Virginia Tech one of four from Commonwealth, five from ACC, invited to Big Dance

ACC Tournament champ Virginia Tech is in the NCAA Tournament field as the #11 seed in the East Region, suggesting that the Hokies would not be in the field if they hadn’t beaten Duke last night.

Tech (23-12) is one of five ACC teams getting an invite to the Big Dance, along with Duke (28-6), the #2 seed in the West, North Carolina (24-9), the #8 seed in the East, Miami (23-10), the #10 seed in the Midwest, and Notre Dame (22-10), which will play Rutgers (19-13) in a matchup of #11 seeds in the First Four in the West.

Notably, Wake Forest (23-9) was left out of the tourney field, not even making the First Four Out list released by the selection committee.

Virginia Tech will face #6 seed Texas (21-11) on Friday. Duke gets Cal State Fullerton (21-10), also on Friday.

North Carolina will face Marquette (19-12) on Thursday. Miami will get Southern Cal (26-7) on Friday.

The Notre Dame-Rutgers game is set for Wednesday night.

Other Virginia teams in the field

Longwood (26-6), the champs of the Big South, are a #14 seed in the South Region, and will face #3 seed Tennessee (26-7) on Thursday.

Norfolk State (24-6), the champs of the MEAC, are a #16 seed in the East, and will face top-seeded Baylor (26-6) on Thursday.

Richmond (23-12), the champs of the A-10, are a #12 seed in the Midwest, and will face #5 seed Iowa (26-9) on Thursday.

Outside looking in

VCU (21-9) and Virginia (19-13) each made late-season runs at at-large bids, but both had their runs end in their conference tournament quarterfinals this week.

VCU was upset by Richmond on the Spiders’ improbable run at the A-10 Tournament title. Virginia was blasted by North Carolina in the ACC quarterfinals.

Wake Forest seemed a near-lock after winning 23 games and finishing fifth in the ACC regular season, but the Demon Deacons lost to sub-.500 Boston College, 82-77, in OT in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, throwing them back in the direction of the bubble.

VCU, Virginia and Wake Forests are all likely headed to the NIT.

Story by Chris Graham