Tech Sports Blog

Friday 5:30pm

Delta flight 4673 took off from Charlottesville roughly 15 minutes after 11 AM with at least 7 Hokies on board (myself included). I found it somewhat ironic that there were so many Hokies on a flight leaving Hoo’ville, but there are a good number of us in the Charlottesville area. The flight followed I-81 for the first 15 minutes or so, and I got a great view of Christiansburg and Blacksburg from the air. It was kinda funny that I followed my normal route to Blacksburg from the sky to see the Hokies in Baton Rouge.

I spoke with a few Hokies while waiting to board. This is obviously a big game in SEC country, and there is a buzz about this game not felt since the USC game of 2004. The LSU fans I talked to at the Atlanta airport consider it a big game, as well. Everyone is looking forward to the weekend’s festivities.

So, now I’m checked into my hotel and enjoying a few minutes of downtime before I head off to see the LSU campus. I’ll do my best to bring you a few updates throughout the weekend.

Random sidenote: I saw “Refrigerator” Perry at the Atlanta airport. Yup, he’s still a big dude. Friendly, too.

Saturday 10:45am

Wow, do these folks know how to prepare for a football game! I walked around campus yesterday afternoon for about an hour and a half. There were lots of tents already setup for today’s tailgates, and a number of students were setup on the parade grounds for today’s broadcast of Gameday. I also took a peek at their new live mascot: Roscoe, soon to be Mike VI. He’s a cool cat. I hope to upload some pics of him at some point.

I went down to The Chimes after walking around campus. I think I spent 4 hours there last night. I arrived by 7pm and left around 11pm, and it was packed the entire time. There were lots of Hokies there, and mostly friendly banter going back and forth between Tigers and Hokies.

Well, it’s time for me to get my butt moving and headed to campus. That’s all for now.

Go Hokies!

Monday after

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to make any more updates over the weekend. However, I know everyone has saw the game and was disgusted.

My post game thoughts will be published here in a day or so, so stay tuned.

[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on September 7, 2007.]

Following last week’s closer-than-expected victory over East Carolina, a trip to Atlantic City, and a short work week, a trip to Baton Rouge awaits me. This is one of those weekends I have been looking forward to for most of 2007. It’s not very often that Virginia Tech visits a team with as much football tradition as LSU, and it’s even less often that the Hokies are involved in a top 10 non-conference match-up. Both the fans and the team are looking forward to this trip to Bayou.

As a fan, I am looking forward to it because of the home fans and the venue. SEC football fans epitomize what college football is all about. They start tailgating days before the game. They live and die with their teams. When SEC fans sweat, they perspire college football. I expect being apart of that atmosphere for a weekend to be a memorable experience.

My plans for the weekend include:

• Arriving in Baton Rouge at roughly 4:30pm CDT on Friday.
• Visiting the College Gameday set at the Parade Grounds Friday evening. I’m not sure I’ll make it out there Saturday morning, so I figure I’ll check it out early. Who knows, maybe I can time it around one of their Sportscenter segments.
• Hit Chimes up on Friday evening for dinner and check out the local nightlife afterwards.
• Saturday will be all about tailgating. Not only will I be tailgating with friends, but I plan on walking around LSU to take in the atmosphere. I’ve read there is lots of great tailgating along N. Stadium Rd. and Dalrymple Dr.
• About 2 hours before kickoff I’ll head down to stadium to watch the LSU band march into the stadium. This is apparently a long standing tradition at LSU, and a site to see.
• I plan to be in my seats about 30 minutes prior to kickoff. I have heard that getting into the stadium can be a pain, and that the pre-game show is worth it.

After that, I’ll be there to cheer on the Hokies for a most extraordinary game: a non-conference game involving two top 10 teams. To drive home the point on how special Saturday’s game is, here’s food for thought. The last time LSU hosted a non-SEC match-up of top 10 teams was in 1987, when 7th ranked Ohio State visited Baton Rouge. LSU was ranked 4th for that game, and it resulted in a 13-13 tie. On the flip side, a top 10 ranked Virginia Tech team has never gone on the road in the regular season to visit a top 10 ranked out of conference opponent. Folks, this game is big.

