Well okay, maybe the Hokies shouldn’t whine all that much about being left off the 68 team NCAA tournament guest list… or then again, maybe they should.

After liquid shitting the bed against The Shockers down in Blacksburg during the second round of the NIT it seems hard to argue that there was a lot of hindsight regrets from the NCAA selection committee on whether they should have put trust in the Hokies and let them in to the dance. However this is always something to be said for a program when it is losing the will to play in a largely insignificant alcohol-free party for the ugly kids that weren’t invited to prom.

But what may be more telling is that the ACC still has 3 teams (of only 4) still playing in the tournament. In a season that everyone seemed to be saying the ACC was much weaker than in previous years - and certainly not as strong as the mighty Big East- its interesting to see that the ACC has more teams dancing THAN ANY OTHER CONFERENCE. The Big East has had 11 seeds dwindle down to 2 all while losing a top seed in Pittsburgh. While analysts were still wiping St. John’s semen off their upper lip half of the Big East had fallen in upsets.

Would it have been that hard to allow the ACC more teams if they consistently outperform their other conference brethren? Shit, the ACC has WON the tournament with two different teams the past two years and when they felt that 2009’s winner UNC wasn’t worthy of a bid in 2010 what did UNC go and do? Win the NIT.

Simply because the Big East looked big and tough early on doesn’t mean that they were deserving of a whopping eleven seeds - basically negating the 68 team expansion this year. In no way do I think this means that there MUST be a way Virginia Tech is included, but shit - we beat 2 sweet sixteen teams in past couple of weeks – is that worth nothing? Of course we probably DO suck anyway, but next time don’t reward a decent division where no one squad is necessarily dominating by letting everyone in.

I’m with Charles Barkley, the black Charlie Sheen, on this one - the Big East is simply overrated and 3 teams too many from the Big East left VT, Colorado, and Eastern Suffolk District 9 out of the tournament as a result. I wish the best to the remainder of the ACC (and the 2 remaining Virginia schools of 5) in the tournament, but if it ends up being 3 ACC teams in the Final Four I sincerely hope Seth Greenberg sends a steaming pile of the Hokie seniors’ collective shit logs to the selection committee.

It was so close, once again, but this time we can’t go and review to make sure the officials got it right or wrong.

You can add more seeds to the tournament and still the Hokies will find a way to roll off the back of the bubble. The Hokies have become synonymous with bubble disappointment and Coach Seth Greenburg is now a household name in college basketball announcing and analysis for enduring this pain annually (not to mention the razor thin buzzer beater loses, big upsets, and implosions). Clearly losing to Florida State (edit: No we beat those pricks twice) Boston College and Clemson was just too tough of a way to end the regular season.

We know the Hokies beat the #1 seeded Duke Blue Devils, we know Clemson -who is in the tournament- touts its best win as beating VT in that final game of the year, and we know Florida State is in the dance despite falling twice to the Hokies on both ends of the season, but we seem to always forget that the NCAA selection committee simply hates Virginia Tech.

So come on all you sports writers, bring on the press about the Hokies woes, RPI, and how Seth and the boys were snubbed yet again, there should be some good templates in your saved documents folder from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009… oh fuck this.

The latest issue of Hokie Sports magazine documented the 10 biggest wins to occur inside of Cassell Coliseum and I think they need to bump the entire list down by one slot.

Beating #1 Duke on Saturday was BIG - granted Tech has beaten #1 teams a few times in the past but this time it was with ESPN in town on a very hyped nationally televised stage - a place that so often VT sports lets the faithful Hokie down - going to an all important final week before the NCAA selection panel makes picks for the March tournament.

Despite miserable (8-19) free throw shooting that I said would “cost us the game” on several occassions the Hokies finished solid and held for a 64-60 win - a marque win likely enough to place the Hokies back in to the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years. Bravo boys, I am writing this from the back of a Hooptie Ride.

That is all.

(ESPN likes VT too)

From the where are they now pile… one of my favorite Hokie basketball players, Deron Washington (aka Deron Flopington and Greg Paulus’ new hat), last I heard was bouncing around in the European basketball circuit and had some practice time with the Pistons. Well imagine my surprise when Versus showed the NBA-Development league championships last night and none other than Deron and his headband came out of the tunnel for one of the teams, the Tulsa 66′ers. Strangely enough I actually thought to myself “I bet Deron was playing in the NBA-D” as the coverage began, but it looks like he’s playing well enough to start for a finals team. Granted its still the finals of the subpar D league, but I am pretty sure the 66′ers could give the Wizards a shellacking.

Game two of the best of 3 series is on tonight at the stroke of midnight.

Seth Greenberg and the Hokies got a lot of press on Sunday, but not for all the best reason. As the first 10-6 team to miss the big dance, many analysts including Dick Vitale, said that something unjust had happened to the ACC 4th place Hokies especially in comparison to Wake Forest - a team VT beat head-to-head and outperformed in the ACC.

A lot of disappointed fans felt jaded on Sunday and players like Malcom Delaney tweeted that he just wanted to be left alone and “not talk about it”. Still, the team is getting a lot of attention we wouldn’t otherwise have gotten as a 10-seed that had little hope of going beyond the first or second round in the tournament.

The real dagger in the Hokies bid for a tournament seed came in their extremely weak out of conference schedule. In case you forgot because the games weren’t even broadcast on the radio, here are some of the teams we played:

• North Carolina Central Eagles
• UMBC Retrievers
• Charleston Southern Buccaneers
• Campbell Fighting Camels

The sad thing is perhaps we had played a Syracuse or Georgetown in our out-of-conference and gotten beaten badly, it would have actually helped us. No one would have had a problem accepting a 10-ACC-Win team with 21-10 record.  Granted we can simply point to the one and done loss to Miami in the first round of the ACC tournament as well.

