Tech Sports Blog

What is the toughest conference in Division 1 basketball? Every year this question is debated by ex-players, ex-coaches, fans, and the media. This year I’ve heard many in the media say that the Pac-10, Big East, or ACC was the toughest. I have also heard a few people claim that the Big Ten, SEC, or Big 12 was the most difficult. The opinions change based on where folks are from. Bill is a Texan, and he says the Big 12 has the best basketball in the country. Sam grew up in New York. There’s not a doubt in his mind that the Big East the toughest conference. Jane is from Los Angeles. She says the Pac-10 is the best conference. Bob lives in North Carolina, the ACC is second to none in his mind.

But how exactly do we determine “the best” conference? Do we base it on the AP top 25? According to those rankings, the Big East comes out ahead, right? They have 5 teams ranked by the Associated Press, while the SEC, Pac-10, Big 12, and ACC each have 3 ranked teams. The Big Ten and Mountain West only have 2 each. Big Ten fans cry foul, “We’ve got the top 2 teams in the nation!” This is true, as the Big Ten has more top 10 teams (#1 Wisconsin, #2 Ohio State) than the Big East (#10 Pittsburgh). The Pac-10 (#4 UCLA, #9 Washington) and Big 12 (#6 Kansas, #8 Texas A&M) are each represented twice, while the SEC (#3 Florida) and ACC (#5 North Carolina) have one each.

The fact of the matter is the Top 25 rankings are there for TV ratings. When teams are ranked, they’re worth mentioning on Sportcenter, and the media can hype up the games involving ranked teams. Where teams are ranked has absolutely nothing to do with how they are seeded in the NCAA Tournament, nor does it indicate the depth of a particular conference.

Read the rest of this entry »

Going into the weekend I was hoping the subject of this post would be about the domination of North Carolina teams by our Virginia Tech men’s basketball team. Before Sunday, our Hokies were 4-1 against teams from the state just to our south. Wake Forest came to Cassell back in December and lost to the Hokies, 63-60. Then came that magical week in January where Virginia Tech beat Duke in Cameron and then-#1 UNC a week later in Blacksburg. Two and a half weeks later the reeling Wolfpack of North Carolina State visited the Hokies in Blacksburg and ruined our perfection versus North Carolina teams.

All was not lost, however, because the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team started this week with what I consider their finest road win in the history of the program. By beating North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the Hokies became only the 5th team to beat both Duke and UNC on their home floors since 1980. Yesterday was supposed to be our continued domination over North Carolina teams. We were supposed to be 5-1 against Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina, and North Carolina State. We were supposed to be tied for the lead in the ACC following the game. We were supposed to be on our way to a 4-seed or higher in the NCAA Tournament.

Well, we were supposed to be according to the hype. I said it to myself after the road loss to Florida State. I said it to myself after the first loss to NC State. And I said it to myself after yesterday’s buttkicking in Raleigh:

Welcome to the ACC.

It’s our third year in the conference, but like it or not, we are still the new kids on the block. We’re still learning how to be consistently successful in this basketball conference. We’re still learning that the parity in this league is similar to the NFL – anyone can win during any given week.

Instead of going into why the ACC is best basketball conference in college basketball, as I’m going to dedicate a large post to that in the next few days, I’m going to leave you with a little reset.

We are presently all alone in 4th place with a 8-4 record in conference. We’re one game behind Virginia (9-3) and UNC (9-3) and a half game behind Boston College (9-4). We are 2 games ahead of both Duke (7-6) and Maryland (6-6) in the loss column. As has been mentioned before, the key to success in this league is to win your home games and split your road games. The Hokies are still executing that rule with a 4-1 record at home and a 4-3 record on the road. If we split our last 4 games – 3 of which are at home – we will finish the regular season at 10-6 and in no less than 4th place. If we finish in 4th place or better, we’ll earn a 1st round bye in the ACC tournament and will be a lock for the NCAA tournament.

Yesterday’s loss hurt our NCAA seeding, our chances at the 1st place seed in the ACC Tourney, and our ego. That said, I still like our chances for the postseason. It’s been a fun season so far, and I expect the roller coaster ride will continue.

