On Selection Sunday, No. 11 seed Virginia Tech drew No. 6 seed Texas in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Hokies and Longhorns will face off for the first time ever on Friday in Milwaukee.
The ACC Tournament Champions, Tech is winner of 13 of its last 15 games. Texas lost three straight contests to end the season, and four of the final six.
The Longhorns (21-11, 10-8 Big 12) are No. 15 in KenPom, No. 17 in the NET and No. 18 in the BPI. For reference, the Hokies rank 23, 27 and 19.
Head coach Chris Beard is in his first season with Texas after coming from Texas Tech. In 2019, he took the Red Raiders to the NCAA Tournament Final where they lost to Tony Bennett and Virginia.
The Longhorns don’t have a scorer that stands out, though senior Timmy Allen (6-6, 210) leads them in that category with 12.3 points per game. 6-2 senior Marcus Carr averages 10.9, while 6-4 senior Andrew Jones averages 10.7. It’s a very veteran group in Austin, one that ranks 12th in roster experience, per KenPom.
Texas’s defense is its rock. No. 13 in adjusted defensive efficiency, Texas is No. 14 in turnover percentage, No. 12 in defensive free throw percentage and No. 18 in non-steal turnover percentage.
While being a good offensive team in terms of efficiency, the Longhorns don’t jump off the page. They turn the ball over 11.8 times per game, only shoot 32.3% from behind the arc and are only top-70 in two categories: Offensive rebounding percentage (59) and free throw percentage (70).
The game will be televised at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 CT – local time) on TBS. Spero Dedes, Debbie Antonelli and AJ Ross have the call.
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When I was watching, I didn’t hear the CBS crew even comment on VT! I have to keep in mind that respect is earned and earned over the long haul. We don’t have that, but I would love to show them wrong! Go Hokies!!
Yes, one small comment… the announcer said that he’d heard from someone, presumably on the committee, that Tech would not have made the tournament if they hadn’t beat Duke
That was said by CBS announcers. Sad but true. Hope VT proves the disrespect from SC wrong.
That was k rap seed but I like the matchup.
Totally agree but guess what…….it could be exactly what we need and a blessing in disguise for us; The disrepect and chipped shoulder has always served us well. Heres how I see it. Were actually the 6th seed disguised as 11th seed:
We beat Texas. Surprise Purdue as well. Then make the biggest statement in school history against blue Blood Kentucky in the sweet sixteen- I give a 1 point edge to the Griddy Orange & Maroon. I cant see past Baylor yet …..but if my vision is perfect on 3 wins……Storm & these X men just might decide there are more brackets to crash and just arent ready to play their last game yet. Let’s see how this plays out.
My guess was either 10 or 11 seed. Can’t ignore the first 20 games we played. Though we are not currently playing like an 11 seed.
That “little man” S Davis on CBS pulled the “my source on committee says vt was out until last night.
Some media folks just cant help themselves but to criticise a fine group of kids that just accomplished something never done in 70 year history of the grandaddy of them all!
What a greasy little turd he is.
He spoke the truth. We had to win the tourney to get in.
Hmmmm… Texas… given all the recent comparisons between last night for the basketball Hokies and the 1995 Sugar Bowl for the football Hokies, strangely serendipitous!
HEARD THAT! Maybe Corso could weigh in before the game.
Teams are going to press us. We have not been very good when this happens. Let’s hope we can handle an type of press and keep this streak going.
I was surprised that Duke and UNC didn’t press us earlier. You are correct that is our weakness. At a minimum, it gives us less time to setup our offense.
Texas was a great draw for our Hokies. Like our chances for a W!
David, thanks for the great preview of our upcoming NCAA tournament game. Being a graduate of both VT and UT, VT undergrad and UT MBA, there is no doubt in my mind who wins the game- the VT HOKIES! Kind of takes me back to the days preceding the 1995 Sugar Bowl when all my Longhorn buddies here in Plano were giving me a hard time about playing the mighty Longhorns, and we all remember how that turned out.
We are under seeded big times. This team win 13 out of their last 15 games including blowing out # 1, 2 and 3 seeds and winning the ACC title. Lack of respect and just shows that the ACC tourney championship was needed or we would have been sitting home. Let just say that if UVA, UNC, Duke, WF, GaTech and ND accomplished what we did under the exact same circumstances / SOS, they would be at least 6 seed or above. I just hope our basketball team take this as an insult and use this as motivation to accomplished even greater than the ACC run.
Exactly!!! Well said. The press has so many darling schools. UVA, UNC, GT, & DUKE. for sure. I hope we win at least 2 games! I know we can
lol…I wouldn’t exactly consider “defensive free throw percentage” as evidence of your defensive “rock”
yeah, I read that and was thinking, that seems analogous to a football team having a “kick off blocking unit” or something. will have to look it up and see exactly what that metric means (“defensive free throw percentage”)
All 3 ESPN folks Bilas, Greenburg , Fozz pick Hokies to win
Bilas & Seth were also optimistic about Tech competing strongly with Purdue if the matchup occurred.
Fonz Ellis liked Purdue
lol…I wouldn’t exactly consider “defensive free throw percentage” as evidence of your defensive “rock”
their ability to generate turnovers however…that’s a much more of a concern…no clue how they generate them, but poise and effectiveness against defensive pressure is not exactly our forte
Not until this past week!