Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Stock Report After Duke Loss

What do I think of the Hokies' stock after their 14-point loss to No. 4 Duke?

Jan 31, 2026; Blacksburg, Va.; Duke center Patrick Ngongba (21) drives toward the basket, defended by Virginia Tech center Christian Gurdak (32). | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech men's basketball's 72-58 loss to No. 4 Duke Saturday was deflating. However, like the Louisville defeat earlier, it is not a season-ender. The Hokies acquitted themselves well against the Blue Devils for patches of the contest and rallied back from a 22-11 deficit to cut the gap to six points with 6:10 to play.

Final. pic.twitter.com/g9EdhpjoDr

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 31, 2026

Yet, after that, the Blue Devils went on a 10-2 run to silence any Hokie hopes of an upset victory in Cassell Coliseum.

So, what do I think of the Hokies' stock? I do think that it's trending downward right now, at least by the predictive metrics. Again, though, it's by no means a season-ender, and I think the loss was a slight net negative that doesn't spell doom for Virginia Tech. The Hokies were last listed as the second team out of the NCAA Tournament field by bracketologist Joe Lunardi. On the NET rankings, Virginia Tech currently slots in at No. 55 after absorbing only its second home loss of the season.

What the Hokies cannot afford is dropping a contest it is expected to win. Contests against Florida State, Georgia Tech and Boston College all favor Virginia Tech significantly and all three are games that the Hokies cannot lose if they want to build a case for an at-large bid to March Madness.

Right now, Virginia Tech projects as the eighth seed in the ACC, set to play SMU in the first round of the ACC Tournament if the season ended today.

Though the Hokies dropped three winnable ACC contests to Wake Forest, Stanford and SMU, it has been relatively competitive in all 10 of its ACC contests and has kept the margin to a deficit of a possession or had the lead in eight of its ACC contests. Virginia Tech is in a position where it could be 20-4 if not for its miscues against the Demon Deacons, Cardinal and Mustangs. But by no means is its season over.

The Hokies have several meaningful opportunities to win on the road against NC State (Feb. 7), No. 22 Clemson (Feb. 11), Miami (Feb. 17), No. 16 North Carolina (Feb. 28) and No. 17 Virginia (March 7), while they also have a pivotal home test against Wake Forest on Feb. 21 where taking care of business is imperative.

If the Hokies can take their three heavily favored games, defeat Wake Forest and silence one of the aforementioned opponents on the road, they should be in solid position to claim their first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 campaign.

The Hokies' next game doesn't arrive until this Saturday, Feb. 7, when they take on N.C. State at 1:30 p.m. ET in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Wolfpack are firmly a Quad 1 team, sitting at No. 27 in the NET rankings as of this morning. Moreover, N.C. State has a perfect record in Quad 2, with an 8-0 mark.