Is This The Year Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Breaks Its NCAA Tournament Drought?

BLACKSBURG – For each of the last four seasons, Virginia Tech men’s basketball has found itself on the outside looking in when it comes to cracking the then-68-team field for March Madness. This year marks the eighth under head coach Mike Young, who hopes his squad will have better luck weathering injuries than it did in 2025-26.

“Let’s hope we have some good fortune and we can keep them healthy,” Young said at ACC Tipoff in October. “That was as frustrating and as debilitating as anything I’ve experienced in 25 years as a head coach, what we went through last year. We’re in good health now.”

Advertisement

Can they make it?

Guard Tyler Johnson – one of the Hokies’ five returnees from the 2025-26 squad – missed 15 games, while forward Tobi Lawal missed nine. The two were part of Virginia Tech’s opening-night starting lineup, and without them, the Hokies faltered at times. Tech lost nine games last year by single-digit margins and four by one possession.

Assuming that shifts this year with the infusion of new personnel, Virginia Tech should inherently be more lucky. But is it better? Perhaps, or perhaps not. Last year’s rendition was a squad that was able to duel with nearly any ACC opponent that came across its path, though it fell to numerous opponents via a myriad number of circumstances.

The Hokies were thrashed by Florida State 92-69 in Blacksburg, but the game was rather even in the first half – until Florida State made 78.3% of its shots in the final 20 minutes. Similar cases could be made for games against then-No. 23 Louisville and then-No. 4 Duke. Save for a four-minute stretch at the end of the first half, the Hokies held serve with the Cardinals. Tech thinned its deficit to six against Duke with 6:10 to go and with four minutes to go, it was within two scores. However, a seven-point rally by Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer led to an eventual 14-point Duke win.

Advertisement

Virginia Tech can be better this year, but one question that could persist is whether the unit…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/virginia-tech-mens-basketball-breaks-013000761.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-16 01:30:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.