Season's End

Well, the season definitely ended earlier than I was expecting. I didn't think there was any way the Hokies would lose a home game versus Rhode Island with a chance to go to Madison Square Garden teetering on the brink of destruction and awesomeness. But here it is, several days later, and I'm finally feeling up to writing about the loss. And in fairness, I didn't think VT played a bad game. The Hokies fought hard and the Runnin' Rams fought harder. VT shot the lights out in the first half, but they also gave the ball up too many times. The difference to me in this game was the turnovers in the first half... they proved to be too much to overcome as the 2-point lead at halftime came at the expense of a 60+% shooting effort, and you knew the Hokies would come back down to earth in the 2nd half. VT should have been riding a 10 point lead at that point. At any rate, the season is over and VT ultimately showed that they didn't belong in the NCAA tournament after all.

I am going to call this section "closing thoughts" even though I'm certainly not done blogging about any of the VT teams:

• P@'s game ball would have to go to Dorenzo Hudson (yet again). He may not have had the high score, but he was the one who really kept VT in the game, and he did so on a bad foot.
• P@'s game ball for the season also goes to Dorenzo Hudson. Malcolm Delaney may be the most talented player on the team, but Hudson is the heart and soul of our squad, and the guy you could count on the most in the clutch. I can't wait to see him next season.
• Speaking of next season, the Hokies are looking STOUT. We are returning our top 6 players (I am going to go ahead and call Lewis Witcher our 7th best player... he really upped is stock late in the season). We have a dynamic big man in Allen Chaney who will be eligible to play next season (he had to sit out this season as a transfer from Florida). Greenberg said a number of times that Chaney was the best player in practice at various points throughout the season. Seth Greenberg is not taking the St. John's or Seton Hall job, and he will be back to continue the VT success. We have two solid recruits coming in... Jarell Eddie and Tyrone Garland. The biggest loss to me will be Paul Debnam, who lit a fire under the bench players and led them in cheering on their teammates. His positive attitude was contagious, and I just hope that someone else will be able to pick up the slack now that he is gone.
• MALCOLM DELANEY IS NOT GOING TO LEAVE EARLY FOR THE NBA. I hate to shout, but I think it's ludicrous that people are even talking about this. Delaney is being listed as a late-second-rounder to undrafted by Chad Ford of ESPN and just about every other major insider in the NCAA hoops biz. He has the potential to be better, but right now his slight frame, mediocre passing, and poor shooting percentages are not impressing anyone on the next level. The typical player who declares early for the NBA draft is an athletic specimen... an athletic freak. That is not Delaney. And I, for one, am extremely happy that we'll see him in a Hokie uniform for one more season.
  

Beer at Work

Every once in a while (like once every few months), co-workers in my office will roll around with a beer cart, serving the other employees in the company a frosty barley pop (or a soda or a girly drink that claims to be alcoholic). It's one of the fun perks that sets working for my company apart from a lot of other stiff/uptight companies. It's my second favorite perk when it comes to working here... the first would be the fact that I can roll up in sandals, t-shirt, and shorts during the summer when you start stewing in your own juices immediately after stepping outside. It's days like that where I think, "Man, I can't imagine having to come in wearing a suit, long-sleeve shirt, and tie." The summer in Richmond is not kind to my sweat glands.

Tonight's matchup against Rhode Island is a little scary, but this team is probably a better match for us than UConn. URI likes to press. A lot. In fact, don't be surprised if they try to press us full-court for the entire game. The good news though? VT has been very successful against teams that press this season. Their players are long and athletic, but not ridiculously skilled. Don't be surprised if they struggle to shoot in front of a rabid Hokie crowd and a tenacious Hokie defense. I am basically thinking of them as Clemson-lite, which is fitting when you think of them in terms of their mascots. In the wrong setting, a tiger can make you soil yourself. In the wrong setting, a ram can make you somewhat cautious. If the Hokies aren't at least a little cautious, they will end up losing the game. If the Hokies take URI seriously, I can't imagine them losing this game.

On a brighter note...

Well, as you can see from my idiotic ramblings in my last post, I don't know crap about college basketball. But hey, I am going to keep talking about it anyway. Deal with that!