At least with the NIT the fans down in Blacksburg get more basketball, beginning with a 7pm game tonight against the Quinnipiac Bobcats - at least its not the retrievers.

The Hokies men’s basketball team has finally gotten to where they need to be: on the coveted ESPN “Locks” list for the NCAA tournament.

After a great February turned in to disaster at the end of the month the Hokies rebounded to win two crucial games at the end of the regular season and earned themselves a bye in the ACC tournament (and any potential embarrassment in a first round collapse had they played a team such as a re-born UNC as a five-seed).

In years past the Hokies have always slipped off the back of the bubble come this time of year with too many blemishes on their resume, especially in out-of-conference play. I liked this year’s path to the big dance though… play easy out-of-conference and then hold tough in the middle of the ACC pack. The Hokies managed a 10-6 ACC record (note that no team has ever been denied a ticket to the tournament with such a record in the ACC) and lost only one home game all season in the double overtime take-a-shot-to-win heartbreaker against ACC Co-champion Maryland. Not bad Seth, not bad at all.

Still even as a “lock” in the bracket of 65 the Hokies can help bolster their arguments for inclusion and fight for a better seed and easier path to deeper play in the tournament with a strong showing at the ACC tournament. Tech will face either #5 Wake Forest or #12 Miami in their first game (Miami is much better than their last place finish would have you believe and Wake Forest is trying to build on their street credit for the tournament just like the Hokies).

As an individual accolade, Malcolm Delaney was a first-team selection on all 53  ballots cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Way to get even better and make up for that slob Jeff Allen, we love you, man.

In much the same fashion that Virginia Tech dismantled the Miami Hurricanes on the football field, Seth Greenberg and the Hokies men’s basketball team took a beating stick to the Miami basketball team on Wednesday night.

Helping to heal the pain from a collapse against UNC, the Hokies came out of the gates and lapped their second ACC opponent early on and shot 62 percent in the first half to extend their led to 50-23 at the break. Miami (ranked 23rd in the AP poll) had lost only one game before falling hard to the Hokies and may catapult the team in to a top 25 position come Monday.

Even with a 30+ point lead I still never felt truly comfortable. Miami came on strong in the second half but ultimately the lead was just too great for the Hurricanes to overcome and the Hokies saved the win, and kept my face from bashing itself in to the drywall.

Every year I like to put down my holiday wish list for the upcoming year as it relates to Virginia Tech athletics. This year the list looks pretty similar to years’ past… I guess some things are just worth the wait:

A Peach Bowl Win: Even without the assistance of Stephan Virgil I still have a decent amount of confidence heading in to our New Years Eve bowl game against Tennessee (but nothing is certain). The game is significant - mainly because the ACC needs to show some power against the dominant SEC and to keep our 10-win season streak going, but I also want a win for those die-hard Hokie fans that may be returning to Atlanta for a third time in four months after seeing the team lose on their first two attempts. Stocking stuffer: Finishing the season with a top 10 ranking.

A trip to the NCAA Tournament: Sitting 10-1 things are looking favorable for the Hokie Bball team. Strangely though this is something I ask for every year and never seem to get. Perhaps the price is low enough this year and I have been an extra special Hokie so I’ll finally get it under the tree. On the horizon are two tough games for the team: a game against a one-loss Seton Hall squad that shares a common loss with VT (Temple) on January 3rd, and the ACC opener against UNC in Chapel Hill one week later. Stocking stuffer: Delaney winning the 2010 Bob Cousy Award.

October 2, 2010: The date that the Hokies take on Boise State at FedExField can’t come soon enough. To anyone who attended the USC FedEx Game several years back you know just how incredible it is to go to a game in Washington DC’s backyard with 90K+ Hokies (sure there will be a few fans from Boise State - but don’t count on them making much of a dent on third downs). Stocking stuffer: Is it too soon to start beating the BCS Championship drum? Pa ra pa pa pum.

The Last Good Condo at “Legends”: So this may be my “Daddy I want a Pony!” gift but there is only one condo left on the top floor of the soon-to-be-built-but-probably-never-will condo complex located in the shadows of Lane Stadium. It features a balcony, one bedroom, and is a much better location than “The Colosseum” project down 460. In a world where money is no object I would love to rain foamy Natty Light shotgun spray down 4 stories before a game with my friends on a balcony. However, if the gameday attitude of Platinum-Diamond-Encrusted-Cock status Hokie Alum are any indication of how your neighbors would be, expect to have the cops called perpetually and banging on the walls if you cheer loudly, or even stand up, at any point while living in the condo. Stocking stuffer: Returning to Hunter’s Ridge (Phase I) for a semester.

The Hokies men’s basketball team got revenge on PSU tonight, avenging a “Big 10/ACC Challenge” loss back in 2007 which stuck out as one of the worst loses of the season, keeping the team out of the march tournament. I would also point out that the Hokies have beat two Big 10 opponents this year, something Duke should be envious of.

The Hokies have are 8-1 as they approach the in-conference schedule and the last 2/3rds of the season. Compared to previous seasons this is one of the best starts in recent memory for the team.

There is obviously much more basketball to play and the team will have to show up well against the stacked ACC to make it to the big dance, but one difference from years past is that the Hokies don’t have a tarnished early season resume and that should help push them in over the bubble if they can hang out with the rest of the conference and win against the weaker teams. And the team has been able to accomplish that for in-conference games since Greenberg took the team in to the tough ACC forest.

ACC opener: @UNC on 1/10/2010