Virginia Tech Is Ready to Rebound in NIT

After Missing the NCAA Tournament, Greenberg Lobbies for More Teams to Be Included

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 16 -- Deron Washington walked around the mall with his girlfriend Sunday, trying to escape the day's tension. But it was hard. Fans flocked to him, most wishing him luck for Virginia Tech to make the NCAA tournament.

Finally, when 6 p.m. arrived, Washington huddled with teammates in a luxury suite overlooking Lane Stadium. The Hokies ate pizza together, watching team after team pop up on the television screen until 65 had been named. Virginia Tech was not one of the 65.

"The room just got silent," Washington said. "They were shaken up a bit."

Virginia Tech, which earned consideration for an at-large tournament berth by winning five of its final seven games, did not make the NCAA tournament bracket unveiled Sunday. Instead, the Hokies will play in the National Invitation Tournament as a top seed, with a first-round game Wednesday against Morgan State at Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies, who finished No. 52 in the Ratings Percentage Index, became the first team from the ACC to win 10 conference games in the regular season and conference tournament combined and not make the NCAA tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The Hokies also became only the third ACC team to finish 9-7 in the league and not be included, joining Florida State in 2006 and Virginia in 2000.

NCAA tournament selection committee chairman Tom O'Connor, who is also George Mason's athletic director, offered several reasons why: The Hokies won only one game against the other teams in the field, over seventh-seeded Miami; they had four losses -- all on the road, against Richmond, Penn State, Old Dominion and North Carolina State -- to teams that ranked below 100 in the RPI; they did not win any nonconference games vs. eams in the RPI top 120; their only win in eight games against teams in the RPI top 50 came Friday against No. 34 Miami in the ACC tournament.

The RPI is a formula used by the selection committee to rank teams based in part on their winning percentage and in part on the winning percentages of their opponents.

"Statistically, when we looked at that part of our process, they didn't measure up to be one of the top 34 at-large teams in the country," O'Connor said. "They're one of the top 65 teams in the country, but our charge is to pick the top 34 teams in the country at large."

The Hokies, picked to finish 10th in the ACC during the preseason, lost out to a handful of final contenders, including No. 11 seeds Kansas State, Baylor, Kentucky and Saint Joseph's and Villanova, the only at-large selection to be seeded 12th. Villanova finished No. 51 in the RPI.

All five of Virginia Tech's successful competitors beat at least three teams in the RPI top 50.

For an offseason and possibly beyond, Virginia Tech can dwell on two moments that likely kept it out of the tournament. On March 9 at Clemson, Virginia Tech led by one point when Tigers guard Demontez Stitt made two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining following a controversial foul call.

On Saturday, the Hokies were tied with or led North Carolina for more than 38 minutes of an ACC tournament semifinal, only to lose when Tyler Hansbrough took an offensive rebound and swished a 15-foot jump shot with 0.8 of a second left.

"That's going to stick with me for a while," Washington said.

Coach Seth Greenberg earned national attention when he stated his case immediately after Saturday's loss, saying anyone who didn't believe the Hokies belonged in field was "certifiably insane." On Sunday, Greenberg did not match the fireworks from his fiery postgame news conference.

He did, however, add to the debate about how and how many teams are selected. Greenberg was miffed about the use of the RPI, claiming the committee used it to keep some teams -- like No. 83-ranked Arizona State -- out of the field because of its poor RPI, but not reward others for a strong rating.

"You can spin it anyway you want," Greenberg said. "So maybe they should just eliminate the RPI."

Greenberg also lobbied for the tournament field to be expanded.

"There are 8,000 bowl games" in college football, Greenberg said. "Why wouldn't you expand the NCAA tournament and give more young kids that opportunity for one shining moment? If student-athlete welfare is so important, it might be time to look at expanding the NCAA tournament. I think it's something that needs to at least be studied."

For now, Virginia Tech will have to settle for the NIT. Greenberg said he and a group of boosters will pay for the first 3,000 student tickets to be sold. The Hokies, for their part, insisted that the disappointment of missing the NCAA tournament will not take away from their motivation to play in the NIT.

"I really don't care about that tournament crap," guard A.D. Vassallo said Saturday. "If they pick us, good. If not, we'll just go to some other tournament in the postseason. I ain't worried about that stuff. I just want to play basketball."

Said Washington: "It's not hard to look at the NIT. I still just want to play. I'm having a great time with this team. I'm just looking forward to playing."

Before the Hokies dispersed after watching the selection show, Greenberg addressed the team. Greenberg told his team he was as proud of them then as he was the previous day, when talking about their season made him cry. He told them one day did not diminish all they had accomplished.

"Once we started walking out, the guys were upbeat," Washington said. "It looked like they were still ready to play some basketball."