Only obtained with money and luck. You have to fill your schedule with hopefully 56 games. NO RANKED TIER ONE teams, other than an occasional ACC opponent, are coming to TSP, so the Hokies have to travel to hostile fields to play the teams that WILL help our SOS. So let’s fly to Texas for two games. Let’s fly to Nebraska for two games, let’s fly to Arkansas for two games. How about going to Garmin or Nutter? We’re out a few hundred grand or more there with no promise of a single victory. Then let’s bus to Alabama, Auburn, Georgia,USC and anywhere else to pick up a game or two against some team ‘better’ than us. Still coming up short and that’s if we have a winning record against them. Hokie softballl SOS is dragged down not only by the ACC bottom feeders but also by weak instate ‘rivals’ and surrounding state weak teams. No team north of us is better so can’t go north. Can’t go east nobody there. Pretty much a victim of geography. There is no margin for error like $EC teams have. Alabama can lose to Samford (RPI around 130) not a problem. Hokies lose to Mich state. Liberty….big problem. You can’t make the loss up by playing OK or Texas the following week , you have to play Clemson or UVA instead and those wins don’t help . The SOS ‘riddle’ will always be nearly unsolvable. Unless you go something like 50-6 . Even then, still on the ‘bubble’ . FWIW I like the ‘pattern’ of being in the regional Champ game, I like the pattern of being ranked EVERY year, I like the pattern of 40 plus wins, I like the pattern of having an exciting team to root for. That pattern comes together EVERY year, all accomplished, I assume, without a single player we field that is coveted by ‘upper echelon’ teams. Could Hokie football and basketball study our player development and success formula and possibly learn from that ? I guess anything is possible….