While I consider this game to be one of the biggest games of the season in all of college football – it’s definitely one of the biggest games of our season – I don’t consider it a make-or-break type of game. A loss won’t affect a run at the ACC Championship, and thus a trip to a BCS Bowl. A loss won’t remove Virginia Tech as a perennial top 20 program. A narrow loss may not even take us completely out of the national championship picture (although I don’t consider us in that picture just yet). That said, a win will put us squarely in the national championship picture, and a win will put us amongst the nation’s elite.

For LSU, they’re already in the national championship picture, so they need to win to remain a major player. Saturday’s game means more to them than it does to us. We’re the underdog, and we have nothing to lose. That’s a great position to be in for such a tough road game.

While I would love to see us walk out of Tiger Stadium with a victory, I can’t say I’m expecting to. For me, it’s more about the football experience. I will be reminding myself of a two things: (1) If I hear “Tiger Bait!” yelled at me, respond with a smile and “Go Hokies!”. (2) Have fun.

[The following post was published at HokieHaven.com on August 25, 2007.]

As of Thursday, August 23rd, it’s been 236 days since Virginia Tech last played a football game. Needless to say, it’s been a long off-season for Hokies everywhere, but the end of that off-season is just around the corner. The anticipation for Virginia Tech’s 2007 football season has been building since the day after the Hokies’ 24-31 loss to Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. While there were many negative words said and written about our second half performance against the Bulldogs, most folks knew the offense was young, knew we didn’t have many outgoing seniors, and anticipated the team would improve from 2006 to 2007. But the real source of the early anticipation was the schedule. With an out of conference road trip to LSU, as well as Florida State and Miami at home on back-to-back Saturdays, Virginia Tech fans have been scrambling all year for tickets.

If that wasn’t enough, the emotions surrounding the aftermath of the April 16th shootings have been thrown into the mix. I believe that this year’s season opener against East Carolina will be one of the most memorable opening games in Virginia Tech history. The demand for tickets to the game versus East Carolina on September 1st rivals the demand for the games against Florida State and Miami. I believe the anticipation for the ECU game exceeds that of the canceled 2000 BCA Bowl versus Georgia Tech, and it rivals the anticipation of the 2004 BCA Football Classic versus the University of Southern California. In my mind, those are the only notable season openers that have been scheduled in the last decade.

It is remarkable that a game versus East Carolina will likely be one of the most anticipated and remembered football games this season. I mean no disrespect to the Pirate faithful when I say this, but a clash on the gridiron between the Hokies and Pirates was not anticipated to be earth shattering by any stretch of the imagination. Prior to April 16th, the match-up against ECU was viewed mainly as a tune-up for Virginia Tech before the trip LSU. However, the world changed for the Virginia Tech community on April 16th, 2007. In hours and days following the shootings, we experienced an unparalleled outpouring of support from other universities and colleges. East Carolina was one such university, and they pledged to donate $100,000 to the Hokie Spirit Fund just days after the shooting. I welcome them to Virginia Tech on September 1st and look forward to having them join us for what will be a emotional return of football to Blacksburg.

As you can see, I am looking forward to the East Carolina game next weekend. Not only because I expect it to be a meaningful start to the football season, as well as a memorable experience, but because it marks the start of a regular season that I consider to be one of Virginia Tech’s best football schedules in recent memory. I was so excited about this year’s schedule that when it was released, I promised myself that I would attend every regular season game. When the date of the LSU game was announced, I immediately booked airfare and hotel accommodations for Baton Rouge. I have worked on and off all year to get tickets to the away games (home games were already covered by my season tickets), and now I am all set for every game except UVA.

I am ready for the season, and this is how I have ranked the games on the schedule based on a combination of competition on the field, tailgating expectations, and fan anticipation.

Take ‘em or leave ‘em: William & Mary, at Duke
I’m sorry, but these are two games I’m just not very excited about. I can’t get excited about playing a Division I-AA team, and I can’t get excited about driving 3 hours to watch one of the best teams in the ACC pummel one of the worst teams in the league. If I hadn’t made it a goal to attend every regular season game, these are the games I’d skip.

