Virginia Tech is off to a 4-0 start in men’s basketball, and they will likely move up at least three spots from their current No. 16 ranking when the new polls are released.  That will probably be at the expense of Syracuse, Villanova and Oregon.  The Orange and Wildcats each lost twice this past week, while the Ducks also dropped a game to Iowa.

But of course, the main reason for Hokies’ ascent is their own play.  They won the Charleston Classic over the weekend against a pretty difficult field, and they beat No. 23 Purdue in the finals.  The Boilermakers were led by Preseason All-Big Ten Player of the Year Carsen Edwards, but that didn’t stop the Hokies from overcoming a 12-point deficit and picking up their first tournament win since the Holiday Classic in 2007-8.

But that Holiday Classic featured an easy win over Hofstra, and an ugly win 54-48 win over a down St. John’s program, not a well-played game against a top 25 team.  This one means a lot more.

I was really glad to win the tournament for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, I thought the competition was good, and that the Hokies would probably have to beat Purdue to win it.  That’s a resume-building game, if you win it.  Plus, Tech gets to take a trophy back to Blacksburg.  Winning a tournament is a big deal to me.  Winning the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament probably isn’t in the cards, but I think it’s good for the players to have tangible evidence that their hard work pays off.  They’ll have that tangible evidence every time they look at that trophy.

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