When the Virginia Tech women's basketball team tips off in the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon, they will do so after missing the 68-team field a year ago. They were the first team left out, and that drove Megan Duffy's team all offseason and this season to get back into the dance.
They drew the No. 9 seed in the Fort Worth 3 Regional and will face No. 8 seed Oregon in Austin, Texas, home of the top-seeded Texas Longhorns, at 1:30 p.m. EST. Virginia Tech is just happy to be back in the tournament and would have gone anywhere in the country to play an NCAA Tournament game. As the countdown to tip-off gets closer, here are the final odds and a prediction.
Virginia Tech women's basketball vs. Oregon final odds
As soon as this matchup was announced and the odds went up, Oregon was a 3.5 favorite. That's where it stands currently and hasn't moved, according to DraftKings. Truth be told, when it comes to the 8-9 games in the NCAA Tournament, those games are difficult to pick. You could consider them a pick'em.
Virginia Tech vs. Oregon final prediction
This game is a complete toss-up. Flip a coin. Two good teams from power conferences are battling it out in the first round of the tournament. On Thursday, Oregon coach Kelly Graves said his team's weakness this season is the defensive boards, and that is one area where the Hokies need to attack. They have been good this year on the offensive boards and will need to hurt the Ducks there.
Another key for Virginia Tech will be getting balanced scoring from players not named Carleigh Wenzel and Carys Baker. Balance has been a big part of the Hokies success and will need to be on Friday.
As for a prediction, it'll be a close one, but we'll have Virginia Tech advancing, barely, 63-61.