Hokies NCAA Tournament Watch 1/28

Hokies NCAA Tournament watch as of Jan. 28.

Virginia Tech came back to Earth a bit Thursday night with a humbling 91-72 defeat at the hand of No. 9/6 North Carolina. The good news from a resume standpoint is that Tech’s standing with regards to the NCAA Tournament actually improved slightly despite the negative outcome.

The Hokies (15-5, 4-4) moved up to No. 36 in the RPI, up one spot from last week. That will continue to happen with most games in ACC play. The major exception to that trend is Boston College and the Eagles (9-12, 2-6) appear twice starting Sunday night.

By the same token, the Hokies still have two games apiece against No. 12 Virginia and Miami. The Hurricanes continued topsy-turvy conference play by knocking off North Carolina to improve to 14-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC.

As I was writing, Georgia Tech upset No. 14 Notre Dame and Syracuse did the same to No. 6 Florida State. The Yellow Jackets are now 13-8 overall and 5-4 in ACC play while the Orange are 13-9 and 5-4 in conference. Those are both strong notches in Tech’s belt and that will continue with any conference wins.

One of the Tech wins that many hoped would look good come selection time was New Mexico. After a rough patch, the Lobos are 13-8 overall and currently in second place in the Mountain West Conference. They’ve won four straight in conference and have close losses to Dayton, Nevada, and UNLV. There’s still a good chance that this ends up a quality win.

Dec 20, 2016; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams instructs his team during a time out against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in the second half at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports /

The university of Maryland-Baltimore County has put together a 13-7 overall record, with a 4-3 mark good for fourth place in America East standings. They were a sneaky challenge in non-conference play for the Hokies but they may be a decent mid-major win by season’s end.

In the Big Ten, Michigan got a big win over Indiana (14-7, 4-4) with a 90-60 rout. Nebraska (9-11, 3-5) dropped its fifth-straight with a 73-61 decision at Northwestern.

The conference is obviously incredibly deep and that will serve Tech well in the coming weeks. The Hokies have to avoid bad losses to Boston College and then pick up another three or four wins somewhere else along the line. A split with UVA and Miami would be solid. That leaves games with Pittsburgh, No. 13 Louisville, Clemson, and Wake Forest to fill out the resume with a decent showing.

It all starts Sunday night in Cassell Coliseum where the Hokies are 11-1 this season.