The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team, in their 3rd season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has visited two teams who were undefeated at home (Georgia Tech and North Carolina) and gave them their first losses on their home courts. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “Win your home games and split your road games,” describing how to be successful in the ACC. With a 4-2 road record and a 4-1 record at home against conference opponents, the Hokies are doing better.

After sweeping Duke and UNC, the premier hoops teams of the ACC, can anyone question that the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team isn’t legit?

Has that set in yet? I’ll say that again. The Virginia Tech Hokies have beat the Duke Blue Devils in Cameron, they’ve beat North Carolina in Cassell, and they beat the Tarheels again in Tech’s first trip to the fabled “Dean Dome” where UNC was previously unbeaten this season. Two of those wins mark the first ever win for Virginia Tech over Duke in Durham and the first win over UNC in Chapel Hill since 1966. If I was a true stats junky I’d find out the last team to sweep Duke and North Carolina in the regular season, but I’ll just wait for ESPN to tell me that.

What a turnaround we’ve had since the loss at Boston College. There were many Hokie fans who doubted the team after the beatdown that BC gave us. They thought the Hokies had already peaked. Instead of giving in to the pressures of the ACC, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team has played with renewed inspiration. First they obliterated the Virginia Cavaliers by 27 points. That win marked the largest margin of victory over a conference opponent since joining the ACC. And tonight they marched down to Chapel Hill and won their toughest road game of the year. Folks, we didn’t peak when we took down North Carolina in Cassell. Tonight’s win was bigger.

Are the Hokies for real?

You better believe it.

Just a quick post before tomorrow’s game, which is one of the biggest games of the year. UVA is presently tied with BC at the top of the ACC, winners of 7 straight, and we’re in desperate need of a win. I am just as excited for tomorrow’s game as I have been for Virginia Tech football. I fully expect an awesome game.

If you still need your fill of previews for the game, be sure to check out HokiesFullCourt.com and TechHoops.com. They both have articles written by Wahoos, as well as their normal game previews. And I’m sure Techsideline.com will have their preview up soon. TechHoop’s why I hate UVA is fairly amusing, as well.

At any rate, I want Cassell to be loud. I want it to be louder than it was for UNC, and louder than it was for Maryland. I know that’s a lot to ask for, especially because Maryland was really a once-in-a-lifetime all-student type crowd and UNC was #1 when they came to Cassell. But this is the weekend that Virginia comes to town, and this game means more than just bragging rights. In addition to that, check out this quote from an AP article I saw on PilotOnline.com:

“I love to hear the silence of the crowd,” [J.R.] Reynolds said. “That’s why I like to play on the road so much.”

Students, alumni, and every Hokie in Cassell: start yelling before tip-off and don’t stop until the final buzzer. No matter if we’re up by 20 or down by 20, don’t ever be quiet. I want Reynolds to have his ears ring for 3 days after tomorrow’s game!

Go Hokies!

In case you don’t know, I do indeed live in Charlottesville. I’m often asked by my fellow Hokies, “How can you live there?” Well, Zima’ville, as I like to refer to it thanks to Colin Cowherd’s rant, is actually a pretty cool city. It’s medium-sized with a small town feel, but it’s got some culture. Yes, there is the wine & cheese aspect of the city that I like to laugh at, but it’s got a good mix of people with a sizable group of 20-something and 30-something professionals. Luckily for me, UVA is mostly restricted to the western half of the city, so I don’t have Wahoos in my face 24/7.

Speaking of Wahoos, thanks to last night’s victory over Maryland their men’s basketball team sits atop of the ACC with an 8-2 conference record. After starting 1-2 in conference, Virginia has won 7 in a row – they are on an absolute roll. Looking at their remaining ACC schedule – @VT, FSU, @Miami, GT, VT, @Wake – it pains me to say that they have a shot of winning the regular season title. That is assuming they continue to play at the level they have been for the last few weeks.

