Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Schedule Breakdown - TSL Today, Oct 31, 2022

welcome back here on TSL today happy Halloween everybody it's a Monday from the corporate Research Center in Blacksburg Virginia I'm Giovanni heater joined once again by David Cunningham we had a little bit of fun David talking uh Virginia Tech athletes compared to horror movies let's get uh back to a serious note here let's break down this uh Virginia Tech basketball schedule coming up on the men's side of things wanna first ask you about the non-conference to easy too hard or just right when you compare it to last year how the non-conference shook out some tough losses teams like Xavier and Dayton or is this kind of just right I think it's more of the just right I think it'll be hard to tell like right now it looks like this is a this is a good non-conference schedule for Virginia Tech they don't go on the road okay Hoagies don't go on the road at all in a non-conference schedule their first road game is in December against Boston College yeah that's this their second agency game of the year that's the first time they have a true road test I like that they're going and playing Oklahoma State I think that'll be a a challenging matchup the Charleston classic I think we'll we'll give them a little a little bit of a test um I think Dayton Dayton coming to Castle Coliseum in Minnesota coming to Castle costume for AC's Big Time challenge those are probably their two biggest tests I I think it's good I'm interested to see how it plays out I think it might end up being a little too easy honestly but you also got to remember you could have said looking back on it you could have said yeah Virginia Tech's non-conference schedule last year wasn't challenging enough and Tech lost some games in that non-conference schedule that could have been better so I think for this group it's probably a a just right non-conference schedule because it's a little bit challenging you've got a neutral sight game in there a couple Charleston classic in Brooklyn against Oklahoma State but it's nothing too crazy but you've also got a lot of games at home that Dayton game I've got that one marked down I think it's going to be uh probably the most challenging game Virginia Tech plays Up Until That season opener in the ACC against North Carolina yeah no doubt about it now David uh 11 uh games in the non-conference uh this season in previous years sometimes it was 12 obviously when you add in more ACC games that's what happens do you have this team going 11-0 in the non-conference or do you think they drop a dud here or there and it turns out being like a ten and one or a nine and two I think it would probably be like a nine and two if I had to guess okay I mean uh gotta detecting you know lost to Xavier Memphis and Dayton last year right um who were all ranked at the time in the non-conference yeah and they were all good teams all games Tech could have won um but I think they're all games that Tech learned from and I think that's the most important part is you know there are so many new pieces for Mike young and and this group that they might not be perfect and I don't expect them to be perfect I don't think they will be but as long as they learn from it and continue to improve you know I think playing Minnesota or Dayton or Oklahoma State or Penn State those are going to be challenging games and you need to continue to challenge yourself to get better and you know that experience Virginia Tech had up in Brooklyn last year where they got to play Xavier in Memphis that probably helped them when they had to go back up to Brooklyn and play there you know for the ACC Championship in in March and turns out they ended up winning it so I think as long as you continue to prepare yourself for it it's a positive how do you you feel about Virginia Tech uh it's kind of interesting across the country you see Louisville's playing exhibition games Syracuse plays exhibition games there's a handful of teams across the landscape of college basketball that open up their season with exhibitions games that don't count on their schedule usually they'll play two or three against a division two level opponent just to kind of get their feet wet and hit the ground running a little bit before it starts to count do you think it's interesting that Virginia Tech does not participate in any exhibition matchups um and they just get right into things well they do play a couple secret scrimmages okay um they play Mike young even even told the media they played a couple weekends ago they played at Liberty right and then they played Richmond at home so they're they're I mean obviously you know those aren't exhibitions where fans can go and watch right um you know I don't think it's weird Virginia Tech's never really played exhibitions in the past the one that they did play was for Hurricane Relief um I actually I guess I played two they played at South Carolina one year for Hurricane Relief um and all the proceeds all the ticket proceeds went to that and then they played at Liberty once and both those were under Buzz Williams okay um Mike young has never really played um exhibitions before but but you know scrimmages against in-state teams are normal and uh so no it doesn't surprise me at all I think you know Tech probably got plenty of good stuff from playing Richmond and playing Liberty you know those are two two teams yes they're more mid Majors but you know they can they can be very challenging teams and across the country this year Richmond obviously won an NCAA Tournament game last year and Liberty has one of the best Shooters in the country and um Darius McGee I think yeah is his name um so yeah I think it's a pretty challenging um you don't want to challenge yourself too much but but you don't want to just like Glide right into the non-conference so I think they're doing it the right way so in the last handful of Seasons uh the first year that they did this thing um where they had it where you play an ACC team in your non-conference basically the early ACC game um they played Clemson who was ranked 24th in the country uh that was two years ago uh Virginia Tech won that game 66-60 that game was played in Castle Coliseum then last year on December 4th which is the same date as the UNC game this year it was a Saturday the last year uh blown out by Wake Forest 80 to 61 was the final score of that one this year you got to play who is coming in as the number one team in the country in North Carolina just kind of your opinion on the