Oh, and what's this? Virginia Tech playing against UConn in a 2nd round NIT matchup? Sure, I'll watch that. I was talking with a friend at a wedding on Saturday and he mentioned that the blog was getting pretty negative lately. You know what? He was dead right... I definitely let my emotions get the better of me. It's probably a good thing that I write a blog instead of a newspaper column! So here is the new me... trying to stay positive even when heartbreaking events (such as unfairly missing out on the NCAA tournament) are trying to pull me in the wrong direction. Fortunately for me, tonight's game evoked nothing but pure joy. Virginia Tech played a back-and-forth game with the hyper-talented UConn Huskies that ended with a huge basket by Dorenzo Hudson, a strong defensive play by Jeff Allen, and a bit of luck.

The game started out poorly for the Hokies as they really struggled to get in sync with one another. There were a lot of turnovers in the first half that were unforced passing errors. The Hokies also had a hard time keeping the tall, athletic Huskies from grabbing offensive rebounds. Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen were really struggling to shoot the ball. But with about 5-6 minutes left in the first half, Seth Greenberg decided to mix up his defense and show a 2-3 zone. This bit of coaching proved to be the difference maker as VT cut the lead from 14 down to 5, ending the first half with a last-second 3-pointer by JT Thompson, who was easily our best player in the first half. Apart from some nice drives and off-the-curl shots from Dorenzo Hudson, Thompson's hustle and clutch shooting seemed like the only thing that was keeping the Huskies from breaking away.

The second half was much more fun to watch, from a Tech perspective. The Hokies took it the Huskies to pull within a point inside of the first 2 minutes of the second half, and they managed to stay neck and neck the rest of the way. However, for some strange reason, Seth Greenberg abandoned the 2-3 zone that was working so well and went back to man-to-man defense. Then, as Kemba Walker abused Malcolm Delaney with some extremely quick cuts, Greenberg decided to STICK WITH THE MAN-TO-MAN! A completely incredulous move, and I have to wonder if the Hokies couldn't have pulled away from the Huskies if they had got back into the zone and forced Connecticut to shoot from deep (which they really struggled to do after hitting their first several shots from out there). Props to Victor Davila, who scrapped and fought in the second half and went 4-4 from the free throw line when the Hokies needed to stay close. With a minute left, Greenberg decided to throw another defensive look at the Huskies... the 1-3-1 trap! Who doesn't love the 1-3-1 trap? Nazis and Osama Bin Laden... that's who. Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson were struggling to work the ball forward, only able to go backwards and to the side to avoid the pressure. This is where VT started to assert themselves. Terrell Bell poked the ball away from Dyson, who regained control, but only a second before stepping on the half court line, causing a turnover. It was a clutch defensive play by T-Bell, which is something we have become accustomed to. The Hokies were still down a point and in need of a bucket with about 22 seconds left on the clock. Greenberg called up a play, and you just knew who it was going to. Dorenzo Hudson had been doing the same thing all night: starting near the baseline, he would run up to the elbow where a Hokie would be ready to set the pick, and then curling around that pick while receiving the ball, Hudson spins and fires an open shot. Nothing but net, all night long. Greenberg went back to that well one more time when VT needed it the most, and Hudson responded with his most clutch basket of the year. VT up 1 with 11 seconds left. Jim Calhoun calls time out for the Huskies and draws up a play, and you had to think it was for either Walker or Dyson. The ball eventually made its way to Kemba Walker, who tried to make a basket from a high screen set by a post player. The only problem was that Jeff Allen was having none of it. Allen made up for an underwhelming performance by lunging forward to block that shot from Walker. The ball got pushed over to senior Gavin Edwards, who had played an excellent game up to this point. You just knew that Edwards wasn't going to miss a wide-open layup from 6 feet away. Except... he did. Terrell Bell fittingly grabbed the rebound and even after trying to purposefully miss the second foul shot and making it, 0.7 seconds wasn't enough time for the Huskies and they couldn't get a good shot in the air. H-O-K-I-E-S Hokies! It was the kind of scrappy win that the Hokies came out on the right side of so many times this season.

• P@'s Game Ball is obvious. There were strong contributions from J.T. Thompson, Terrell Bell, and Victor Davila... but the game ball obviously belongs to Dorenzo Hudson. He did everything the Hokies asked. He shut down Jerome Dyson after a hot start. He kept the Hokies in striking distance time and time again with his shooting. He made hustle plays all over the place. He was the best player on the court. Congrats 'Zo!
  