On the other end of the emotional spectrum, our beloved Hokies have lost 2 straight and dropped to 4th place in the ACC with a 6-3 conference record. On the surface, that doesn’t look so bad. Fourth place in the ACC is a great position to be going into the final 3 weeks of the regular season. The three losses don’t look that bad on paper. First we lost to Florida State on their home floor after the biggest week in Virginia Tech basketball history. Don’t look now, but the Seminoles are one game behind the Hokies tied for 5th place. One week ago we lost to N.C. State in Cassell. We were due to drop a game at home, and the Wolfpack went on to upset North Carolina over the weekend. On Saturday the Hokies traveled north to visit Boston College. The Eagles, now 7-2 (16-6 overall), completely dismantled Tech. However, there is no shame in losing to BC. They are a good team and sit alone in second place in the ACC.

So, why is everyone nervous? Because everyone who watched the last two games saw how the Virginia Tech Hokies played. Gone was the team that beat Duke in Cameron and that upset UNC when they were #1 in the nation. Instead we saw the team that lost to Marshall. To grab a quote from TechSideline.com‘s Hokie Hotline notes: Seth Greenberg … The energy level wasn’t there in the losses to NC State and Boston College. Greenberg is hoping that’s because the team was a little tired. Every game right now is so power-packed that it’s exhausting. That is the nature of the ACC. Week-in and week-out, you have to be ready to play – you must bring your A game. Also noted on the Hokie Hotline was that this is a good time for a full week off. I couldn’t agree more. It was the end of the December when the team last had a week off. Unfortunately, it was the week before the Marshall game, but let’s not dwell on that.

Hopefully this week will give the team a chance to catch their proverbial breath and get ready for UVA. Saturday’s game is one I already had circled on my calendar, but it now takes on added importance. The Virginia Tech Hokies need to upend the 1st place Wahoos. A win on Saturday will be a shot in the arm for their confidence. A win will cut the magic number down to 3 – we’ll need only 3 wins after we beat UVA to virtually lock us into the NCAA tournament. Last, but not least, a win on Saturday is a win over the Virginia Cavaliers. To me, that is motivation enough.

Yet I get the feeling our rivalry with UVA has cooled off some since we joined the ACC. We probably wouldn’t have received the invitation to join the ACC without the help of UVA. We have completely dominated the Wahoos on the football field by beating them 7 of the last 8 meetings. UVA is 7-2 against us in the last 6 seasons of men’s basketball (since we’ve re-started playing them on each other’s home courts), and they beat us 3 times last year. There just hasn’t been much competition in football and men’s basketball, and those are the only sports that really matter for the majority of each school’s fans. We’ve kicked their butts in football, and they said, “Wait ’til basketball season!” They’ve kicked our butts in basketball, and we said, “Wait ’til football season!”

Don’t get me wrong, I consider Virginia our #1 rival. I just think this rivalry has lost some luster. If you asked this year’s freshmen and sophomores at Virginia Tech who our biggest sports rival was, I bet most would say Miami. Based on football, they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong – we’ve split the last 6 meetings with the Hurricanes. Take away football, and Miami is just another ACC school. The University of Miami and Virginia Tech are 900 miles apart and are just as dissimilar as their locations.

Charlottesville is 2 hours away from Blacksburg. There are a ton of Hokies and Hoos in Tidewater and in Northern Virginia, and they often work with each other at their jobs talking trash about the other’s school. Students of each often know high school classmates who go to the other university. The dislike goes way back to the days when farmers’ sons went to the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the sons of lawyers and doctors went to the University of Virginia. These days the cultural differences between the two student populations aren’t quite as big, but they are still somewhat evident. You still see more jeans and flannel in downtown Blacksburg than you do around The Corner in Charlottesville.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that while I want to see Virginia Tech beat UVA at everything in which we compete, I do understand that competition is what fuels a good rivalry. I like joking around with the Virginia fans, and I love driving my maroon truck with a Virginia Tech sticker and Virginia Tech plates around their town. I want the students of both universities to fully embrace this rivalry, too. Pranks that don’t involve property damage, assault, and/or kidnapping should be encouraged. (eg: The painting of the T at the midfield V at Scott Stadium in 2004.) Have pride that you are a student or alum of the best damn university in the Commonwealth of Virginia!

