After beating Virginia in triple overtime on New Year's Eve, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was setting itself up for a nice run in the ACC in 2025-26. The win was without Tobi Lawal and Tyler Johnson, who were both injured. Little did anyone know that those injuries were going to be injuries that kept them out of conference games for the amount of time they did.
After beating the Cavaliers, the Hokies suffered through January, which saw them lose three games, at Wake Forest, vs. Stanford, and at SMU, in brutal fashion in the final five seconds. It felt like Mike Young and his team were cursed. They haven't been able to recover from those losses to be on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but believe it or not, they still have an NCAA Tournament pulse going into their regular season final at Virginia on Saturday.
Virginia Tech men's basketball has golden opportunity in front of them vs. Virginia
The Hokies are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but a win at No. 13 Virginia on Saturday afternoon and at least one win in the ACC Tournament next week, then Virginia Tech just might be able to sneak into the 68-team field. That, however, is asking a lot for this year's version of the Hokies.
Even if Virginia Tech can pull the upset at Virginia, they are still likely to play on the opening day of the ACC Tournament next week. However, if results go their way with the other ACC games on Saturday, then their Quad 2 opportunities might be there to be had. Yes, even in the first round on Tuesday.
Beating Virginia would be a huge résumé win that certainly moves them up and maybe even off the bubble. Unlike the first meeting this year, both teams are healthy, and that might not be good news for the Hokies. I'm sure the Cavaliers remember the loss back in December. This would be a huge road win for Virginia Tech in Charlottesville.