Mapping Out Virginia Tech's Path to the NCAA Tournament
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Virginia Tech men's basketball is at a juncture in regard to its 2025-26 NCAA Tournament hopes. The Hokies have lost four of their last five, and as a result, their March Madness hopes have seen a significant hit.
Last time out, the Hokies (17-10, 6-8 ACC) suffered a deflating 67-66 loss to Miami, where they failed to score for the final 2:34 and allowed Hurricanes guard Tre Donaldson to tally the team's final 15 points.
— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 18, 2026
But what has to go right for Virginia Tech to go to March Madness? Let's go through in quick fashion.
Remaining Regular Season Slate
The Hokies have four regular season contests remaining. Here's the list:
- vs. Wake Forest (Feb. 21)
- at North Carolina (Feb. 28)
- vs. Boston College (March 3)
- at Virginia (March 7)
Virginia Tech has two Quadrant 1 contests remaining, but both will be on the road. That renders the Hokies' remaining two contests critical, because losing those two drives a stake further into Tech's March Madness hopes.
Claiming one of the two remaining road contests is likely a necessity, though Virginia Tech is 5-34 and 15-42 on the road all-time against North Carolina and Virginia, respectively.
ACC Tournament
The ACC Tournament, which begins on March 10, is critical to Virginia Tech's postseason hopes. The reason why? The teams the Hokies will play in the second round of the tournament and the quarterfinals (if it makes it to either round) will be likely NCAA Tournament-caliber opponents or thereabouts. Essentially, the ACC Tournament offers free Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 opportunities that can boost Virginia Tech if it takes advantage of them.
Still, if the Hokies sit at 2-2 in their conference slate, a deep tournament run will be a necessity — if it's not already.
One thing I'd like to point out: as of right now, Virginia Tech may be better suited for taking a No. 10 or below seed rather than ending the day as the eighth- or ninth-seeded team in the tournament. That would avoid a quarterfinals matchup against Duke, which pulled away from the Hokies, 72-58, on Jan. 31.
Virginia Tech was competitive in spurts against the Blue Devils. But against three of the next four highest teams in the ACC — Virginia (No. 2 in ACC; 23-3, 11-2 ACC), Miami (No. 3 in ACC: 21-5, 10-3 ACC) and Clemson (No. 5 in ACC; 20-7, 10-4 ACC) — the Hokies were either victorious or in the fight until the waning minutes.
The Bubble Busters
Every year, ahead of the March Madness tournament, there's a small portion of teams in the smaller conferences that snag away NCAA Tournament bids and push the bubble line up. Virginia Tech will need some luck to go its way — along with producing stellar performances itself — when viewing how other conference champions are determined. The more things go to chalk (except for the ACC, where Virginia Tech winning more obviously helps), the better the odds appear for the Hokies.
Still, the conclusion is simple, in my opinion: Try to win three games (and don't lose a home game), make it to at least the quarterfinals in the ACC Tournament, and pray for luck on which teams win the other conference titles.
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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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