Go Hokies! Beat the ‘Hoos!

A few minutes after the buzzer sounded at the end of last night’s loss to North Carolina State, Kevin and I were walking down the steps on the east side of Cassell. Kevin remarked, “I’m not pissed that we lost. I’m pissed at our fans.” I had a very similar feeling after that game. The team did not play good basketball, and they got completely outplayed by N.C. State. These things happen in the ACC. Yet our fans don’t seem to understand this. Here are the events that angered us:

• Someone behind us, with zero basketball knowledge, was making rediculous comments about the referees, the game, and the team. His best one was, “now we’ll probably lose the rest of our games.”
• The constant boos and catcalls the crowd directed to the refs.
• During a timeout with 1:07 left to play and the Hokies down by 7, hordes of people got up from their seats to leave the game.
• Inside the final minute, some jackass about 15 rows behind the Tech bench threw his Coke at the refs. Instead of hitting the referees, he sprayed cola on the fans in front of him, as well as players and coaches.
• During our walk out of the coliseum, we overheard a number of people complaining about the referees.

Personally, I thought the refs did a fairly good job calling the game. Yes, they missed a few calls, but it had absolutely zero impact on the game. In my opinion, all of the complaining about the referees from our fans sounded like sour grapes. It sounded like an excuse. We didn’t lose that game because of the refs. We lost because we were out-rebounded 42-29, we shot 35% from the floor, and our defense could not stop Ben McCauley. We were extremely lucky to be only down by 2 at the half and have the game within reach towards the end. But give the Wolfpack credit. They did what they needed to win the game, and we deserved to the lose. To quote Seth Greenberg from the AP recap on ESPN.com:

“We were out-coached, we were out-played, we were out-competed, we were out-focused, we were out-toughed,” Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. “I can’t really say one thing that I thought we did a good job with. … I’m really embarrassed by the manner in which we played and the manner in which we conducted our business.”

But to listen to the fans on the way out, it sounded like we had one stolen away. It sounded like our season was going to take a dive. It became very clear to me last night that we just don’t have knowledgeable basketball fans. We have great football fans who bring those football expectations to the basketball games. One or two losses in football take you out of the national title hunt. Losses in basketball are a fact of life.

It’s better to lose now than late in the regular season or early in the ACC tournament. This loss might be good for the team. They were making an incredible run, and last night’s game brought them back down to earth. I still believe this team will do special things in the postseason. They can play with anyone in the country, and with a nice showing the ACC tourney, a good seeding in the NCAA tournament is very possible. We still have the ability to finish 22-8, 12-4 in the ACC. To update my predictions from my last post, here’s how they look:

It’s probably more likely that we split with Boston College and end up 5-3 instead of 6-2. Either way, it will be a solid finish to our season, and we will be well positioned for the post season.

I’m not gonna lie. I’m not a big fan of predictions of events that more than a week or two away. It’s pretty much impossible to figure out how a team is going to play more than a few weeks down the road. I always find it funny how folks will tout their correct predictions as if they were Nostradamus, but they don’t mention that they’re wrong more often than they are right.

That said, I will attempt to predict the remainder of the basketball regular season for Virginia Tech, as well as next year’s football regular season. I fully admit that I am not a so-called expert, and these are just my gut feelings.

First off the remaining basketball games:

I know what you’re thinking: This guy is nuts! We’re going to lose to Miami at home and beat UVA on the road on their senior night?!?! I admit, that is a crazy prediction, but I have a method to my madness. I think Hokies are going to drop one at home that they should win, and they’re going to win one on the road that they should lose. I also think they have a shot at winning at BC on Saturday, but I just think we’ll be due to come back down to earth.

Now, the 2007 football season:

Again, you’re probably thinking that I’m smoking something. Yes, I’m predicting a win over LSU and a loss to UVA. I think we have a good chance at winning at LSU because most people are going expect us to lose that game. Anyone remember our trips to Clemson in 1998 and Texas A&M in 2002? Those were supposed to be road losses for us.