• I am hoping that it doesn't sound like I'm killing Malcolm Delaney. I was extremely disappointed in him when VT played Miami in the ACC tournament. Tonight, I am not the least bit disappointed. He didn't shoot the ball well, but that happens. He didn't play good defense, but he hardly had a moment to rest in this game, playing all 40 minutes. What he did was fight, and push, and create, and harrass, and empower. In the second half, he really passed the ball well and created for his teammates. He did exactly what you want a point guard to do when he's not shooting well, and he deserves some credit for this win. He was physically abused in this game, and he couldn't get any love from the referees. He was a man on an island at times, but came out smelling like my Gilette aftershave (mmmmmm) instead of seaweed and rotten fish.
• Honestly, if it weren't for that last block, I'd be pretty disappointed with Jeff Allen. He failed to assert himself for the vast majority of the game finishing with only 6 points and 3 rebounds. The only time you noticed him in the game was when he was clanking a 3-pointer off the iron or making a head-scratchingly-dumb turnover. I have seen him play so well at times this year, so I really hope this is the Jeff Allen that shows up against Rhode Island in the next round.
• With some "big crowd jitters" out of their system, you have to like Virginia Tech's chances to move on past Rhode Island. They're another athletic team, but they don't have the talent that Connecticut has and the Hokies should be able to stick with them better defensively. You also have to think that their team would be more susceptible to the energetic crowds that the Cassell provides.
• An NIT championship... it's not as glamorous as an NCAA tournament championship, but you have to say it would evoke more pride than a first round loss in the NCAA tournament. Here's hoping VT goes all the way! One more win and we're on to Madison Square Garden!
  

It's Christmas in March!

I get really excited for the NCAA tournament. I love the first 2 rounds... the upsets fuel me and sustain me. Am I a little pissed off that Virginia Tech won't be one of those teams vying for an upset? Definitely. But I'm not going to let it ruin the most wonderful time of the year. I went ultra-conservative on my bracket this year, and I feel a little ashamed about that. I didn't pick many upsets in the first round, and the ones I did pick, I didn't take too far into the tournament. Here are some of the moves I made:

• San Diego State over Tennessee. SDSU is riding a hot streak that carried them through a relatively packed Mountain West Conference tournament with wins over NCAA 3-seed New Mexico and 8-seed UNLV. Tennessee has the ability to play up to any team in the country with wins over Kansas and Kentucky, but I'm willing to bet they also play down to teams like SDSU and might be overlooking this one.
• Siena over Purdue. A lot of people are calling for this one since Purdue has been sliding ever since losing Robbie Hummel, and Siena is an experienced team that has had success in the NCAA tournament recently. I'm going with the underdog, too.
• Missouri over Clemson. This is only a 10-7 upset, but Missouri played in a much more competitive conference and managed to rack up some good wins against K-State, Texas, and OK State. Basically, I don't like Clemson's guard-play, and guards are the key to winning in the NCAA tournament.
• I didn't take any 12-5 upsets this year. I'm a little nervous about that because as we all know, there is almost always a 12-5 upset, but this season I really do like all of the 5-seeds to win. If I missed one, I am guessing it's UTEP over Butler. Butler needs to shoot well to win... if they don't shoot well, they have nothing else to fall back on.
• I took Ohio State to win it all, and I have them playing against West Virginia. The only 1-seed that I considered taking all the way was Kansas, but I like how OSU matches up against Kansas, and I feel more confident about Evan Turner carrying his team to victory than Sherron Collins. My other two in the Final Four are Syracuse and Duke. I feel pretty confident that Duke will make it out of the South region, but I am having second thoughts about taking Syracuse in the West. I wouldn't be surprised to see any seed numbered 1-8 come out of the West... if I had more guts, I'd have taken Xavier.

In other news, Virginia Tech slapped down Quinnipiac in the first round of the NIT, winning 81-61. Malcolm Delaney had a nice bounce-back game after crapping the bed against Miami. He was 4-8 on his 3-point shots and finished with 25 points on 9-15 shooting. He also grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Victor Davila showed once again that he can be dominant against a small frontcourt, hitting 4-5 from the field. Too bad he can't seem to do that when it counts. He did have 4 offensive rebounds against a team that is skilled at rebounding the ball. w00t! The Hokies completely shut down James Feldeine, the Bobcats' leading scorer. He had zero points in the game. Not even whiff. Nicely done Hokies. Now it's time to put on your man-pants for a matchup against UConn.