early ACC game and really pulling the toughest card and getting the hardest team would you have liked to see in Virginia Tech get some more ACC reps in before having to go against a juggernaut like the Tar Heels yeah I mean I think I mean they think that the the right answer right right I mean last year Tech played at Duke and in its second game of the ACC um and that was like right before Christmas I think like right after exams ended so right December is always tough you probably always want to play your your most challenging opponents in in January or February I guess the this is a one-time Virginia techs can play North Carolina right so this is right I think if you're Virginia Tech you're licking your chops if they're coming to Castle Coliseum and that'll be great and it's a Sunday and it'll be amped the question is will you have enough preparation you know will you will you be ready enough from all the games you played previously I think that was kind of the problem with Wake Forest last year right it's one thing when you're playing them in the first game of the season like they did with Clemson um it's completely different when you're playing them like 10 games in and you've been playing some really bad non-conference teams and then okay you throw into Memphis or Xavier my Maryland when the Wake Forest comes to town and it's like especially because that's the same week as Minnesota game AC Big Ten challenge is the Monday prior they do get a yeah like you said they do get a six day rest they get a they get a break but I'm curious to see if they're going to be ready enough just from a they're they are ready to go Toe to Toe with the number one team in the con in the country not to conference just to you know this North Carolina team is so good and I don't know we're going to see once North Carolina gets what once once North Carolina gets going how good the Tar Heels actually are but one thing I I do like is the the Big Time non-conference games early like yeah or or just conference games period um it's become more common to see Big Time conference games I think this is great I think Virginia Tech there's a chance Virginia Tech could be undefeated heading into that game right and yeah and it's a top 25 Virginia Tech team against you know hosting number one North Carolina and Castle Coliseum well that would be fantastic that that'd be great for us give us something to talk about yeah yeah part of me is also like you know I I think teams probably need a little a little bit more time before they get into the conference schedule but I do like that you know and I think there needs to be more of it more challenging non-conference games off the bat that that's a little bit different than this North Carolina game obviously because it's the ACC opener but like I would love Virginia Tech to open the season against you know I would love like the HTC Big Ten challenge to be like the season opener yeah you open against the Minnesota team give some excitement too yeah because uh you know college basketball doesn't usually have a lot of excitement on opinion usually it's you know Virginia Tech playing Delaware State you know Virginia Tech's gonna win by like 30 points only the only the few Juggernaut Blue Blood programs when they throw like Michigan State and do Kansas or Gonzaga Duke exactly you know Michigan State North Carolina yeah whatever it's it's just it's not as common anymore yeah yeah yeah I'd like to see more of that but I think now obviously for Virginia Tech you're probably sitting there going man can we play North Carolina at the start of February right right right no doubt about it all right so when you break down the ACC schedule you know not terribly hard off the bat after the North Carolina game you got Boston College Wake Forest is going to be is going to be pretty decent ball Club um then he got Clemson NC State Syracuse who's looking like they might have a tougher year you know you don't have to play a Duke until the end of January um you don't have to play Virginia until towards the end of January on January 18th uh Notre Dame's not all the way until February Notre Dame looks like they could be good this year the first time that you play Miami is January 31st I mean everything else Florida State's not till March um Duke again is until the end of February everything else kind of shakes out favorably for Virginia Tech as far as you want those best teams towards the end of the season and not have to face them early I mean you start out with Boston College weight Clemson NC State Syracuse I I think you take that yeah those are five pretty winnable games I mean I don't know if there's necessarily a stretch here where Virginia Tech maybe the very end of the season um I I there aren't too many stretches where you're if you're Virginia Tech you're looking at yourself going man like this is really tough I mean Duke Syracuse Miami and Virginia that that stretch of four games at the end of January early February that's probably that stretch and then Miami Duke Louisville and Florida State yeah four straight those are probably the the two Mains although Louisville just just lost an exhibition yesterday until D2 Lenoir yeah so yeah but but I do think you know playing on the road and the ACC is never easy um but the fact that you're starting off with Boston College Wake Forest Clemson NC State Syracuse those are five very very very winnable games now the problem is in the past Virginia Tech has kind of slipped up against those guys Virginia Tech took care of business against Syracuse last year but did not so against Boston College on the road true uh against NC State once against Clemson once against wake those are all games Virginia Tech lost or split last year um I don't think Virginia Tech won't beat any of those teams outright I guess except for Syracuse so it's not like this is a game where you're going yep virgin Tech's going to win by 15 and that's it like these are games Virginia Tech could could lose and that's kind of like playing every day in the ACC right um but it could be more difficult and to your point I think if you're Virginia Tech you're gonna take it like you you know you don't play North Carolina Duke back to back like last year um you know Virginia Tech was supposed to play at like play North Carolina I believe coming right off of uh Christmas break essentially it was supposed to be Duke Carolina Christmas break in between and then the game got moved canceled and moved due to covid and it got pushed to a Monday like that would have been a really