Outside of the Bubble...Again

My students don't understand why I'm so bitter about my Hokies being left out of the NCAA tournament, but I wouldn't expect them to. Carolina and Duke fans haven't been through what Hokie fans have been through the last four years.

Honestly, in '08 and '09, I knew we were on the outside of the bubble. I was crossing my fingers hoping we'd get in, but wasn't surprised when we were relegated to the NIT. However, the last two years have me scratching my head.

Last year, we went 10-6 in conference. The pundits all said that beating GT in Atlanta sealed the deal...but, we were left out. We took some deserved heat for our weak out-of-conference schedule, and a one-and-done in the ACC Tournament supposedly knocked us off the bubble.

Another point the selection committee held against us last year was our weak non-conference schedule. In years past, losing to really bad teams had cost us a bid; in 2010, we beat all the bad teams but I guess those teams were just...too bad.

So, this year we upgraded the conference schedule, playing Kansas St., Penn St., UNLV and Oklahoma St., in addition to playing Purdue in the ACC-Big 10 challenge. And we went 9-7 in the ACC. And we beat #1 Duke. And we won two games in the ACC tournament.

My main frustration is that we seem to be aiming at a target that moves every year. One year, RPI is emphasized. The next year, it's road wins. Then it's the schedule. I thought I was the only one that thought this when it first came into my mind, but the BCS is a fairer system than what college basketball foists on us.