Just under two months ago, Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball announced their non-conference slate for the upcoming 2024-25 season. It's headlined by a showdown against Michigan in Fort Myers and a matchup against former Hokies, Tyler Nickel and MJ Collins, when Vanderbilt comes to Cassell Coliseum for the ACC-SEC Challenge.
Yesterday, Tech received their ACC schedule full of fascinating road stretches and headline home matchups.
Last season, ACC play opened up against Louisville in a one-off ACC clash about a month before conference play really got going. On the same note, the Pittsburgh Panthers will make their way to Cassell Coliseum on December 7th, with three weeks coming between that game and the rest of the Hokies' ACC schedule.
On New Year's Eve, Virginia Tech travels to Durham to face the top NBA Draft prospect in the country, Cooper Flagg, and the Duke Blue Devils in Cameroon Indoor Stadium. The Hokies get over two months between their matchups against Tobacco Road's other blue bloods, as they host RJ Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels in their home closer on March 4th.
The Hokies will be making a trip out West early in January, playing at Stanford and at California on January 8th and 11th, respectively. Among the ACC’s three newcomers, the only team Virginia Tech will host is the Mustangs of SMU on February 5th.
There are three teams the Hokies face twice, including the Miami Hurricanes, the Clemson Tigers, and as always the Virginia Cavaliers. Last season’s results against these foes were strange to say the least, as the Hokies blew out both Clemson and Virginia in Cassell Coliseum, while dropping both games against Miami, who was by far the worst of these three teams.
This season, Virginia Tech will look to repeat their success against the Cavaliers and the Tigers, as they notably travel to Charlottesville to play Virginia on February 1st, host the Cavaliers exactly two weeks later on February 15th. A game at home against Clemson on January 25th and at the Tigers on March 8th sandwiches those games while they'll host Miami on January 4th and then travel down to South Florida on February 22nd.
Looking at the rest of the home schedule, the Hokies host 2024 Final Four team NC State, on January 15th, the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest on January 18th, the Louisville Cardinals on February 25th, and the Syracuse Orange on March 1st.
A year ago, the Hokies were a completely different team on their home floor, finishing 15-2 in Cassell Coliseum, and a shocking 4-13 away from their home floor. For Virginia Tech to have a shot at reaching the NCAA Tournament, they are going to have to continue their elite play in Cassell, and win far closer to 50% of their games on the road.
Head coach Mike Young is essentially leading an all-new Hokie roster into the 2024-25 season, with no returners who played more than 15 minutes per game last season. Young enters his 6th season in Blacksburg, and while he is a popular coach, he has zero NCAA Tournament wins under his belt, and hasn’t guided the Hokies into the tournament since their miraculous ACC Tournament Championship run in 2021-22.
This is to say, Mike Young is under pressure to get this team rolling, and he’ll have to do it with an almost completely new roster following the mass churn via the transfer portal.
Regardless of the stakes, the introduction of West Coast ACC basketball as well as a seemingly balanced schedule, makes for an intriguing year of ACC basketball and an fascinating season for the Virginia Tech Hokies in particular.
See the full ACC schedule below:
- December 7 vs Pittsburgh
- December 31 @ Duke
- January 4 vs Miami
- January 8 @ Stanford
- January 11 @ California
- January 15 vs NC State
- January 18 vs Wake Forest
- January 22 @ Georgia Tech
- January 25 vs Clemson
- January 29 @ Florida State
- February 1 @ Virginia
- February 5 vs SMU
- February 8 @ Notre Dame
- February 15 vs Virginia
- February 18 @ Boston College
- February 22 @ Miami
- February 25 vs Louisville
- March 1 vs Syracuse
- March 4 vs North Carolina
- March 8 @ Clemson