Quinnipiac

I'm willing to bet that tomorrow's first round opponent in the NIT is the only division I basketball school in the NCAA ranks that starts with a 'Q'. I welcome you to prove me wrong... there's a reason you only get 1 Q in Scrabble. Likewise, your chances of landing a 'Q' are about the same as the Bobcats' chances of beating the Hokies. A tour of Wikipedia revealed the following information about The Q:

• The university is located in Hamden, CT... not too far from New Haven, and right at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park (in other words, this is not the NYC suburbs... this school is somewhat rural).
• Their colors are blue and gold and their mascot is Boomer the Bobcat.
• With 7,758 students, The Q gets dominated in size by Virginia Tech, although admittedly it's not as small as I thought it would be.
• The school closed from 1943-1945 because nearly all of its students got drafted into the War to End All Wars (which didn't end all wars).
• Quinnipiac is named after the Native American tribe that once inhabited the area, which I think all of you already guessed because of the absurdity of the name.
• The Q's best athletic team would be its ice hockey team, which is ranked in the top 10 right now.
• Men's basketball coach Tom Moore is a former assistant of UConn's Jim Calhoun.

As you can see, Quinnipiac is an exciting university, always leading the front page of nationally circulated newspapers. No, but there really was some buzz about 2 years ago regarding the editor of the school paper being threatened about losing his job if he didn't stop bad-mouthing school policy. However, I found this too boring to go into great detail.

Some delicious nuggets about the school's basketball team:

• QU fell to Robert Morris in the championship game of the NEC (NorthEast Conference). They went 21-8 in the regular season and finished 23-9.
• They didn't play anybody this season. I can't stress this enough... I am not even sure which game can be considered their best win. I guess their best loss would be against Rhode Island, who only beat them by 9 on their home court... the Q didn't play anyone from the big conferences.
• From what I can tell, they have 3 serviceable players: James Feldeine, James Johnson, and Justin Rutty.
• Feldeine, a 6'4" senior guard, leads the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game. He shoots a decent 43% from the field and 35.2% from the 3-point line. He easily leads the team in shot attempts and is a good free throw shooter at close to 80%. The Q plays a 3-guard lineup at the start of the game, so expect to see our best defender, Terrell Bell, guarding Feldeine.
  
• Johnson, the other starting guard is a 6'0" sophomore. He is also a good shooter at 40% from the field and 39% from the 3-point line. He is the team's top threat from deep, and the team as a whole isn't very good out there. Johnson is the team's second best free throw shooter at 82.4%. He leads the team in assists, so you would assume by his height and his assist totals that he is the point guard. The other starting guard is 6'2" senior Jeremy Baker.
• The Q's low post presence is Rutty, a 6'7", 240 lb junior. He leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 11 per game. He is particular dangerous on the offensive glass, averaging close to 5 per game. The Hokies really need to box him out. Rutty is also the team's second leading scorer at 15.1 points per game, and he shoots a very high percentage of 53.4 from the field. He will not take a 3-pointer so Allen, Thompson, et all will not need to guard him out there.
• The Q, like most teams from low-major conferences, doesn't have any height. Their tallest player is 6'9", and he plays the least of anyone on the team. Their tallest players who see playing time are 6'7", and all three of them will see good minutes on the floor tomorrow.
• My key to the game: Go hard at Justin Rutty. The Bobcats' low post presence is negligent with Rutty out of the game in foul trouble.
• What to watch: Feldeine v. Bell. Offensive firepower versus defensive dominance. I'll also be looking for Malcolm Delaney to make up for his atrocious effort against Miami. If Delaney scores less than twenty, I will be disappointed. I will also be interested in seeing if Greenberg matches up Allen on Rutty, instead of Davila. Allen is obviously the better defender, but he's more likely to get in foul trouble if he guards Rutty.
• With all that said, we should win this game handily... like I said before, The Q hasn't played a decent team this whole season, so anything less than a 10 point win would be considered a big disappointment. Let's hope the Hokies can shake off their grief from missing the NCAA tournament and come out on fire.
• Just another reminder, the game is tomorrow at 7pm. I don't see anything on the Hokiesports.com website about the game being televised, so let me know if you hear anything. I might have to listen to this one on the old ear box (no one calls a radio an ear box, do they).
  

