Going into their matchup at 12th-ranked North Carolina on Thursday night, the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team was the 68th and final team in Charlie Creme’s latest ESPN NCAA Tournament bracketology. It’s a place that the Hokies have been in now for a couple of weeks.
Virginia Tech put up a tough battle against the Tar Heels, leading for a good part of the second half before a fourth-quarter scoring drought cost them in a, 67-62, loss. The loss dropped the Hokies to 16-9 overall and an even 7-7 in the ACC, one of the toughest conferences in the country.
The big question following the game was what did the loss do to affect Virginia Tech’s standing in Creme’s eyes? The answer is nothing and in fact, he moved the Hokies up a couple of lines in his bracketology.
Virginia Tech women’s basketball moved up slightly in latest bracketology
Following their loss to the Tar Heels, Virginia Tech remained in the Last Four In but moved up as Princeton is now the 68th team and last team into the field according to Creme. Harvard and Iowa State are the other two teams part of the Last Four In. The First Four Out are Washington, Saint Joseph's, George Mason, and Belmont.
Virginia Tech has a bye this weekend and won’t return to the court until next Thursday when they host Stanford before playing California at Cassell Coliseum in the final two home games of the season. Both currently would be Quad 2 opportunities for Megan Duffy’s team.
Even though they are in the Last Four In group, the Hokies deserve an at-large bid. They are in ninth place in the ACC and unless something crazy happens, they’ll get a bye on the first day of the ACC Tournament next month. It speaks volumes to the job Duffy has done in her first season in Blacksburg.