Virginia Tech men’s basketball is one of four teams that will compete in the Fort Myers Tip-Off in November 2024, as announced Monday. Michigan, South Carolina and Xavier round out the Beach Division.
The two-game tournament will be held from Nov. 25-27, 2024, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Fla., which seats 3,500. It’ll be the seventh year for the event, which has been held during Thanksgiving week at that location since 2018. Matchups, times and television designations will be announced in the future.
Previous winners include Boston College (2018), Pitt (2019), Gonzaga (2020), Florida and Southern Utah (in two separate divisions in 2021) and Mississippi State (2022). The 2023 field features Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia and SMU.
The 2024 field has made one national championship appearance, two Final Fours, three Elite Eights and nine Sweet Sixteen appearances since 2017, according to the event’s release. In addition, the group has five conference championships in that span.
It’s a talented set of programs that, through Monday afternoon, is a combined 14-4 through the first two weeks of the season. All four teams are currently in the top 60 of Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, too.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the field:
It’ll be the seventh meeting between Virginia Tech and Michigan, the first since a 73-70 Tech win in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in 2016. It’ll also be the sixth different site at which they’ve played, joining Ann Arbor, New York, Hawaii, Orlando and St. Thomas, V.I. The Wolverines lead the all-time series 4-2.
A fun note: Michigan head coach Howard actually played against Tech in the 1991 game in Orlando, a 63-51 win for the Wolverines. He had five points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes.
The Hokies lost to South Carolina in the Hall of Fame Series in Charlotte on Nov. 10, 79-77. In the second year under Lamont Paris, the Gamecocks are 5-0 and beat VMI, DePaul and Grand Canyon after the game against Tech. It’ll be the 33rd all-time meeting, the seventh at a neutral site. Others include Roanoke, Wytheville, Salem, Memphis and Charlotte. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series 19-13.
November 2024 will mark the 15th meeting between Virginia Tech and Xavier. They last clashed in 2021 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a 59-58 Musketeers win. Xavier leads the all-time series 10-4. It’ll be the third straight battle on a neutral floor; the Musketeers beat the Hokies in Nov. 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 63-62 on a halfcourt buzzer-beater from Dante Jackson.
It’ll be the second straight season Virginia Tech plays in a Thanksgiving tournament in Florida. The Hokies are part of the eight-team ESPN Events Invitational that kicks off on Thursday in Orlando. Tech plays Boise State that night at 8:00 (ESPN2)
Tech has a 28-50 all-time record in the Sunshine State, 9-12 on a neutral floor. The program has never played in Fort Myers; it’ll be the 10th different city in Florida in which it’s played.
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