have 9 games remaining on our schedule, 5 of which are at home. Assuming the team keeps playing the way they are now, all 9 of the games are winnable. (Although @UNC might be stretch.) What is also impressive at this point is that the team doesn’t seem to be flying too high. I believe that Seth Greenberg has them playing one game at a time, which is very important in the perilous ACC schedule. Anyone can bring you down on any given night, so you must bring your A game every time you step out on the court. The Hokies have been doing that as of late, as well. Tech is 7-1 since the embarrassing loss at Marshall.

We’re almost halfway through the conference season, and Virginia Tech has beaten all of the traditional ACC powers. The team’s goal of getting a bid to the NCAA tournament is in sight. However, the fact of the matter is that we’re not playing for a tournament bid now – we’re playing for our seed in the tournament.

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A few random thoughts to close out this post …

  • Georgia Tech was held to 37% from the floor.
  • The Hokies are allowing 62.4 points a game – that’s 2nd best in the ACC
  • Zabian Dowdell scored 23 points against the Yellow Jackets. I think he deserves to be 1st team All-ACC at the end of the season.
  • Lots of teams in the top 25 had a rough week. I bet the Hokies move up to 18th.
  • According to RealTimeRPI.com, Tech’s RPI is now 20. That’s presently 3rd best in the ACC behind UNC (2) and Duke (5)

Categories: ACC, VT Basketball
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