ESPN's BPI Predicts A Close 1st Round Game Between Virginia Tech Basketball and California

The 2025 ACC Tournament officially begins today and the Virginia Tech Hokies begin their journey in Charlotte with a matchup with California, who they beat in the only matchup between the two programs this season.

Tech is set to meet Cal for the third time in program history Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the Golden Bears’ first-ever ACC tournament game.

This is expected to be a tight game and Virginia Tech is being given a 43% chance to win according to ESPN's BPI (Basketball Power Index).

But what is BPI? Here is how ESPN describes it:

"The Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily."

The Hokies are 1-1 all-time against the Golden Bears after holding on for 71-68 win at Cal on Jan. 11 earlier this season. Tyler Johnson notched his first collegiate double-double in that contest with 11 points and 12 rebounds to secure the Hokies’ first of five road wins on the season. Jaydon Young chipped in a team-best 14 points, while Brandon Rechsteiner and Mylyjael Poteat added 12 apiece. Cal’s Andrej Stojakovic scored a game-high 24 points and Jeremiah Wilkinson had 14. Tech led by as many as 22 points with 15:01 remaining in the game, but Cal stormed back to eventually tie it at 58 with 6:03 to go. Before their Jan. 11 meeting, the two sides last played on Nov. 30, 1991 in the Central Fidelity Tournament in Richmond, Va., where Cal prevailed 68-59.

Tech committed 23 turnovers at No. 11 Clemson On Saturday, its the third game of 20-plus turnovers on the season.

“That’s been a sore spot for my team all year,” Mike Young said afterward. “We don’t handle the ball worth a damn, we don’t pass very well, and if you don’t take care of the ball – we had 14 turnovers at the half – just unconscionable numbers for Virginia Tech team. That’s kept me up at night.”

The Hokies have gotten extraordinary contributions from their reserves this season. They average 26.7 bench points per game. Tech has combined for 185 bench points in its last five games. VT is on pace to record its best bench points average since 2016-17 (28.6).

The Hokies enter as the No. 10 seed for the third time in their ACC tournament history. The last time Tech was the 10th seed came in 2012 when the tournament was in Atlanta, Georgia and Seth Greenberg was Tech’s head coach. The Hokies are 1-2 as the No. 10 seed.

Tech is 15-19 all-time in its 34 conference tournament games.The Hokies are 5-4 in first round games with their last appearance coming in 2023 – a 67-64 win over Notre Dame. With a win Tuesday, Mike Young would tie Seth Greenberg for the most ACC tournament wins by a VT head coach in program history.