How Can Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Still Make The 2026 NCAA Tournament?
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Seven games separate Virginia Tech men's basketball from the conclusion of its 2025-26 regular season. At the time of writing, the Hokies sit on the precipice of making the NCAA Tournament, with their hopes hinging on game-to-game outcomes.
Virginia Tech currently sits as the No. 72 seed in bracketologist Joe Lunardi's provisional bracket, currently the fourth team out of the NCAA Tournament as Lunardi's March Madness bracket stands. Still, there's time to right the ship.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 8, 2026
The Hokies have three home games remaining on their slate and four road tests. In the next 10 days, Virginia Tech has three contests: at Clemson (Feb. 11), vs. Florida State (Feb. 14) and at Miami (Feb. 17). Each matchup takes on its own set of stakes. Miami profiles as the most-likely win for the Hokies on their road slate, while the Tigers would grant Tech a Quad 1-A victory if it can pull it off. At home, the Seminoles are an opponent that the Hokies can't lose to and one where Tech will need to protect its resume from taking a deflating hit in the event of a loss.
The first step for Virginia Tech to ensure an NCAA Tournament bid is to take care of business at home. If it loses to any of the three opponents at home — Florida State (Feb. 14), Wake Forest (Feb. 21) and Boston College (March 3) — its road to March Madness becomes levels harder and subsequently relies on a deep run in this year's ACC Tournament, which kicks off on March 10 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In the event that Virginia Tech draws a 4-3 record — claiming its three home contests and snagging a win vs. either Clemson or Miami on the road — I think that it stands in good position to make it into the 68-team March Madness field if it can have a good showing. By that, I believe that it needs to make it to the quarterfinals and at minimum, contend in the quarterfinal game, even if it ends up being a loss.
Virginia Tech's best path could come as the No. 7, 10 or 11 seed since it would avoid Duke and could end up playing Virginia if the Cavaliers end up as a quarterfinal matchup. Right now, if the remainder of the season proceeded as chalk, the Hokies would end up as the 11-seed, below Stanford due to head-to-head. That would result in a first-round matchup vs. Notre Dame, a second-round matchup against SMU (if win) and a quarterfinal showdown with Clemson (if win), per the site NotNothing.net.
Virginia Tech's next challenge is against Clemson on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. ET. The contest will be carried on the ACC Network.
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Thomas is a sophomore at Virginia Tech majoring in multimedia journalism with a minor in creative writing. He currently works with Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech's student-run newspaper, as a staff writer for its sports section. In addition, he also writes for 3304 Sports as a staff writer and on-air talent, as well as Aspiring Journalists at Virginia Tech as a curator. You can find him on X: @thomashughes_05.
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