Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Enters Battle 4 Atlantis On A Roll

The Hokies are off to a hot 5-0 start. Can they keep it going in the Bahamas?

Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech men's basketball remains undefeated through almost a month of competition. Although it's came close, trailing in the second half against Charlotte, to denting that perfect streak, the Hokies are still onto their Feast Week tournament with an unblemished record.

Now, it awaits its toughest challenge to date. The Hokies are in the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, a three-day event spanning from tonight, Nov. 26 to Saturday, Nov. 28. The tournament is a eight-team, double-elimination bracket, meaning that all teams will play a trio of contests, regardless of the outcomes of each game.

Prepared for battle 😤

🆚 Colorado State
🕔 5 p.m. ET
📺 ESPNU
➡️ https://t.co/BbETcO3VaM pic.twitter.com/uNtFtX3g3H

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 26, 2025

Virginia Tech's first opponent is already confirmed: Colorado State. However, its second and third are unknown as of yet. Should Tech claim the victory, it will play the winner of Wichita State vs. Saint Mary's. If it loses, then it plays the loser of that affair. Ahead of the contest, I made an Excel sheet detailing Tech's scores on Ken Pomeroy's and Bart Torvik's metrics.

Here's a day-of color-graded look at how the #Hokies fare on KenPom, BartTorvik vs. their previous foes and who they will/could face at Battle 4 Atlantis. Stats were compiled this morning. pic.twitter.com/NYKPIluStj

— Thomas Hughes (@thomashughes_05) November 26, 2025

Virginia Tech's game against Colorado State (No. 78 KenPom overall, No. 87 BartTorvik overall) marks its second-strongest opponent on both KenPom and BartTorvik, only behind Providence (No. 59 and No. 70, respectively).

As suspected, tempo plays a large role in the Hokies' ability to get their offense going. Tech's three strongest performances were against Charleston Southern (No. 81 tempo), Providence (No. 25 tempo) and Saint Joseph's (No. 98 tempo) — all top-100 teams in tempo. Tech won those games by a combined 72 points (24 points per game). In contrast, Charlotte and Bryant rank No. 363 (third-to-last in Division I) and No. 227, respectively in tempo. The Hokies won their pair of games against the 49ers (3-3) and the Bulldogs (1-5) by a combined 25 points (12.5 points per game).

Unofficially, Colorado State (5-1) would fall into Quad 2 when using the KenPom and BartTorvik metrics, factoring in that this is a neutral-site game. While the NET rankings haven’t been released yet, the analysis from both the KenPom and BartTorvik sites leads to the same conclusion: Colorado State is the second-strongest opponent the Hokies have faced (or will face tonight) thus far, and they are classified a Quad 2 team in a neutral setting in both metrics. Attached below is an explanation on how the NET rankings and quadrant system work.

An explanation on the NCAA's site of how the quadrant system works.

Colorado State's tempo ranks at No. 355, the 11th-lowest total in the nation. The only other team Tech has played whose tempo was outside the top-300 was Charlotte, who came up short to the Hokies in an eight-point loss.

What comes in Tech's favor is the quality of opponent that the Rams have been beating: as of Wednesday morning, Colorado State's strongest foe it has faced is Incarnate Word (No. 184 in BartTorvik). Four of Colorado State's five opponents are designated as Quad 4 teams and one, Loyola Chicago, is designated as a Quad 3 team.

Meanwhile, Tech has played three Quad 4 teams (Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Bryant), one Quad 3 team (Saint Joseph's) and one Quad 2 team (Providence). Though Colorado State has tallied the highest efficient field goal percentage on offense (63.8%) in the country according to Torvik's metrics, the fourth-highest three-point shooting mark (44.9%) and the highest free throw shooting percentage (85.6%), the level of competition it's previously faced leads to a question mark regarding how the Rams' shooting will translate against its first big test: Virginia Tech.

Another note to watch: how will Brandon Rechsteiner perform against his former team? Rechsteiner has been more of a spot shooter this season, averaging 13.2 points per game and taking 30 of his 41 shots (73.2%) this year from deep. He's been solid thus far, sporting a 53.7% clip from the field, including a 50% mark from three. Rechsteiner has scored at least eight points in all five contests and should do so again vs. the Hokies.

Tech isn't overly worried, however. For several of the players I spoke to, it remains business-as-usual.

"I wouldn't really say I looked at any tape," said guard Ben Hammond. "I practiced against him 1000 times last year. So, I mean, I think I know his game pretty well."

In terms of preparation, Hammond remarked that the team would be in the film the night after a game for this tournament, talking about the next team.

"Most of us are used to it, playing AAU ball, having three games in three days," Hammond said.

Now for my two cents: here's my final score prediction.

I think that Colorado State's grind-it-out tempo and its stellar shooting from beyond the arc has the possibility to create problems for the Hokies and force them to operate more in the halfcourt; however, I believe that Virginia Tech possesses enough top-to-bottom depth, plus an advantage in its familiarity with Rechsteiner to put this one away.

Virginia Tech's contest against the Rams kicks off tonight at 5 p.m. ET; viewing for the contest is available on ESPNU.