Hokies Get Home NIT Game vs. Temple
After eight seasons of no postseason action, the Virginia Tech Hokies make their return
to postseason play in the NIT, with a home game Tuesday night at 8 pm versus the Temple Owls in Cassell Coliseum.
Tickets will go on sale Monday, with the cost being $15, $5 for students. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
For tickets, contact the Virginia Tech Ticket Office at (800) VA TECH4 or (540) 231-6731. Seating
is general admission.
The
Hokies had hoped for an NCAA bid, but that was a longshot that went away when the clock ran out on Tech’s first-round
ACC tournament loss to Georgia Tech. That left the Hokies on pins and needles awaiting a bid from the unreliable NIT, which
has snubbed the Hokies more times than it has invited them in the last 11 years. VT won the NIT in 1995, of course, but
deserving Hokie teams in 1994 (18-10, fourth in the Metro)) and 2004 (15-14, 7-9 Big East) were left at home. The NIT
decided that VT’s 15-13 record, including a fourth-place 8-8 ACC mark, was good enough.
Earlier in the day Sunday, five ACC teams received bids to the NCAA tournament, including two #1
seeds, Duke and UNC. Wake Forest received a #2 seed, Georgia Tech received a #5 seed, and surging NC State, which
finished behind the Hokies in the ACC but closed strong and made the ACC tournament semifinals, got a #10 seed.
That left Maryland, VT, Miami, and Clemson NIT-bound, giving the ACC nine teams in postseason
play, with just two — Virginia and Florida State — sitting home.
| ACC Teams and Postseason Bids (Overall Records Include ACC Tournament Games) |
|||
| School | ACC | Overall | Postseason |
| North Carolina | 14-2 | 27-4 | NCAA #1 seed, Syracuse regional |
| Wake Forest | 13-3 | 26-5 | NCAA #2 seed, Albuquerque Regional |
| Duke * | 11-5 | 25-5 | NCAA #1 seed, Austin Regional |
| Virginia Tech | 8-8 | 15-13 | NIT, home vs. Temple (16-13) |
| Georgia Tech | 8-8 | 19-11 | NCAA #5 seed, Albuquerque Regional |
| Miami | 7-9 | 16-12 | NIT, at South Carolina (15-13) |
| NC State | 7-9 | 19-13 | NCAA #10 seed, Syracuse Regional |
| Maryland | 7-9 | 16-12 | NIT, home vs. Oral Roberts (25-7) |
| Clemson | 5-11 | 16-15 | NIT, at Texas A&M (19-9) |
| Florida State | 4-12 | 12-19 | none |
| Virginia | 4-12 | 14-15 | none |
| * ACC tournament champion | |||
If Virginia Tech gets past Temple, they will face the winner of Northeastern and Memphis.
Either team would be an intriguing matchup for the Hokies. Northeastern is coached by former VT player Ron Everhart, and
Memphis is an old Metro Conference rival of VT, from the days when Memphis was known as Memphis State.
The Hokies have a recent history with Temple from Tech’s five-year stint in the Atlantic
10 Conference, from 1995-2000. The Hokies played Temple six times and lost all of them, including the Hokies’ last-ever
A-10 game, in the 2000 Atlantic 10 tournament. Even Tech’s strong 1995-96 NCAA tournament team was handled easily by the
Owls, 57-41. VT got close a couple of times, losing to Temple 45-41 at home in 1996-97 and 60-53 on the road the
following season, but towards the end, it got ugly. Temple’s last three wins over VT were by scores of 78-48, 66-46, and
71-52.
The Hokies lost to Temple the other two times they played, in 1966 (88-73) and 1985
(60-57 in the NCAA tournament). VT is 0-8 all-time versus the Owls.
Virginia Tech gets a chance to reverse that trend Tuesday night, and Cassell Coliseum
should be hopping. After Virginia Tech’s regular season-ending home win over Maryland, player of the game Jamon Gordon
said wistfully in his post-game interview, “I wish we had another home game.”
Hey, Jamon, you’re on a real hot streak, because you got your wish. Wish for something
else while you’re at it, like VT’s first-ever win over Temple.
For the
entire NIT bracket, click here
Hokie Women Earn NCAA Invitation
Virginia Tech’s women’s basketball team snagged their sixth invitation to the NCAA
tournament in the last eight years when they were named a #12 seed. The Hokies will take on 5th-seeded DePaul in the
College Park, Maryland subregional on Sunday, March 20th. #4 seed Penn State will play 13th-seeded Liberty in the other
first round game. Should VT (17-11) get past DePaul (25-4), the regular-season Conference USA champion, the Hokies face
a possible rematch of last year’s round of 32 game with PSU, who knocked the Hokies out of the tournament last season.
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