Hughes: Virginia Tech's Sporadic Stretches Sank A Stellar Season

CHARLOTTE, N.C — Virginia Tech men's basketball's 2025-26 season was a vast improvement over the one before it. Yet, by way of the myriad of ways the Hokies lost in one- or two-score games, it feels, for some, like a missed opportunity.

The Hokies (19-13, 8-10 ACC) will not compete in a postseason tournament; it was announced earlier today that the program will forgo an invite to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), the secondary tournament behind the main NCAA Tournament. Squads among the first left out of the NCAA tourney set up as the NIT's top dogs, though the likelihood of a team declining an NIT bid is vastly higher to its 68-team March Madness counterpart.

An update from our program ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/toajanzBj2
— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 13, 2026

Virginia Tech was good enough to avoid the NIT and to progress to the NCAA Tournament, which would have marked its first bid to the tourney in four years and presumably (barring an ACC title run) the first at-large bid since the 2020-21 season. But it wasn't consistently good enough to do so, and its late-game lapses ultimately proved too much to overcome.

But for what it was, this season was a successful one. Virginia Tech improved with added resources. It just didn't improve enough to make the NCAAs.

Virginia Tech's season was a disappointment, yes. But that disappointment is hinged upon the promise of what the season flashed at early points. The early-season 107-101 victory over Providence, the triple-overtime 95-85 thriller over then-No. 21 UVa. and the 76-66 road upset of then-No. 20. But those glimpses of NCAA Tournament-caliber play were undone by stretches of sporadic and spotty effort.

Against league opponents (regular season and ACC Tournament), Virginia Tech fell four times by a possession, five times by two or fewer and eight by single-digits. After the majority of league games, the feeling of "could've", "should've" and "would've" loomed large.

Virginia Tech's season was not a failure — after all, it improved by six wins from its 2024-25 campaign, though its victories in league play remained at the same mark — but by the self-imposed standards placed upon it, it was a disappointment.

On Monday, head coach Mike Young remarked that his unit was an NCAA Tournament-caliber team. Perhaps it was an opining to the media to get the Hokies' name in higher regard, since at the time, it was in the first four teams out on ESPN's bracket.

Then, the Hokies lost 95-89. And as such, Virginia Tech will not be in March Madness for the fourth consecutive campaign.

As a result of the Hokies declining to participate in the NIT, the Hokies' 2025-26 season is over. The focus now turns towards the 2026-27 season, which will begin in early November. The transfer portal will open on April 7, offering the Hokies a chance to recruit new players to replace their outgoing pieces while navigating retaining existing talent.