Be there if you can and have fun: (no particular order)
Ohio – Many of you may consider the Ohio game as “take it or leave it”, but its redeeming quality is that it is a home game. They may not be a premier out of conference opponent, but it should still be fun.
North Carolina – I’m looking forward to this game because of three things: it is our ACC opener, it is Butch Davis’ return to Lane Stadium (I always enjoy beating him), and it is a home game.
at Georgia Tech – The Georgia Tech game is definitely a “can’t miss” game for Yellow Jacket fans, and I consider it to be one of our tougher contests this year. Because it’s an away game on a Thursday night, most Hokies will be perfectly content watching this one on ESPN. However, I went to Atlanta in 2004 for our first game against Georgia Tech as a member of the ACC, and I went to Atlanta this past January for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. I enjoyed both of those trips and will be making the trek again. I expect this one to be fun.
at Virginia – As a resident of the Charlottesville area, I will definitely be attending this game. It’s a “can’t miss” game for me, but not for Hokie fans in general. The lack of competition in recent years has taken the edge off of this rivalry, but this year’s game may carry added importance. Why? Because if the Hokies are to fulfill media predictions and go to the ACC Championship game, this could be a must-win game at the end of the year.

I consider the following games as “can’t miss” games for Hokie fans. Again, this isn’t entirely on football merits, as I consider the Georgia Tech game to be much tougher than the Boston College contest. This list is more about the fun Virginia Tech fans will have attending these games.

6) Boston College (Thursday night)
With BC coming into Lane Stadium with a new head coach, I don’t think this will be one of our toughest games this year. However, night games at Lane Stadium are special. I don’t think I’ve missed a Thursday night game at home since my freshmen year (1997). Now, as a working professional, there’s nothing like taking 2 days off of work to head to Blacksburg on Thursday morning, tailgate all afternoon, and subsequently watch Hokie football. Then I get to head home Friday for recovery, and I have the entire weekend ahead of me.

5) at Clemson
Hey, this game is at Clemson. Need I say more? There isn’t a member of the ACC with more football tradition than the Tigers. I look forward to this road trip.

4) Miami
While Miami may have a down year with first year head coach Randy Shannon at the reins, don’t expect this one to be easy. It is the week after Florida State comes to town, and Miami always plays us tough. Lane Stadium is always raucous when the Hurricanes visit, so regardless of Miami’s record on November 17th, this one is a “can’t miss”.

3) East Carolina
There is not much more to write about this game that I haven’t already written. The only reason why this isn’t ranked as the top “can’t miss” football game for a Virginia Tech fan is because of the two games I haven’t yet mentioned.

1-tied) at LSU
A week after we open the season, we will make one of the toughest road trips in recent history. It is expected to be one of the top college football games of the year, and it is – without a doubt – the toughest game of the season for the Hokies. As with many SEC schools, LSU has a football tradition that we just can’t yet touch. Their fans can tailgate with the best of them, and they have one of the loudest stadiums in college football. Who knows if we will ever play LSU during the regular season again in my lifetime, so I consider it a rare opportunity to be able to watch the Hokies play at the home of one of the SEC’s top programs.

1-tied) Florida State
While I am really excited to go to LSU, I am just as excited that Bobby Bowden finally gets to visit Lane Stadium for an ACC game. Virginia Tech fans want revenge – revenge for the 2005 ACC Championship Game, revenge for the 2002 Gator Bowl, and revenge for the 2000 Sugar Bowl. It’s been a long time since we’ve beat Florida State (32 years), and it’s been a long time since they’ve visited Blacksburg (18 years). I think every Hokie circled November 10, 2007, when this year’s schedule was released. Expect this game to be a night game. Expect the tailgating prior to it to have some extras (extra food, extra games & activities, extra people, and extra drinks), and expect Lane Stadium to be as loud as it has ever been. For any Florida State fan expecting a win because you have never seen us beat you – this one won’t be easy for you. We finally get you on our turf.

Due to the cancellation of the 2007 Spring Game following the April 16^th shootings, Virginia Tech is opening today’s scrimmage and next Saturday’s scrimmage to the public. A fan could easily consider today as the start of the Hokies’ fall football campaign, so I choose today to be the day I get back in Hokie sports blogging saddle. After a long mid-year layoff that began with tragedy, I am ready for some Hokie football.