Also, I’ve got the feeling that two trends end next year: Our losing streak to FSU and our winning streak over UVA. No matter how good or bad our team is next year, Saturday, 10 November 2007, will be one of those days where the Hokie Nation wills the football team to victory. I cannot wait for the day the Seminoles come to Lane. And after we beat Florida State and Miami in consecutive weeks, the Hoos will bring us back down to earth. I hope I’m wrong on that one.

That said, who knows what’s going to happen in the next 7 months. These predictions are meaningless.

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.

…

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)

Per TheACC.com, here is VT’s schedule for next season:

1 Sep - East Carolina
8 Sep – at LSU
15 Sep – Ohio University
22 Sept – William & Mary
29 Sept – North Carolina
6 Oct – at Clemson
13 Oct – at Duke
20 Oct – Open
25 Oct – Boston College (Thursday)
1 Nov – at Georgia Tech (Thursday)
10 Nov – Florida State
17 Nov – Miami
24 Nov – at Virginia

Next November is gonna be rough.

Clark Ruhland, Associate Sports Editor at the Collegiate Times wrote an open letter to Jim Weaver regarding the attendance of men’s basketball games. It is well written, and he makes some great points. Check it out here: CollegiateTimes.com – An open letter to Tech Director of Athletics, Jim Weaver.

I just sent in a response to the sports editor email address at the Collegiate Times. I agree with much of what Mr. Ruhland says, but I think before the floodgates are opened up to the students, I think other members of the Hokie Club should be taken care of first. There are many alumni who give enough for tickets to football, but not enough for basketball, who would love to get season tickets to basketball. I am one of these alumni. I had to get my season tickets for this year through a friend who has a very high priority in the Hokie Club.

At any rate, here is my response:

In response to Mr. Ruhland’s letter to Athletic Director Jim Weaver, I wanted to give the CT an alum’s view. I was a freshman in the fall of 1997, and I graduated in 2003 in Computer Engineering. The last few years I was in Blacksburg I worked for the school full time while taking classes part time. I bleed Orange & Maroon.

Sunday afternoon I made the trek from Charlottesville (yes, I presently live in Hoo’ville) to Blacksburg in the snow, sleet, and freezing rain. It took me nearly 4 hours. I thought the decision to open up the games to students was absolutely brilliant, and the showing made by the students made the drive worth it – the fact that we won in OT made it even better.

I agree that something must be done with all of the no shows by season ticket holders. However, before we start opening the doors to the students, the Athletic Department and the Ticket Office need to take care of more of the Hokie Club. I am a member of the Hokie Club, and I am a season ticket holder for football. However, I have too low a priority to get season tickets for basketball. I had to buy this year’s season tickets from a Hokie Club member who was higher up on the totem pole.

The fact of the matter is that many Hokie Club members buy basketball season tickets so they can go to a few of the good ACC games, and so that they have these season tickets when they retire. It’s basically a placeholder for them. The ticket office needs to give the option to those folks to retain the right to buy season tickets in the future while allowing the members of the Hokie Club who will actually show up for games the ability to buy those tickets in the present.

That said, I would also love to see more students at the games. They bring so much energy. However, the students need to prove that Sunday night was not a fluke. Other than the UNC game, I have yet to see the student sections full to the brim. (I admit, I have yet to see Cassell full to the brim this season.)

Also, everyone needs to keep in mind that this is new territory for the Athletic Department. During my years in Blacksburg there was very little interest in basketball. The good thing is that Seth Greenberg is actively working with the Athletic Department to maximize attendance.***

Finally, I would like to say Thank You to all of the students who attended Sunday night’s game. I had an absolute blast, and I hope that kind of environment will be experienced again at Cassell. You made Sunday afternoon’s treacherous drive, as well as Monday’s pre-dawn return trip, worth every minute.

Regards,

Vince

*** See TSL’s Hokie Hotline notes:
http://subscr.techsideline.com/news_archive/showArticle-2631.php

“The administration is having some conversations about student attendance. Greenberg thinks he has a plan that makes sense, and he will present it to Jim Weaver later in the week.”