Latest Bracketology Projections For Virginia Tech Shows the Importance Of Tonight's Game vs Miami

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There might not be a team in the country that needs a victory tonight more than Virginia Tech. The Hokies come into tonight's game against Miami on the outside looking in on most bracketology projections, including the latest one from ESPN's Joe Lunardi.
According to Lunardi, Virginia Tech is not one of the first teams out of the tournament, but among the next four out. After beating a ranked Clemson team last week, the Hokies moved into the last four out portion of the bracket, but then they suffered a blowout loss at the hands of Florida State, which bumped them back to the next four out.
Right now, Lunardi projects the last four teams in to be UCLA, Santa Clara, TCU, and San Diego State. The first four out are projected to be Missouri, Ohio State, New Mexico, and California.
Virginia Tech's tournament hopes are not dead yet though as they still have three more opportunities to add a quad 1 victory, beginning tonight vs Miami.
Analyzing the path ahead

The Hokies still have games against North Carolina and Virginia, as well as their game tonight. If they can win all three, without suffering another poor loss, and win a game in the ACC Tournament, the Hokies are going to have a real case to be included in the tournament.
What if they don't win out though? Would a 2-1 record in those games be good enough? They don't need to leave it to chance.
CBS Sports David Cobb named Virginia Tech one of the biggest losers of last weekend:
"Virginia Tech entered the day as one of the First Four Out of the NCAA Tournament field in CBS Sports Bracketology after its at-large hopes picked up significant steam Wednesday night in a win at Clemson. That upset victory was worth a meaty 0.78 points in WAB, which is an important metric the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses in evaluating a team's resume. But the Hokies turned around and gave it all back on Saturday -- and then some -- while getting run off their own floor late in a 92-69 loss to Florida State.
The Quad 3 defeat will be tough for the Hokies to overcome in their quest to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Big opportunities at Miami (Feb. 17), at North Carolina (Feb. 28) and at Virginia (March 7) still await, and now they loom even larger than before. After faltering at home to lower-tier ACC foe, the Hokies will likely need to win a couple of those"
Their backs are against the wall now after their loss to Florida State Saturday. How will Virginia Tech respond to the pressure?
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Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell
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