Truth be told, we shouldn't be in this situation. Sitting at 18-10 and squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team has a lot of work to do if it is going to get into the 68-team field next month.
The reason Mike Young and his team are in this situation is simply that they can't close out a game and lost in an inexcusable fashion three times. They lost three games in January to Wake Forest, Stanford, and SMU on shots in the final five seconds. If they had simply protected the basketball or made a couple of free throws, they would be 21-7 and looking at a nine or ten seed in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they are now left looking to pick up at least one road, a win at home over a bad Boston College team, and some work in the ACC Tournament next month.
Yeah, I know, easier said than done.
Virginia Tech men's basketball NCAA Tournament path is clear
After beating Wake Forest, 82-63, at Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech has its second bye of the ACC schedule this week. Up next is a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a game against North Carolina and former teammate Jaydon Young. After that, next week BC visits, and we all know how the Hokies struggle against them. They will head to Charlottesville on March 7 for the final regular-season game against Virginia.
According to Joe Lunardi of ESPN, Virginia Tech is in the "Next Four Out" group of his bracketology. They are the sixth team out, which means that odds are stacked against them, but one or two road wins and beating BC, along with doing some damage in the ACC Tournament, just might get them on the right side of the bubble. Who knows, maybe one win over North Carolina or Virginia while taking care of business against everyone else could get the job done.
If they miss out on the NCAA Tournament, they have nobody to blame but themselves for those losses earlier this year. However, they have a chance to still get in if they can pull an upset or two. The ball is in their court.