March is here and Virginia Tech is right on the heart of the bubble entering the final two weeks before the madness begins. The Hokies may have suffered an 89-82 loss to No. 18 North Carolina, but VT is in a better position on the bubble now than it was prior thanks to some bad losses for a good chunk of bubble teams including a stunning loss for Cal to below .500 Pittsburgh plus a loss for Auburn to below .500 Ole Miss that dropped the Tigers to 15-14.
The Hokies are definitely in the hunt to return to March Madness after missing the past three editions. So let's dive into the details about where Virginia Tech stands currently.
Inside The Resume (Thanks to WarrenNolan.com)
NET/Records/Quadrants/Strength of Schedule
- NET: 54
- Overall Record: 18-11
- Q1: 2-9
- Q2: 6-1
- Q3: 3-1
- Q4: 7-0
- SOS: 53
- Non-Conference SOS: 202
Resume-Based Metrics
- KPI: 40
- SOR: 51
- WAB: 49
Predictive Metrics
- BPI: 68
- KenPom: 57
- T-Rank: 53
Given the loss to UNC and the drops in both the NET and predictive metrics plus the FSU loss sliding to Q3, it may be surprising to see many bracket projections having Virginia Tech closer to the field than last week. Welcome to life on the bubble, where playing to expectations rather than below them helps you improve your standing.
One of the subtle things that improved is a two-spot jump in WAB from 51 to 49. If you don't know, WAB is a metric that stands for 'Wins Against Bubble', and is a measure of how a team right on the bubble team would do against your same schedule. There has been a lot of talk that this will be a major metric in terms of deciding who gets in and who doesn't. Virginia Tech continuing to rise in this metric is obviously a good thing.
The predictive metrics took a slight hit, but the most notable problem may be the Hokies' NET dropping four spots to 54th. Add in the FSU loss for now sliding to Q3 with the Seminoles being just outside to the top 75 in the NET at 77 and this resume is probably slightly weaker today than it was last week.
However, the Hokies are benefitting from the fact that lots of other bubble team did a lot more damage, something that is reflected in the slight gains in WAB and SOR (52 to 51) despite going 0-1 since our February 24th update.