There is a palpable anticipation by Virginia Tech fans to this fall’s football season. I believe the buildup is from a combination of grief from April 16^th and from the fact that Virginia Tech is truly an elite football program. Having won 10 or more games 3 years in a row, with USC being the only other Division 1A team to accomplish that, and having featured the top defense in the nation the last 2 years, there is no doubt that Hokie football has reached the big-time, and it only needs a national championship to round out its resume. Fan expectations have risen, therefore the excitement the precedes the fall has only increased during the last 5-10 years.

Additionally, the sadness and grief caused by the tragedy in April is still fresh, and the football season will provide an opportunity for the Virginia Tech community to heal as a whole. Don’t forget that many students left campus for the summer after the shootings, and not all alumni were able to make it Blacksburg after April 16^th. For many Hokies, their return to Blacksburg in the coming weeks will be their first trip there since the shootings. Because of this, the opening game versus East Carolina will be a special event that no Hokie should miss.

With East Carolina just 3 weeks away, I am beginning to prepare myself for this fall. I’ve already notified my management at work of the days I will be taking off for football games. I am planning on attending every regular season game (home & away) this fall, so I had conserve my vacation time this year. Next week I plan to attend the second and final open scrimmage at Tech, because even us fans need preseason training. And for the next 4 weeks I will attempt to find LSU tickets, because while I have airfare and hotel accommodations booked for Baton Rouge, I have yet to find tickets.

I hope everyone enjoys their last few weeks of summer, because the summer ends and the football season begins Labor Day weekend. With only one bye week the schedule (Oct 20), Hokie football will be going hard & fast all the way through Thanksgiving.

[The following post was originally published at HokieHaven.com on April 17, 2007.]

It’s been awhile since my last blog post. Nearly a month, in fact. As a fan, I put a lot of time and energy rooting for my Virginia Tech Hokies on the football field, then on the basketball court, and I needed a break. To get things going again, I was planning on a blog post title “The Off-Season” about how Hokie fans spend their time during the spring and summer before football starts anew in the fall.

Instead of writing about our fans and our football team, I am instead attempting to write about the tragedy that occurred yesterday on the campus of Virginia Tech. This is just a mere attempt, because it is very difficult to find the words to describe the feelings I have experienced since I learned of the magnitude of yesterday’s events.

When I learned of the first shooting, and only one person was reported to have died, my initial thought was that some one got mad at his girlfriend. I was surprised, because shootings just don’t happen in Blacksburg, but I wasn’t shocked, because domestic violence happens all too often.

When the death toll went from 1 to over 20, I am not exactly sure what I felt. I was shocked, but I was also numb. During the early and mid-afternoon hours, it was a very surreal experience watching the story unfold on the internet. It was unfathomable to think that Virginia Tech would be the site of the deadliest shooting in U.S. history.

I went home from work at about 4pm, and I turned on the television. When I saw the images and heard the sounds of yesterday’s events, it started to sink in. One image in particular hit home – it was a picture showing shocked students standing behind the glass doors of one of the entrances of McBryde Hall. I used to work for the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, and my office was on the first floor of McBryde. I used to walk in and out of those doors on a daily basis. It was disheartening to see students watching the tragedy unfold from behind those very same doors.

Last night, my thoughts began to drift back to my days at Virginia Tech, both as a student and as a staff member. There was never a time where I felt unsafe walking around campus or around town. There was never a time where I felt unsafe inside a classroom. For today’s students, they will not feel safe anywhere they go for a long time. I simply cannot imagine what it is like to be a student, faculty, or staff at Virginia Tech right now, let alone to be one of the wounded or one who knows a victim.

College campuses are special places. I like to think that the campus of Virginia Tech is extra special, but everyone feels that way about their alma mater. When I walked around Virginia Tech and Blacksburg during football or basketball weekends, I was reminded of so many good times I experienced during my time there, and I felt a disconnect from the strife of the “real world”. There is a youthful innocence that pervades college campuses. It touches everyone there, from the 17 and 18 year old freshmen, to the 60 year old professors who only know life in academia.

Yesterday, that innocence was ripped from the hearts of every Hokie, and it was stolen away from anyone who has spent more than a minute on a college campus.

Since the hours that innocence was taken from us, the Hokie Nation has experienced disbelief, deep sadness, and anger. Many of us are still in shock, and it has started to sink in for others. For too many Hokies, a friend or loved one has fallen.

