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After the latest in a string of disappointing finshes, Virginia Tech will miss the Big Dance for the third consecutive year but take a No. 1 seed in the NIT tournament.
The NCAA and NIT selections come two days after Tech’s quarterfinal loss to Miami at the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Tech’s final record stood at 23-8 overall and 10-6 in-conference. The committee passed on Tech, as bubble teams Utah State and Minnesota locked up at large bids.
Nearly every basketball analyst pointed at Tech’s out of conference schedule strength — ranked around No. 339 nationally — as the main factor for its NIT relegation.
Greenberg disagrees with the national bashing of the schedule his team played, and doesn’t appear to regret the games he scheduled.
“I don’t kick myself at all," Greenberg said after the NIT announcement. "Our schedule is what our schedule is. We won 10 games in the ACC, played four BCS teams. … we can’t control the record that these teams have, we can only control the record that we have."
“There are only a certain number of spots…that is the reality of the NCAA tournament,” he said.
Tech will have to quickly regroup to prepare for Quinnipiac University in Connecticut on Wednesday. The winner of that game will play the winner between Connecticut and Northeastern. Since the Hokies earned a No. 1 seed they can host up to three games in Blacksburg. The final four is played at Madison Square Garden.
Quinnipiac sits at 23-9 after losing to Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference tournament final.
“We’re playing against a team that won 23 games so they’re used to winning," Greenberg said. We have got to get ourselves ready to play. ... It’s going to hurt today but we have a chance to go to New York and cut down the nets. That’s going to be the vision we’re going to sell to our team”
Last year Tech participated in the NIT where they lost in the second round to Baylor. The Hokies are 21-8 all-time in the NIT and won the 1973 and 1995 NIT Championships.
Six ACC teams made it to the NCAA tournament. Duke took the No. 1 seed in the South Region. Maryland and Georgia Tech snagged the No. 4 and No. 10 seeds respectively in the Midwest. Florida State is the No. 9 seed in the West and Clemson and Wake Forest took the No. 7 and No. 9 seeds in the East.
The last time the Hokies participated in the NCAA tournament was as a No. 5 seed in 2007 where they lost in the second round to Southern Illinois.