You schedule someone like UAB, Hofstra, Rider, Stony Brook, Liberty, Lipscomb or Wofford in 2016-17 instead of playing: Maine, VMI, UMES, Citadel, Charleston Southern and the Big Dance suddenly looks a lot different.

If VT would have played someone like NC A&T (who only won ONE game last year) last year instead of say, UMBC, VT would have finished with an RPI rank of 53 instead of 48.

Now, conversely, if you replace one of those terrible teams (VMI) with someone with a UMBC record (16-12), VT would've moved up to RPI rank 40, and most likely would not have received a 9 seed vs Wisconsin.

If VT could've replaced 2 games instead of one with middling RPI ranked teams (roughly .500 records), they could've easily finished #36 in RPI AHEAD of Wisconsin. How different could VT's run in the Big Dance have been if they were seeded as a 7?

These games against the dregs of the basketball world only hurt VT. There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever of playing them. And yes, intelligent bball people can predict roughly who will have an okay season, and who will win
[Post edited by hoosnowahokie at 09/11/2017 10:34AM]