However, in every cloud there is a silver lining. We have seen an overwhelming outpouring of support from members and fans of other universities and colleges. I have been deeply moved by the well wishes I have seen on our Rivals.com HokieHaven board, TechSideline.com’s Lounge board, as well as TheSabre.com’s The Corner board. I am sure there are many other internet message boards that have similar threads voicing support for the Virginia Tech community.

On behalf of Virginia Tech and the Hokie Nation, I’d like to say “thank you” for keeping our community in your thoughts and prayers. It is comforting to see the kinder and gentler side of the human spirit after such a horrific event.

[The following post was also published at HokieHaven.com on March 20, 2007.]

Late Friday night I emailed my friend Kevin. Kevin went in with me on basketball season tickets, we went to nearly every home game. My email to Kevin read:

Crazy game … I still can’t believe we pulled it off. I’ve read that there are plenty of tickets to be had.

Want to get up at the butt-crack of dawn on Sunday and head up to Columbus?

I was half-joking, and I expected him to replay that he’d love to go but couldn’t make it. Instead, Kevin called and left me a voicemail saying, “How much are tickets, and how far is the drive?” I called him back, and we decided to make to the trip.

Saturday night I drove down to his house in Christiansburg. We got up well before dawn and left his house just after 6am Sunday morning.

We nearly got lost en route to Columbus. We took I-77 to US-33 and missed the on-ramp to stay on US-33 near Pomeroy because I was on the phone, and he was a slacking on his duties riding shotgun. We drove about 20 minutes on Ohio Route 7 along the Ohio River until we realized our mistake.

We arrived in Columbus at about 11:45am, immediately parked, and bought 2 tickets in the nosebleeds in section 205 at $50 per. If we waited 20 minutes, we would have been able to buy tickets for much less. It would have been nice to save a few more bucks, but I really can’t complain. It was essentially $25 per game.

The place was crawling with Ohio State fans, which didn’t bother me at all. Being born in Cleveland, I consider Ohio State my second team. It was nice to talk about the Buckeyes, as well as the Cleveland Browns, with some Ohio natives. There was a Wahoo fan with his 2 little boys behind me. He was pretty cool, although I did get sick of him participating during the UVA chants. (I can’t say too much, as I was yelling & screaming during our game.) He left after the Virginia game was over.

At halftime of our game, we moved down to the lower level and sat with the group of Hokies that were directly across from the Tech bench. It was great being so much closer to the action. Kevin and I were screaming our heads off, and we really got into the game down there.

After the game, we waited around with the family & friends of a few players and saw the team board the bus. We felt out of place, but it was interesting to people watch. It seemed like the younger players looked more heartbroken than the upperclassmen.

We chatted a little bit with Deron Washington’s mother. She is down to earth and pretty funny. She called the season “exhausting”, and I could sense a little bit of relief that it was over although she was still disappointed in the result. She is definitely the “team mom”. Nearly every player went over and gave her a hug. There was a bittersweet moment when Chris Tucker came out and met his parents.

We congratulated a few of them on a great season and finally left the arena around 6:30pm.

Even though the game was disappointing, I am glad that I made the trip. Nationwide Arena was a great venue. It was a very different experience than any of the regular season games. Most of the crowd was there just to watch basketball, and really didn’t favor one team or the other. Even though there wasn’t much energy from the crowd, you could still sense the tension from teams. For one team in each game, the season was going to end.

I do wish more Hokies had made the trip. It felt like we had maybe a couple of hundred. If I had to guess, I would say we had 300 fans there. I think this team deserved more support.

I don’t want to end on a negative note, so I’ll quote the end of my last blog post:

The achievements of this team – particularly the seniors – should not be lost in March Madness. From the final year in the Big East to a surprising 8-8 conference record in their first year in the ACC, and from the year of heartbreaks and heartache to this year’s 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament, those seniors have helped Seth Greenberg elevate the basketball program from the basement to top third of the premiere conference of Division 1 basketball.

Regardless of what this weekend brings, this is the best season of basketball I have witnessed since I’ve been Hokie.

The roller coaster has come to stop, and this season of Hokie basketball is in the books. I still think it was one hell of a ride.