OUT

Sorry VT fans... the Hokies choked themselves out of the NCAA tournament yet again. You have to think that we were probably the first team left out of the tournament. Teams like Utah State and Florida got into the tournament over us. Really, Florida? Is Minnesota better than Tech? No way. At any rate, the Hokies had a great chance to get themselves in, but blew it against an inferior Miami team. Let's hope we can win the NIT and show the committee wrong instead of bowing out early like last season.

Go Hokies!

P.S. If you are up for a good laugh, check out Utah State's schedule. Their best win was against BYU at home, and they didn't beat a single other team that would have gotten an NCAA at-large bid. Nice!

Chokies

Well, that airball just about summed up Malcolm Delaney's evening. On an afternoon where he couldn't buy a basket and played atrocious defense, the rest of the Hokies could not make up for his inadequacy. Delaney was 0-8 on the day from the 3-point line, gave up several drives for late buckets to freshman Durand Scott, and almost single-handedly ruined the chances for Virginia Tech to advance in the ACC tournament. I never in a million years would have predicted him to play like this, especially considering his usual stellar play during the ACC tournament. The Hokies are headed for an early shower after losing to the last seed in the ACC tourney.

What is worse... there is a chance we could end up on the wrong side of the coin yet again for the NCAA tournament. The Hokies have probably placed themselves squarely on the bubble, and we just need to hope that the poorness of competition (check that... parity) of the NCAA contenders leaves us on the right side looking out.

Big congrats to Jeff Allen, Terrell Bell, and JT Thompson on playing an excellent game, and to Dorenzo Hudson for playing an excellent first half. A performance like that from those players needs to be recognized. The whole team played their butts off... it's just hard not to be frustrated as a Virginia Tech and Cleveland fan. If the Cavs don't win the NBA playoffs this year, I might go postal. Virginia Tech's propensity for being on the bubble for Selection Sunday really makes you wonder whether our team is doing it on purpose for the national media attention. Man, I hope not. All we can do is sit back and wait for Sunday, and hope that if given the chance, Malcolm Delaney will make up for his nightmarish play. I am staying optimistic... I think that he will. Go Hokies.

More on GT...

Now that I've seen the game, I can comment a little more on Georgia Tech's team (and VT's performance as well). First off, GT came out with thuggery on their mind. You get the sense that they really don't like our players, and that they've felt that way for a good, long while. I think Delaney's antics were really pissing them off, hence the forearm shiver from Gani Lawal and the shoulder-first drive by Iman Shumpert that was incorrectly called a blocking foul. I don't think I'm being a homer on this one... Shumpert lowered his shoulder to charge through Delaney, and when that happens I am pretty sure it's always supposed to be called a charge. Fortunately, Delaney got some calls that he didn't necessarily earn. This referee crew was more sympathetic to Malcolm's extreme reactions. I am hoping we see this kind of referee crew a lot more from here on out. As a side note, I definitely think it's an advantage that most of the referee crews doing the NCAA tournament will not be from the ACC. Crews that have not seen Delaney's "art-work", Allen's physical misgivings, or Thompson's mouth will be more fair in their calls. At any rate, getting back to the original point, this was a real slugfest and we can be happy that none of our players were seriously injured.

The barrage of three-pointers in the first half was just what the doctor ordered. The Hokies hadn't shot that well from deep for an entire half this whole season. They hadn't even come close. Delaney, Allen, Bell, and Atkins all got in on the action. The shooting cooled off considerably in the second half, but just to know that they can go on a streak like that must give our players some confidence in their abilities.

As an aside, I am going to tear my XM radio asunder. This thing could not be pissing me off more right now. We moved offices last week, and since then I have been unable to get a consistent signal on my radio from the new cubicle. There's good basketball on the radio right now (the Big East tournament), and I am interrupted every 5 seconds by hissing and dead spots. I'LL SHOW YOU A DEAD SPOT, XM RADIO! Unbe-freaking-lievable.

My impressions of Georgia Tech: their bigs (Lawal, Favors, and Peacock) are awesome, Shumpert is capable of having an occasional big game, but seems sporadic, and everyone else is forgettable. You need good guards to play in the ACC (or to go anywhere in the NCAA tournament), and Georgia Tech is certainly lacking in that department. By the way, remember when Maurice Miller torched us for 30-some points? He hardly sees any playing time anymore. Somehow that needs to be the coach's fault right? You suck, Paul Hewitt. Prepare yourself for coaching adventures at Stetson/Delaware/Florida A&M/etc... your time at Georgia Tech will be over in less than a month.

