Last fall, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was picked to finish eighth in the ACC's preseason media poll.
That's exactly where the Hokies ended up in last place.
The Hokies (18-13 overall) are tied for eighth place with Florida State (16-15 overall) with a 10-10 record.
The teams won the first round of the ACC Tournament by default and will meet in the second round at noon Wednesday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Tournament brackets and seedings were announced late Saturday night.
Virginia Tech received the No. 8 seed and Florida State received the No. 9 seed. The teams split the regular season series, necessitating a second tiebreaker. Neither team had a win against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Duke, but the Hokies had a win against No. 3 Virginia.
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The Hokies enter the tournament on a three-game winning streak.
“The last three games have been great for us because we need every bit of momentum heading into the ACC tournament,” Tech forward Tyler Nickell said after Saturday's 82-76 win over Notre Dame. “We need a little bit of energy, positive energy, team camaraderie, all of that for this tournament.”
But Hokies coach Mike Young isn't sure how important a winning streak will be heading into the conference tournament.
“I lost the last game of the regular season on Senior Night and went to win the tournament. My team won three, four in a row and got up there, but we didn’t play very well. We lost. This is a new 'world,'” Young said after Saturday's win. “Our only focus is to win one game.
“We give them [Sunday] I'm leaving to rest. Tournament play requires a lot and getting the right amount of rest leading up to a tournament is very important. ”
The streak began with a win over Wake Forest and includes last week's road win over Louisville. The game was Tech's second road win of the season.
Point guard Sean Pedulla said the Hokies are entering the tournament “pretty confident.”
“It's a three-game winning streak and we had a good road win on Tuesday. We lacked that and just had a complete game with a road win,” Pedula said after Saturday's game. “I thought we had a good game tonight as well.
“We’ve been playing some good basketball, so we’re excited to advance.”
The Hokies lost 77-74 to FSU on Jan. 6, but defeated the Seminoles 83-75 in a rematch in Blacksburg on Feb. 13. The rematch was tied at halftime, but Tech University took the lead for good early in the second half.
In the rematch, Hunter Kattore scored 20 points for Tech and Pedulla added 19 points. Lynn Kidd had 12 points and 15 rebounds. However, Kidd missed Saturday's final regular season game with a hamstring injury.
The winner of Virginia Tech vs. FSU will face No. 1 seed and No. 7 University of North Carolina (25-6, 17-3) in the quarterfinals Thursday at noon. UNC won Saturday night against Duke, clinching the ACC regular season title outright.
The Hokies defeated Notre Dame on Saturday to earn a first-round bye. Virginia Tech needed to finish as a No. 9 seed or higher to earn a first-round bye.
This is the third time in the last four tournaments that Virginia Tech has been given at least one bye. The team received a double bye in the 2021 tournament. The 2022 tournament ended with Tech receiving a bye in the first round and Tech taking home the trophy. Tech had to play in the first round last year.
Damien Sordelett contributed to this report.
mark berman (540) 981-3125
mark.berman@roanoke.com