Jamon Gordon, Zabian Dowdell, Coleman Collins, Chris Tucker, and Markus Sailes – Thank you for the last four years and best of luck.

[The following post was originally published at HokieHaven.com on March 12, 2007.]

Ten years ago I graduated from a small private high school that didn’t even have a football team. Basketball was the sport at my high school, and homecoming was always in January because of it. I went to nearly every home basketball game when I was in high school, and I considered myself to be primarily a basketball fan. Three months after graduation, I started my first semester at Virginia Tech as a freshman in the College of Engineering, and I quickly became a college football fan. During my years as a student, I saw the rise of Virginia Tech football, and, quite frankly, I did not see Virginia Tech basketball at all. Those years had something special at Lane with Hokie football, but mediocre (at best) basketball teams in Cassell. I, like virtually every Hokie, was a die-hard football fan who barely recognized that Tech had a basketball squad. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed watching basketball.

That changed for me in 2003. It was Seth Greenberg’s first year as head coach, and it was our final season in the Big East. Because of the buzz created about the move to the ACC, I became interested in our basketball program. I started going to games, and I saw a few decent wins, as well as some tough losses. It was an up and down season, and the Hokies finished at 15-14. Unsurprisingly, there was no postseason bid. However, after winning 6 of their last 9 regular season games, qualifying for the Big East tournament for the first time, and winning their 1^st round Big East tournament game against Rutgers, I had some hope for Virginia Tech basketball.

Fast forward to 2007, and I am amazed at what the basketball program has accomplished in just 3 years as a member of the ACC: 2 first round byes in the ACC Tournament (2005, 2007), a NIT berth (2005), and a NCAA berth (2007). Not to mention that this year featured some of the best regular season wins in Virginia Tech basketball history.

I know many fans are disappointed in how the regular season and ACC tournament ended. The loss to Clemson hurt prevented us from grabbing a share of the regular season title and the number 1 seed in the ACC tournament, and we all wanted revenge against N.C. State in the ACC semis. Yet we should not lose sight that Virginia Tech men’s basketball has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. I remember the 96-60 shellacking #6 Uconn gave us on January 28, 2004. Cassell was maybe 35% full, and the folks that were there were barely interested in the game. Contrast that to January 13, 2007 – the day the Hokies beat #1 North Carolina.

The achievements of this team – particularly the seniors – should not be lost in March Madness. From the final year in the Big East to a surprising 8-8 conference record in their first year in the ACC, and from the year of heartbreaks and heartache to this year’s 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament, those seniors have helped Seth Greenberg elevate the basketball program from the basement to top third of the premiere conference of Division 1 basketball.

Regardless of what this weekend brings, this is the best season of basketball I have witnessed since I’ve been Hokie.

Random Thoughts

• You know when Seth Greenberg does his I-can’t-bare-to-watch head-in-face thing? I found myself doing that exact same thing a few times during Saturday’s game. The first half looked like tape from N.C. State’s first win over the Hokies on January 31, and I was happy we were down by only 6 at the half.
• Give N.C. State credit. They nearly pulled off the most amazing 4-day run of any conference tournament. I couldn’t help but pull for them on Thursday. They didn’t quit after North Carolina took a double-digit lead in the second half, and they clawed their way back to make it a game.
• The Wolfpack will play their 5^th game in 6 days on Tuesday in the first round of the NIT. They play Drexel, a team who is probably angry they did not receive a NCAA Tournament invite.
• I’ve seen lots of Hokie fans compare Illinois to N.C. State. While I agree that Illinois runs a slower paced offense that relies heavily on their big men, I don’t necessarily means they are just as bad a match-up as State was. N.C. State is a great passing team who make their shots and their free throws. Illinois is averaging only 65 points a game, and they make only 63% of their free throws.
• Much has been made of the proverbial 12-seed-over-5-seed upset. Personally, I think Old Dominion and Arkansas both have better shots of upsetting Butler and USC, respectively, than does Illinois have a shot of upsetting us. That said, Friday’s game in Columbus will be tough.
• In my bracket, I have the Hokies sweeping the teams from Illinois on their way to the Sweet 16. Maybe that’s my orange and maroon glasses blurring my vision.

[The following post was originally published at HokieHaven.com on February 26, 2007.]

