March Madness has arrived with gale force in Blacksburg. The ACC tournament
tips off Thursday, and recent history tells us that Virginia Tech will sit idly
by and watch the opening games of the tournament on opening day, again relegated
to sitting in front of their television sets and not participating in the
tournament. We know that scene all too well; it’s a scene that we became
accustomed to almost every March in the Big East Conference, when tournament
play kicked off, while Virginia Tech stayed far away from the Big Apple, not
allowed to unpack their gym bags for the trip.

But this year, Tech’s first ACC tournament comes with a twist. As usual,
Virginia Tech will not play on Thursday, but this time, it’s because they earned
a first-round bye, and the Hokies will make their conference tournament debut on
Friday. As the fourth-seeded team.

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