GT destroyed us on offensive rebounds... 13-4, and it definitely felt like they did when you watched the game. They kept getting all these second chances and VT was one-and-done just about every time they took a shot. We also committed six more turnovers... so in essence, we gave the Ramblin' Wreck 15 more possessions, and still came out with a six point win. So what was the difference? Shooting. VT was better in Field Goal Percentage (51% to 38%), 3-point Percentage (52.9% to 37%), and Free Throw Percentage (80.6% to 69.2%). Admit it, you didn't think this team would ever be able to win by out-shooting another team as our only advantage. I think this last game wins the scavenger hunt... this season's team has now won every possible way that you can win. Our reward is a trip to the Large Social.

By tomorrow, I am hoping we will hear some good news about Dorenzo's Hudson's ailing foot and Jeff Allen's bothersome shoulder. If both players are feeling refreshed and ready to play... look out.

I mentioned this in the comments section of my last post, but if we can beat either of Miami or Wake Forest (and that's no small task), then it would be in VT's best interest for the other two semi-final teams (in other words, the two not named "Duke") to have a fan base close to Greensboro. Why? Because their fans would undoubtedly support the Hokies in a game against the hated Dookies. So, honestly the best semi-final match-up on the other side of the bracket would be Clemson v. UNC. If, by some miracle, that were to happen... VT would easily have more fans in the stands than Duke. Keep your fingers crossed.

An Overdue Post

Sorry kids, I was out of town taking a long weekend in San Francisco. My friend Mike was getting married... I've known him for roughly 25 years, so I think it's a valid excuse. If you don't, please submit complaints to:

Eyema Doosh
1 Sucket St
Your Mouth, VA 00001

So that also means that I haven't gotten a chance to see the Georgia Tech game yet. I know, it's completely blasphemous and I really do feel sorry for missing it, but I just wasn't tech-savvy or desperate enough to figure out a way to watch it. Instead, I will be watching it when I get home from work today.

What I can tell you (as always, I love bullet points):

• VT played the game without Dorenzo Hudson, with Manny Atkins starting on the wing. 3 days ago, I would have told you this is a recipe for disaster... good thing I never got a chance to open my mouth. Atkins didn't light up the scoreboard, but he contributed 5 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and a block. Not bad for the first start of his young college career. Being from the Atlanta area, this was a big game for him and he got to play in front of friends, family, and his AAU coach.
• Also a native of Atlanta, Terrell Bell had what looks to be a fantastic game, recording his first double-double. I've said it once and I'll say it again... I love Terrell Bell. No one shoots the corner three better than him.
• Apparently Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen played their hearts out. You have to be proud of how they are starting to come together and figure things out. Delaney's shooting has noticeably improved and Allen has cut down on dumb fouls early in the game.
• We are in a good place heading into the ACC tournament. The team is gelling at the right time, and the players we need to shoot well have been doing just that. There's an awesome sense of "team-first" with these guys. I am going to give Paul Debnam a lot of credit for that. VT get's a first round bye and will face the winner of the Wake Forest/Miami game on Friday at 2:20ish. We can play with anyone in this league, so I am going to root hard for our first ACC championship. I suggest you do the same.
• Finally... I am going to go ahead and lock us into the NCAA tournament with this win against GT. We made it! The bubble is looking pretty soft this year, so even if we lose our first round game in the ACC tournament, I am pretty sure that we will make it to the Large Social. If that loss is to Miami, that obviously makes it harder, but I still like our chances. I never really believed we'd be able to beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but once again, I'm only proving myself to be an idiot. I should have known that Paul Hewitt's squad would choke on their own talent.
• It's all about seeding now. If VT manages to rattle off some wins in the ACC tourney, they could see their seed jump up to an 8 or 9. Most informed people would probably say they'd rather be an 11 or 12 since you would end up seeing a 3- or 4- seed instead of a 1-seed in the second round, but that also means that your first round opponent is that much tougher. It's a good debate, but I would rather have the better seed... if you knock off the 1-seed, you only have to play a 4-seed (or worse) in the Sweet Sixteen.
• I freaking love March Madness and can't wait to don my "Gobble Gobble B*tches" t-shirt this weekend. I wonder if I could get away with wearing it to work...