Squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, to say that Mike Young and the Virginia Tech men's basketball team face a monster opportunity to secure a big tournament-résumé win on Saturday afternoon is an understatement. The Hokies get a chance to pick up a Quad 1 win when No. 4 Duke visits Cassell Coliseum.
Virginia Tech sits at 16-6 overall and 5-4 in ACC play after surviving a scare from Georgia Tech on Tuesday night for a six-point win. According to Joe Lunardi, the Hokies went from the "Last Four In" to the "First Four Out" after their win over the Yellow Jackets. It just goes to show how bad they can bolster their chances for the 68-team field in March with a win over the Blue Devils.
Virginia Tech hosts Duke in key ACC contest on Saturday
After this game, Young and the Hokies will get a much-needed bye. It doesn't sound like they'll get Tyler Johnson back for this game, which means Virginia Tech has yet to be fully healthy for a conference game so far this year. They will face a daunting February schedule with road games at North Carolina State and Clemson, which are big opportunities to add to their résumé.
As for Duke, they are once again a National Championship contender this season after going to the Final Four last year and losing some key players. Their only setback this year occurred in December in an 82-81 loss to Texas Tech right before Christmas. They have had some close calls in ACC play this season, but they have passed them all to be 8-0 coming to Blacksburg.
If the Hokies are going to come close to pulling off an upset, they'll need to clean up some of the issues that they had in January. Closing out games by not turning the ball over and making free throws will be at the top of the list. Defending at a high level and making shots will also help. This is a golden opportunity for Virginia Tech with a week off before two difficult road games that follow after a bye.