Virginia Tech NCAA Tournament Watch 2017 (Pre-ACC Tournament Edition)

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March 07, 2017, 03:00 AM

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Buzz Williams, Seth Allen, and the Hokies are still safely in the NCAA Tournament. [Credit: Harley Taylor][/caption]The Virginia Tech Hokies suffered a close loss to Wake Forest this past weekend and while the loss was disappointing, the Hokies remain safely in the NCAA Tournament with their potential seeding not really being affected despite the loss. Virginia Tech will enter the ACC Tournament as the #7 seed with VT likely getting the chance to get revenge against the Demon Deacons with Wake being a heavy favorite against Boston College. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Hokies solidly in now as an 8 seed while CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has Virginia Tech on the 7 seed line heading into the ACC Tournament. Meanwhile, the Bracket Matrix Project's compilation system has the Hokies projected on the 8 seed line as of this past night. With that said, here's a look at some important and notable resume numbers. (Numbers as of March 1st, RPI based on ESPN)

RPI: 45
BPI: 50
KenPom: 47
Record vs. RPI top 50: 4-7
Record vs. RPI top 100: 12-8
Record vs. RPI top 150: 12-9
Record vs. RPI outside top 150: 9-0
ESPN SOR: 25
SOS: 81

The Wake Forest loss caused Virginia Tech's RPI to take a major drop that really is hard to explain given how the Demon Deacons were also ranked in the top 50 of the RPI entering this game. However, the good thing is that since Wake Forest is still a top 50 RPI team, the loss really isn't bad at all, and the Hokies have a solid four wins over top 50 RPI teams including one on the road and two over teams in the top 15 of the RPI. Meanwhile, the Hokies' BPI dropped one spot while VT's KenPom did take a hit, but not a major one after rising up into the top 40 before their loss to Wake Forest also caused a fairly big drop in those rankings. However, Virginia Tech has built a strong resume outside of that and those rankings are good enough especially for a team that is the seven seed in the ACC Tournament with a 10-8 conference record and no bad losses. Virginia Tech's 4-7 record against the RPI top 50 is solid with the Hokies having the chance to add a win or two to that with the Hokies being very likely to get a rematch with Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Virginia Tech's 12-8 record against the RPI top 100 is quite good and helps keep the Hokies around the 7 to 8 seed range while VT's lack of a bad loss is also a big boost to their potential seeding. Their 81st-ranked strength of schedule isn't bad, but the Hokies are being hurt in that category by the fact that their non-conference schedule is ranked outside the top 300. The Hokies' weak non-conference schedule is a big reason why it's hard to see Virginia Tech climbing higher than the 7 seed line unless they make a run to the ACC Tournament final. One metric that has always been very favorable for Virginia Tech is the ESPN strength of record which dropped since the Wake Forest loss but only to the 25th spot in what is a great sign of how Virginia Tech should end up being around the 7 or 8 seed line especially since they are in the top 25 of that metric. At this point, it seems very likely that Virginia Tech will be a 7 or 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament with the worst case scenario being for them to drop to the 9 seed line which is possible if they were to lose their opening game of the ACC Tournament. The good news is that the Hokies are safely in the NCAA Tournament and will be dancing for the first time in a decade.