March is here and for the first time in a long time, there is no doubt that Virginia Tech will be a NCAA Tournament team and there hasn't been for weeks.
There's one major change this year with the metrics to determine this year's NCAA Tournament field and seedings as the RPI is gone and the NET is here.
You've probably heard a lot about the NET which has put value upon efficiency and margin of victory. That emphasis on not only who you play but how well you play against who you play has benefited the Hokies. Even Buzz Williams has talked about adjusting his strategy at the end of losses calling timeouts to get margins under 10 before the finish with the margin of victory stat going up to 10-point margins. Those calls probably haven't made much of a difference, but it shows how the Hokies know the opportunity that the NET provides.
While this Virginia Tech team would likely be in the 20s in the old RPI due to their weak non-conference strength of schedule, the NET sees the Hokies' dominance in non-conference play along with their strong ACC play and is rewarding Virginia Tech, ranking the Hokies 11th in the latest NET.
Now it's unknown how much the committee will rely on the NET but our early indication based on the early top 16 release suggested that they'll rely on it a decent amount. Despite the fact that the Hokies were in the top 16 of the NET and weren't included in the committee's first 16, most of the committee's early top 16 teams were among the top 16 teams in the NET. While the NET doesn't appear to be a final deciding factor, it is having a noticeable impact that could become more significant with comparing final resumes.
Overall, one of the strongest parts about Virginia Tech's resume is their standing in the metrics as shown below.
- NET: 11
- KenPom: 11
- BPI: 9
- Sagarin: 12
- Strength of Record: 12
- Quadrant 1: 4-6
- Quadrant 2: 6-0
- Quadrant 3: 4-0
- Quadrant 4: 8-0
- Overall SOS: 58
- Non-Conference SOS: 220
- Bracket Matrix: 4
- ESPN: 5
- CBS: 5
- USA Today/BracketWag: 5
- SB Nation: 4
- NBC: 4
- SI: 4
- Seed Madness: 4
- T-Rank: 4
Photo Credit: Bobby Murray
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