Virginia Tech Basketball Hoping for Strong February

Virginia Tech men’s basketball has one more game in the month of January, at Boston College on Wednesday night at 9 PM (RSN; click here for affiliates).

Buzz Williams mentioned on Monday night’s Tech Talk Live that the Hokies have a chance to have a winning record in January for the first time since he has been here. He is correct. Here are Virginia Tech’s January records for the last three seasons (leaving out the 2014-15 season, when Virginia Tech went 11-22, 2-16 ACC):

• 2015-16 (NIT): 4-5 in January
• 2016-17 (NCAA): 4-4
• 2017-18 (1 game remaining): 4-4

How have the Hokies fared after January? Buzz Williams’ teams have generally closed strong. Here are the post-January records for the last two seasons:

• 2015-16 (NIT): 6-3 after January
• 2016-17 (NCAA): 5-4

If you drill down into the schedules the last two years, you see that the Hokies made impressive runs at the end of both seasons.

The 2015-16 team finished very strong, winning their last five regular season games:

2015-16 Virginia Tech Men's Basketball
Date	Opponent	Result
2-2	@Syracuse	L, 68-60 (OT)
2-6	Clemson	W, 60-57
2-9	@Virginia	L, 67-49
2-17	@Miami	L, 65-49
2-20	FSU	W, 83-73
2-23	@Boston College	W, 71-56
2-28	@Wake Forest	W, 81-74
3-2	Pittsburgh	W, 65-61
3-5	#7 Miami	W, 77-62
January record: 4-5
Post-January regular season results: 6-3
Final ACC record: 10-8

The 2016-17 team also finished very strong, winning five of their last seven regular season games:

2016-17 Virginia Tech Men's Basketball
Date	Opponent	Result
2-1	@#9 Virginia	L, 71-48
2-8	@Miami	L, 74-68
2-12	#12 Virginia	W, 80-78 (2OT)
2-14	@Pitt	W, 66-63
2-18	@#7 Louisville	L, 94-90
2-21	Clemson	W, 71-70
2-25	@BC	W, 91-75
2-27	#25 Miami	W, 66-61
3-4	Wake Forest	L, 89-84
January record: 4-4
Post-January regular season results: 5-4
Final ACC record: 10-8

While things looked grim this season after the January 20 home loss to Florida State, the Hokies followed with a big win over #10 UNC at home, then a win over Notre Dame on the road. After the BC game Wednesday night, the Hokies will either be 16-6 (5-4 ACC) or 15-7 (4-5).

Here’s what Tech’s remaining regular season post-January schedule looks like:

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Can the Hokies finish strong (5-4, 6-3, or better) against that schedule? That could decide if this team goes to the NIT or the NCAA.