Yes, basketball also matters at Virginia Tech

Most of the ACC fans I know wish the conference could be like it was in the old days, when everybody played everybody twice during the basketball season and there was one division and not two and gas prices were about a tenth of what they are now.

I don’t. If the conference had not expanded it would not have Virginia Tech.

The school offers the ACC more than the coveted Greater Roanoke Market (GRM). It’s a great place to watch a football game, up there with Clemson and Florida State. It’s a beautiful campus, a cool little town and a place where football matters. You feel it in Blacksburg the night before the game.

The basketball also matters, as North Carolina discovered Saturday. A young team that was shaky early coalesced under Seth Greenberg, an excellent and emotional coach. It was hard not to watch the game, which was rough and thrilling and ended with a two-point Tar Heel victory.

It was also was tough not to watch Greenberg, who would get so angry after some calls that he’d stomp to the end of the bench and past it, almost reluctantly returning, as if he could watch the game no more.

Are the Hokies an NCAA tournament team? He thinks so, of course. And they might be. But everybody thinks their conference is the conference that is entitled to one more entrant, that entrant usually being the team they favor.

Two of the Hokies starters are freshmen, one a sophomore and only one a senior. So they ought to be competitive next season. Their football team ought to be pretty good, too.

Comments

[David Mooney]

Basketball matters at VA tech SOMETIMES. They will make the occasional run for championships. At Duke and Carolina it matters All THE TIME.

Tom, you would only understand the passion for the old days if you were a native. The many freezing Winter, Spring and Falls spend in Minnessota have obvioulsy caused brainb damage.

The worst thing EVER was ACC expansion. It was dictated by the networks.

So while VA Tech is a nice little story and their team has played well over the last month VA Tech will NEVER bre able to compete year end and year out with the big boys. They better hope Georgia does not win the SEC today. They are teetering on that proverbial bubble. Last thing they need is upsets in tournament championships.

[Jason Cook]

typical ACC "elitist" comment. 3 of the last 4 years, we have finished in the top 4 of the greatest basketball conference in the land - including a 3-0 spotless record against the great UNC and Duke institutions last year.

And yet David claims "VA Tech will NEVER be able to compete year end and year out with the big boys". Wow. Seriously? Wow.

Thank you, Tom, for recognizing what we've brought to the ACC since the "worst thing EVER" happened - according to David here.

[David Mooney]

Bragging about beating Duke last year is about like bragging on a date with Rosie O'Donnell. But then again, I have seen the Hokie Co-eds, I guess Rosie would be a step up in class.

[mark]

Hate to burst the Va tech bubble. 54-11 all-time against Carolina. Go ahead Hokies, we can hear you pulling hard for Clemson today. But I like your enthusiasm. You can use that for your first round home NIT game.

[Jason Cook]

i guess nobody likes the new kid who comes into their neighborhood and disrupts their good-ole boy's club. eh? oh well. we are thrilled to be here.

[mark]

Nobody likes the new kid that does not know his place. You earn respect over time, not with one win.

[Jason Cook]

how about finishing in the top 4 in 3 of 4 years? sounds like more than one win.

and you know what? we DO have a chip on our shoulder. and we DON'T "know our place". but that is they way you have to be when going up against the establishment. the notion that we should rollover for Duke and UNC is rubbish. will we always beat them? Heck no. in fact, we'll lose more than we win for sure. but we are relevant and we absolutely will not "know our place". if you want to hate us for that. be my guest.

[mark]

ONE win against Carolina

[Jason Cook]

Saturday. January 13, 2007. VT 94 - UNC 88. Blacksburg.

Tuesday. February 13, 2007. VT 81 - UNC 80. Chapel Hill.

seriously. i think that is two. call me crazy, but that is what i think.

ah-mazing. facts really don't matter to Carolina fans, do they?

congratulations on the ACC championship. that is one heck of a team. and i really mean that.

[gray]

No big dance for the Hokies....hahahaha

[Jeff]

UNC needs to only speak of basketball history for it can not compete now or even with Butch Davis in football. Both great schools in great towns but obviously they focus on different things when it comes to athletics. In other words UNC stick to basketball and VT stick to football. It is what put you on the map and it is what will keep you on the map.

[ConferenceVoice]

Look I know having lived there many years that many fans in NC believe that the ACC exists just so they can watch UNC-Duke play round ball aerobics for their enjoyment. These are the same people that think the Virginia state line is damn near in Canada and that say "oh, I didn't realize Blacksburg was only 2 1/2 hours from Charlotte". In other words they are ignorant. Not by choice really it comes from generations of improper thinking.

I thought it was great that Coach Krybaby and the Dukies were not in the finals of the tourney. Clemson was a breath of fresh air.

I was shocked to hear O'Connor tell Packer after the selection show that he had no idea how many teams from a conference got into the tourney. That they don't even use that as a basis for any tourney at large entry. OUCH!!!

OK, so the ACC teams beat up on each other all year every year only to hurt themselves in the end. I guess that it is better to beat up on itty bitty state U. by 40 than lose to Carolina by 1.

Mr. O'Connor has a tough job but he was flat-out wrong. He said after all final deliberation that VT wasn't one of the best 34 at large teams left. I will bet my last dollar on earth that there weren't 34 teams in this country let alone at-large teams that could take UNC to .08 on a neutral court and finish the year playing strong. Greenberg was exactly right about being one of the top 64 teams except too many Georgia's and Mount St. Mary's were already in. I have nothing against the little guys on the dance floor. Makes for good theatre but don't sit there and tell a VT that they aren't good enough to butt in.

So ya'll go on watching your UNC-Duke games and Andy Griffith re-runs. I'll be pulling for the VT, GT, Miami, Clemsons, et al to win against them. For the ACC to gain respect again those teams must beat the big boys. It does no good for the conference to have two super powers and the rest of the teams around or below .500.

Oh yeah...and if I was Swofford I might be giving O'Connor a call to discuss his comments to Packer. Don't you think there might be some discussions at the annual conference meetings. Yeah, me too.