#4 Virginia Tech has been arguably the hottest team in America outside of undefeated South Carolina winning 11 straight including the ACC Women's Tournament. During that stretch the Hokies have risen up every bracketologist's projection from being a 4 seed in the first top 16 reveal from the committee to being squarely in the hunt for a 1 seed for the first time in program history.
So where do bracketologists currently have the Hokies? Here's a rundown.
- ESPN: 1 seed
- CBS Sports: 2 seed
- College Sports Madness: 1 seed
- Just Women's Sports: 1 seed
South Carolina and Indiana are locked in to the top two 1 seeds while the final 2 appear to still be up for grabs between the Hokies, Stanford, Iowa, and UCONN.
The Cardinal should still be 1 seed even after crashing out in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. However, the Cardinal could drop to the 4th 1 seed with the Hokies being the team that could jump them while Iowa and UCONN have cases against the Hokies in various areas.
Arguably the biggest strength of Tech's resume is the fact that the Hokies have a strong record against the top 25 NET this season. Here's the ranking
- VT: 10-2
- Stanford: 9-3
- Iowa: 6-4
- UCONN: 11-3
As you can see, Tech not only has the best winning percentage against the NET top 25 and only one fewer win in that category than UCONN.
Iowa and Stanford both have losses outside the top 60 of the NET while UCONN is the only one to have a home loss to a team ranked outside the top 40 in the NET.
Another strength for the Hokies is the fact that Tech has won 11-straight game including two against Duke, one over Florida State, one over North Carolina, and two over NC State. That compares to know one else being better than 8-2 in their last 10 among those four schools.
Tech also has the perk of being the ACC Tournament champs with Iowa and UCONN also having conference tournament titles. UCONN did have an easier path in a weaker conference while Iowa didn't have to take on Indiana though Tech also didn't face Notre Dame. Stanford crashing out early in the Pac-12 Tournament opened the door for them to slip down the standings.
The big weakness with Tech's resume is the fact that the Hokies played a weaker non-conference schedule that ranked outside of top 100. However, Tech clearly had the opportunity to play against loads of high level opponents and took care of their business well. Their overall strength of schedule also ranks in the top 20 and they have quality non-conference wins headlined by a victory at Tennessee.
They do have the lowest NET of the four teams at 9 compared to 2 for UCONN, 4 for Stanford, and 6 for Iowa though that doesn't play too big of a factor with Tech getting up to 9 being an important jump.
Virginia Tech has been one of the best teams in the country over the past month and has earned the right to be a 1 seed this year. The question is whether they've done enough in the eyes of the committee to get one of the two 1 seeds that are open.