Thanks to Maryland’s upset over North Carolina, our Virginia Tech Hokies (10-6) find themselves in a 3-way tie for first place of the ACC. If the men’s basketball team can beat the University of Virginia on Thursday and Clemson on Sunday, they will earn the #1 seed for the 2007 ACC Tournament. Because they swept UNC, Tech will hold the tiebreaker over the Tarheels should they win out as well. Simply put – the Hokies control their own destiny for the first place seed in the ACC Tournament.

That’s the easy scenario, but what will happen if they don’t win out? Things start to get complicated. Let’s take a quick peek at how the ACC breaks ties. (Note: these rules were published prior to the 2001 tournament. I am assuming they haven’t changed since then.)

1. When two teams are tied in the standings, regular season head-to-head results are used as the tie-breaker.
2. If the two teams split their regular season games, the tie is broken by comparing each team’s records against the team occupying the highest position in the standings, and then continuing down until one team gains an advantage.
3. If three or more teams are tied, the combined record of each team against the other teams involved is used to break the tie. After this procedure, if two teams remain tied procedure 2 is followed.
4. If procedures 2 and/or 3 fail to establish an advantage, a coin-flip to break the tie will be conducted by the Commissioner.
5. If there is more than one tie in the standings, and when utilizing the tie breaking procedures you come to a pair of teams tied, a team’s record against combined tied teams is used, rather than performance against the individual tied teams.

Now that we are armed with knowledge, let’s take a look at the top of the current ACC standings:

For each team, starting at the bottom and working my way up, I’m going to tell you the best seed for the ACC tournament they can earn, no matter how crazy the scenario. (Note: The ACC does not recognize a regular season champion. Their tie breakers are used specifically for seeding in the tournament.)

Duke (8-6) Remaining games: vs Maryland, @ UNC. Best possible finish: 10-6 Best possible seed: #3
Duke can head to the ACC Tournament as the 3-seed if they win their remaining games and BC, UNC, and either VT or UVA lose their remaining games. Virginia Tech or UVA would be in 1st place, and BC and Maryland would finish outside the top 4. Duke can also achieve a first-round bye if BC loses to Georgia Tech, and the Blue Devils win out.

Maryland (8-6) Remaining games: @ Duke, vs NC State. Best possible finish: 10-6 Best possible seed: #4
In order for Maryland to earn a first-round bye in the ACC tourney, they will need to win out, have UNC lose their remaining games, BC beat Georgia Tech, and have VT and UVA finish at 11-5 or better. This would cause 2-way tie for 4th place between the Terps and the Tarheels, and Maryland holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over UNC because of their win on Sunday.

Boston College (10-5) Remaining game: vs Georgia Tech. Best possible finish: 11-5 Best possible seed: #1
It’s pretty simple (albeit virtually impossible) for Boston College to finish at the top of the ACC standings – beat Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech lose their remaining games, and Virginia loses to Wake Forest after beating the Hokies. This would cause BC and UVA to both finish at 11-5, and BC holds the tiebreaker over UVA due to their win over the Hoos back in January. Boston College is more likely headed for the #3 or #4 seed. In order to earn a 1st round bye they need to either beat Georgia Tech or have Duke lose at least one more game.

Virginia (10-4) Remaining games: vs Virginia Tech, @ Wake Forest. Best possible finish: 12-4 Best possible seed: #1
Due to the fact that UNC beat UVA earlier this year, Virginia will need North Carolina to lose at least once if the they beat both Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. The worst the Cavs can do is the 4-seed.

North Carolina (10-4) Remaining games: @ Georgia Tech, vs Duke. Best possible finish: 12-4 Best possible seed: #1
Like Virginia, this is simple for the Tarheels. They need to win out. If they finish 12-4, then they will finish with the 1-seed if Virginia Tech loses at least once, and they will finish with the 2-seed if Virginia Tech wins out. If UNC splits their last two, then they will be the 4-seed if UVA wins out, and BC and VT both win their final games. This will cause those 3 teams to be tied for 2nd at 11-5, and the Tarheels would come out at the bottom of that threesome. It is possible for North Carolina to finish outside of the top 4, but that’s only in the super-crazy Maryland scenario.

