Times are changing in college sports. NIL has taken on a life of its own across all sports, but mainly in football and basketball. As far as Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Mike Young goes, it feels like things are changing each year.
Well, in reality, it is.
Last season, the Hokies were a team that many had penciled in for the 68-team NCAA Tournament field. After an 11-2 start in the non-conference slate of their schedule, things fell apart for Virginia Tech in ACC play. Injuries and buzzer-beater losses proved to be too much for Young's team to overcome, and they found themselves on the outside looking in on the big dance in March.
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However, after an offseason of change with the roster and some key retention, the Hokies and Young got some interesting news in the spring when it was announced that the NCAA Tournament was expanding to 76 teams next March. That could be beneficial for Virginia Tech, and one way-too-early projection has the Hokies dancing, barely, next winter.
CBS Sports drops way-too-early prediction for Mike Young and Virginia Tech
In his latest NCAA Tournament way-too-early projections, Joe Lunardi of ESPN had Virginia Tech on the outside looking in next March. However, David Cobb and Jacob Fetner of CBS Sports dropped their latest way-too-early projections, and they have the Hokies in the field, as part of their 'Last Four In.'
There were certainly some subtractions from the Hokies program this offseason through the Transfer Portal. Freshman Neoklis Avdalas (North Carolina) and Christian Gurdak (Rutgers), left, while Young brought in some veteran additions through the portal. He did get some huge retention with Amani Hansberry, Tyler Johnson, and Ben Hammond returning.
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This doesn't mean much, if anything, in late June. However, after the way things went and the Hokies not being in the tournament over the last couple of seasons, Virginia Tech fans will look for any good news when it comes to March Madness.
After being bounced in the first round of the ACC Tournament in overtime by Wake Forest, Virginia Tech announced three days later that they were not going to play in the NIT if they were going to be invited, which signaled a change coming. Now, it's just a matter of putting everything together enough in 2026-27.
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