you should have seen the 1973 championship. Game was on CBS nationally and was a much bigger deal then with Bobby Stevens hitting the game winner at the buzzer to beat Notre Dame in overtime. Other teams in the field included Dean Smith and the tar holes, New Mexico and others.

A lot more exclusive than today's total of 100. And someone pointed out that only Conference winners went to the NCAA back then, so for example the second best ACC team would go to the NIT.

they faced terrific competition.

But, both events are important to VT Basketball History. Which, even if the reasons might be valid, makes it sad to see the bid declined. ** Edited by HokieNL at 3/23/2026, 11:07:45 PM

A crowd going wild, and storming the court, after a NIT Quarterfinal! If you watch this, and are not inspired, call a doctor, pronto! The sheer intensity, fear, doubt, apprehensiveness, followed by relief, then unbridled madness and joy... that was an amazing scene. THAT kind of thing, is one big reason, I want to KEEP Cassell! I love the closeness to the court! Later in 1995, something else happened. The Hokies started out 0-2, then ripped off 10 straight wins, including beating Top 15 UVA (complete with J.C. Price's postgame cigar), then taking down Top 10 Texas in the Sugar Bowl, giving Virginia Tech its first end of the season Top 10 ranking of their own. I know this is the Basketball Board, but I think an exception can be made, in the spirit of things right now!

Conpletely different times

VT led that game 39-20 at half time. That thing was a foregone conclusion ... and then NMSU gradually crawled back into it, finally tying it with less than 15 seconds left to go. That's a big reason why the crowd went so insane when Travis's shot went in. Cassell lived that entire second half in a state of dread. The Hokies had only scored 22 second half points before that shot went in.

Felt like we went from our seat to the floor in 0.2 seconds. It was truly pandemonium. I went to the semi and final games at MSG. Fun to be there, but nothing like the excitement of the NMSU game.

Where was Jim Jackson ? Injured?

My father passed away in the wee morning hours of the semi final game and and the funeral was the day of the final game. It was not a good time, but the two games did take my mind off the sadness for a few hours. That was a good for me. ** Edited by Atlee Hokie at 3/23/2026, 9:16:25 PM