It has been a tough week for Hokie and ACC fans, but don’t forget to keep in mind that this rebuild team flew extremely high for a while and showed us what is in store for the future. The Hokies are farther from sniffing the top 25 than they were to start the year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t discuss it.

Top 25 movement really picked up this week. On the upside, Ohio State returned to the top 25 after an 8 spot jump, Penn State leapt up 7 places and Auburn climbed 4 notches. On the other hand, Michigan State slid 4 spots, Oregon and Rutgers both dropped down 5 places and Villanova was whacked for 7 spots in the top 25. The Big Ten is still this year’s power conference. Double digit NCAA teams is a real possibility. Even with lackluster strength of schedules, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Dayton remain strong in the top 7 with an onslaught of efficient blowouts in conference play. The Aztec’s undefeated watch is still alive. With how the season has progressed, I am still of the mind that anyone in the top 15 is still in play for a 1 seed, so the field is wide open.

Blacksburg’s Bubble Burst

Since our last update, the Hokies plummeted down 20 spots to #82 after crushing defeats to several subpar opponents. Team, the short-lived dream of making the tournament is over, with the exception of a miracle ACC tournament run. I guess, given how poor the ACC is this year, we can’t fully rule that out. The Hokies still remain an above-average team in terms of efficiency, but their strength of schedule and margin of victory took a whack in the string of losses. The Hokies have some reflecting to do, and still keep a bright future. NET still views the Hokies more favorably than we do, but fellow Hokie, Kenpom, takes the other side.

ACC DOMINANT… In The NIT

We really need to start discussing the chances of the ACC only getting 3 NCAA tournament teams. We had discussed it as a small chance or a joke before, but it no longer is. Duke, Loiusville and Florida State are all going to get in, likey in the 1-3 seed range. Beyond that… crickets. There’s no evidence that the ACC is supporting a strong 4th NCAA team. Now, will someone sneak in as a 8-12 seed at large? Probably. But to say this a down season is the understatement of the year. At this time, we say that UVA is the most likely candidate to make the dance of the bubble teams, but that’s mostly based on the committee not wanting to leave the champs out. After that, Syracuse, Notre Dame and NC State all have an outside shot of making it. On the upside, we can easily see the ACC dominating the NIT field with up to 8 teams! Let’s hop in that time machine back to the early 70’s when the NIT was the dominant tournament.