After struggling their way through the non-conference schedule at 5-6, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team will turn their attention the rest of the year to ACC play. The Hokies kicked off conference play with a five-point loss at home to Pittsburgh earlier this month.
Virginia Tech heads to Durham on Tuesday afternoon for a matchup with Duke in what will be a very difficult game. The Hokies will get their first look at the Blue Devils' Cooper Flagg. As much as the ACC has struggled this season, for the Hokies, it's not going to be an easy slate. The numbers from ESPN's matchup predictor back that up.
ESPN's numbers paint ugly picture for Virginia Tech men's basketball
Here is what ESPN's matchup predictor has for the remaining game for Mike Young's team and their probability of winning each game,
- Dec. 31: at Duke, Virginia Tech win probability 1.7%
- Jan. 4: vs.Miami, Virginia Tech win probability 37.9%
- Jan. 8: at Stanford, Virginia Tech win probability 25.4%
- Jan. 11: at California, Virginia Tech win probability 32.1%
- Jan. 15: vs. North Carolina State, Virginia win probability 31.2%
- Jan. 18: vs. Wake Forest, Virginia Tech win probability, 41.9%
- Jan. 22: at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech win probability, 28.9%
- Jan. 25: vs. Clemson, Virginia Tech win probability, 16.7%
- Jan. 28: at Florida State, Virginia Tech win probability, 18.2%
- Feb. 1: at Virginia, Virginia Tech win probability, 23.7%
- Feb. 5: vs. SMU, Virginia Tech win probability, 22.7%
- Feb. 9: at Notre Dame, Virginia Tech win probability, 19.0%
- Feb. 15: vs. Virginia, Virginia Tech win probability, 47.4%
- Feb. 18: at Boston College, Virginia Tech win probability, 40.4%
- Feb. 22: at Miami, Virginia Tech win probability, 17.3%
- Feb 25: vs. Louisville, Virginia Tech win probability, 31.0%
- March 1: vs. Syracuse, Virginia Tech win probability, 41.4%
- March 4: vs. North Carolina, Virginia Tech win probability, 14.0%
- March 8: at Clemson, Virginia Tech win probability, 6.5%
Well, the numbers don't lie and I'm sure they'll win some games in ACC play, but it's hard to find one game and say it could be there. Miami might be an opportunity, but with this version of Virginia Tech, anything is possible.