challenging stretch I I think this is a much more casual uh not I don't know if casual is the right word but but it's gonna it's not and you're not playing any of the Blue Bloods you're not playing in Miami or Virginia a Duke a Florida State a Notre Dame I think that is good get your gets the team a chance to get its feet under him which we saw last year Virginia Tech could have had that opportunity and then covid kind of hit and they were all like shaken up for a while so I think this will be a good stretch for them last question here for you before we wrap things up David which teams in the ACC scare you the most out of this list it's it's easy to sit here and say you know the games that are going to be tough are going to be North Carolina of course both Duke games are going to be tough uh Virginia is probably going to be have a good club so I'd say this out of these teams and I think I have a top answer would probably be Notre Dame but I'm still going to give you the list out of Notre Dame Virginia Syracuse Miami and Wake Forest who's scaring you the most and I'd say probably Notre Dame I'd probably say Virginia okay I think Notre Dame's probably second most did you say Miami on there Miami's on there yeah um Virginia Miami and Notre Dame Isaiah Wong coming back Virginia Miami Notre Dame are all going to be really good yeah um you know I think those three teams and then Duke Carolina like those are going to be the top the other five teams texts competing with at the top of the ACC Virginia though like that Virginia game um it's fantastic Virginia Tech plays at Virginia on a Wednesday in January and then gets them at home on a Saturday in February that Saturday game last year it was a Monday night last year and that was the best crowd of the Season Duke on a big Monday that's gonna be great that road trip to Notre Dame though like that is that's a tough place to go play because it's not like close like going to UNC Duke wake those are close like yeah you've gotta go into Syracuse You're Gonna Fly to South Bend it's a you know Virginia Tech has had Mike young has had Mike Bray's number the past couple years Virginia Tech plays well against Notre Dame but that's it's a one-off game you know Virginia Tech only plays another name once every year usually so like Virginia Tech only got him once in the regular season last year that sparked the win streak and yeah exactly so I don't know and then you got to play Miami twice Duke twice Virginia twice Syracuse twice yeah and I'm interested to kind of see where Syracuse is but I think I think I could confidently tell you they're not gonna be that good but well and that's the thing like I I don't think I don't know Wake Forest is probably going to be around 8th 9th 10th you know I don't think it's gonna be yeah but the team we expected last year you could throw Clemson in the mix but who knows what PJ Hall's gonna gonna look like you know when he's gonna have a chance to come back Florida state is the other one I I think you might mention but the Hokies get them at home on senior night so I think it's a favorable schedule all in all it really is because there are games that you know there aren't too many tough road environments Virginia Tech guys to go to it's really just Miami Duke and Virginia maybe Notre Dame you throw Notre Dame in the mix I mean the dome's always hard to play at the weird game Tech is not good at Sears the weird thing about the Dome too especially for a team that um keys in on the three-point shot a lot with guys like Hunter Couture and so on and so forth is that people don't realize how hard it is to shoot in the dome because their teams are not used to that spacious um the depth perception is so off um because of how big it is and how far away the stands actually are compared to most Arenas so to speak so like they say when teams go to the final four they like practice like when the teams get their in venue practices that week they're like keying in on jump shots yeah so guys get used to that depth perception and it's really the same effect in the dome because you're playing in a football stadium and a lot of teams for whatever reason struggle to shoot the three in the dome including Syracuse sometimes especially like early in the season Syracuse always stinks in the domes shooting from three so just interesting yeah except Jalen Cohn did not struggle in the dome shooting for London again I mean I I think this is a Virginia Tech team that it'll be tested for sure I think we saw last year how long does it take the team to gel that's the bottom line it doesn't take does it take the start of the ACC season you know you don't play well against North Carolina maybe but you can come out on all cylinders at Boston College like that Boston College game was a game for Gene Tech should have won last year but playing in an empty Conti forum it no energy you know you gotta you gotta bring your own so that's tough I I think there are playing in the acc's never easy Virginia Tech though has a it it's a schedule that that Mike young I think will take and say you know we can we can we can work with we'll work with this I think it's especially tough to get these guys to gel too when you got four transfers yeah and probably at least two of which are going to see minutes on the court significantly like it's hard to get those guys to be put into a system that was you know won an ACC Championship in a tournament last year yeah you know what I mean and then you got Sean running the point and then you know when he's healthy again where does Rodney rice fit in and yeah I mean that's I mean every team Feast is that challenge every year but it doesn't start overnight yeah you know so all right your final thoughts before we wrap things up I mean I think for I think Virginia Tech is going to have I'm excited for the season opener I think Virginia is going to have a good year um women's side too oh my gosh I think they're gonna that's gonna get its own show yeah that'll have its own they're gonna they're gonna be so fun to watch I cannot I'm honestly like um obviously Virginia Tech men's basketball is a bigger following I think I might be more excited for women's basketball this year just because of how good they can be they're going to be really good no doubt about it all right he's David Cunningham I'm Giovanni heater we had Jack prison dying on earlier thanks so much to Kyle marshak behind the scenes producing for us today this was TSL today have a happy Halloween be safe out there tonight we'll see you again on Wednesday [Music]