Another week of college basketball is in the books, and Virginia Tech comes in ranked No. 7 in the Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the AP Poll.
The Hokies were ranked as high as No. 8 nationally in the AP Poll in the winter of 1996, meaning their current ranking of No. 7 in the Coaches Poll is the highest in school history. Their No. 9 ranking in the AP Poll is the second-highest AP Poll ranking in school history.
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Virginia Tech knocked off Notre Dame (81-66) and Boston College (77-66) in Cassell Coliseum this past week, while several teams ranked ahead of them – Florida State, Kansas and Nevada were all defeated. AP Poll voters only pushed Tech ahead of Florida State and Nevada, and actually pushed Texas Tech ahead of the Hokies thanks to their wins over Kansas State and West Virginia. However, the coaches kept the Red Raiders behind Virginia Tech, and bumped the Hokies up over Kansas, Nevada and Florida State.
However, the AP Poll and Coaches Poll are merely semantics. The NCAA Tournament Committee will use the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) Rankings to help them make their selections and seedings in March. The NET replaced the RPI in the offseason, and though the formula has not been released, some of the important factors are strength of schedule, margin of victory (up to 10 points), offensive and defensive efficiency, and more.
The Hokies rank No. 2 in offensive efficiency and No. 8 in defensive efficiency, which is giving their NET ranking a major boost. As of now, the Hokies rank No. 9 in the NET. Here’s how the entire ACC stacks up in the NET…
No. 1 UVA
No. 2 Duke
No. 9 Virginia Tech
No. 10 NC State
No. 11 UNC
No. 25 Florida State
No. 27 Louisville
No. 50 Clemson
No. 55 Syracuse
No. 83 Notre Dame
No. 88 Miami
No. 95 Pitt
No. 100 Georgia Tech
No. 134 Boston College
NO. 182 Wake Forest
Virginia Tech returns to action this Wednesday when they travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Tipoff is scheduled for 7pm, and the game will be televised by RSN. Check your local listings.