Another week is in the books, and Virginia Tech is in much better shape now
than they were last week at this time. Big road wins against Wake Forest and
Miami have put the Hokies near the top of the ACC standings, and have given them
a big boost in the RPI. If you’re wondering how the Hokies could lose to Georgia
and Seton Hall, yet beat Wake and Miami on the road, the answer is simple: This
isn’t the same Tech team that lost to Georgia and Seton Hall.

In case you’ve forgotten, the Hokies lost
to Seton Hall 77-73 back on November 23, and then lost
to Georgia 67-66 on December 9. Seton Hall is 9-9 on the year, with a
1-6 record in Big East play. Georgia is 9-10 overall and 0-4 in the SEC. The
Bulldogs have not won a game in the month of January, and have not scored more
than 61 points in a game since January 10.

Those were two awful losses, to put it bluntly. However, fast forward to ACC
play, and the Hokies are a completely different team now than they were early in
the season. Tech is coming off back-to-back road wins against Wake Forest, who
was undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation, and Miami, who is very much in
contention for an NCAA tournament bid.

Including those two wins, overall the Hokies have won nine of their last 10
games. They are playing their best basketball of the season, and we’ve seen them
steadily get better over the last few weeks. I’m not going to pretend to be a
basketball X’s and O’s guy, but I’ve got a few ideas on why Tech has gotten a
lot better.

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