Virginia Tech (10-4) Remaining games: @ Georgia Tech, vs Duke. Best possible finish: 12-4 Best possible seed: #1
As has been already noted, the Virginia Tech Hokies now control their own destiny. If they beat Virginia and Clemson, they will be the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament. Things get interesting if that doesn’t happen.

First off, the worst case scenario: VT loses out and finishes at 10-6. If Boston College beats Georgia Tech, then the Hokies would be the 4-seed regardless of what Duke and Maryland do, because they didn’t lose to either. If Tech does finish at 10-6, there are many scenarios that can play out. It would still be possible for VT to finish with the 2-seed if North Carolina lost its remaining games, Boston College lost, and Maryland won its final 2 games. However, it’s not really worth the time and effort to go into the detail of every scenario if the Hokies finish 10-6.

If Virginia Tech loses to Virginia and beats Clemson, they will finish at 11-5 and will need some help. If Virginia and North Carolina win out, then UNC will grab the 1-seed and UVA will grab the 2-seed. VT would take the 3-seed regardless of BC’s game at GT. If UVA wins out, but UNC loses at least once, then Tech will grab the 2-seed behind UVA. However, if UVA loses to Wake Forest and UNC loses a game, then there will be a 3-way or 4-way tie for first place depending on BC. Virginia Tech would come out on top of that group to grab the 1-seed.

Finally, if Virginia Tech beats Virginia on Thursday, but loses to Clemson, they would grab the 1-seed if North Carolina loses a game and the 2-seed if North Carolina wins out.

After running through these scenarios, I’ve noticed a common thread for teams other than Virginia Tech and North Carolina – they all need the Tarheels to lose. UNC certainly doesn’t have an easy week, but I will be surprised if they don’t win out. Also, even though it’s possible for Duke or Maryland to earn a first-round bye, I just don’t see it happening. VT and UVA have already locked up byes, and BC and UNC don’t need much to happen to finish in the top 4.

[The following post was originally published at HokieHaven.com on February 23, 2007.]

Less than 7 weeks after earning his Masters, Deron Washington presented his dissertation to Boston College & the Hokie Nation and received his Ph.D. in Dunkology. Moments after that dunk, a dunk that I consider to be the best dunk I’ve ever seen in person, my buddy Kevin turned to me and said, “If I were a NBA team, I’d want him on my team just for that, even if he only averages 1 point a game.” In today’s NBA, where the league focuses on one-on-one match-ups and entertaining fans, you have to think that Deron has a chance of taking his game to the next level. He’ll probably have to bulk up a little more, and he definitely needs more consistency from his jump shots, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that he has the athletic ability needed to make it as a professional basketball player.

What I really like about Deron Washington is the fact that after his dunks he doesn’t show off to crowd or come off as arrogant. Usually he follows his dunks with a smile and then hustles back down the court to play defense. I believe he has matured significantly since last year, and that the team will be in good hands with him as a senior next season.

Speaking of seniors, this season is really shaping up to be very special for Coleman Collins, Zabian Dowdell, Jamon Gordon, Chris Tucker, and Markus Sailes. With wins over UNC and Duke, and blowout wins over Virginia and Boston College at the Cassell, this season has already given them memories they will cherish their entire lives. With 3 regular season games left, 2 of which are at home, I hope the support for this team continues to grow. On Saturday versus Miami and on March 4th versus Clemson, I want to see Cassell Coliseum rocking like it was for North Carolina, UVA, and Boston College. These seniors deserve a standing ovation whenever the step on or off the court.

With a first-round bye in the ACC tournament and a NCAA tournament bid virtually locked up, so much more than a memorable regular season is attainable. When this team plays at its highest level, they can beat anyone. Here’s hoping for a nice little run in the big dance, because I can’t think of a better way to end their college careers than a trip to the Sweet 16. You may think that I am asking for too much, but I know this team has the ability to play at the level necessary for a few wins in the NCAA tournament.

However, regardless of the postseason, this basketball season will go down as my favorite since I’ve been a Hokie (1997). It’s been a helluva ride so far.

Just wanted to post a quick update.  I am now writing my blog for the Virginia Tech Rivals.com site, HokieHaven.com.  However, I will be re-posting my articles here a few days after they are published on HokieHaven.