I understand that the selection process for the NCAA is very tedious and intricate, but now I’m getting the feeling it’s a tad malicious. The Hokies of Virginia Tech may have had a weak schedule this past basketball season, but they certainly took care of business when they needed to.

Seth Greenberg’s squad thought coming into Selection Sunday that their name was going to be called as a nine-seed in the West bracket. Still not being invited to the Big Dance, it would be the seven-seed in the East that would leave the Hokies to prepare for a strong Missouri Tigers’ team. When that didn’t happen they were expecting their school’s name to be called as a weaker eight-seed in the East.

Nope.

It was a phone call from the National Invitational Tournament that painted the picture for the Hokies’ March. On Sunday night, a very disappointed Seth Greenberg spoke to Andy Katz of ESPN about his frustration of his team not making the tournament. In addition, he showed compassion for his young men that worked so hard all year.

Let’s take a look at why Virginia Tech didn’t make the tournament:

When it comes time to be compared to others, a team’s strength-of-schedule better be a little stronger than 339. And by a little, I mean a lot stronger. Such loses to the Boston College Golden Eagles, the Miami Hurricanes twice and the University of North Carolina don’t help your chances of making the elite field of 65 either. However, this was the perfect way to land a number-one seed and host a tier of the NIT.

Now after the following factors, try and venture a guess as to how the Hokies won’t be around this March:

If a team finishes the season 23-8 overall and third in the ACC, they should be in the tournament. With a 10-6 in-conference record, the Hokies were ahead of such bubble teams like the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, the Clemson Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles. It’s then strange to discover that all four of those teams I just mentioned are playing for a national championship this March and Virginia Tech is not. Let’s take a look at something other than records. Virginia Tech beat Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Clemson head-to-head and still were overlooked on Selection Sunday.

On a more positive note, the Hokies host their tier of the NIT and have a first round match-up against the Quinnipiac Bobcats this Wednesday, March 17th, at 7 p.m. at the Cassell Colosseum. Also In this group of eight teams are the Connecticut Huskies and the Rhode Island Rams. If Virginia Tech can get passed their opening round game, they will certainly have their hands full the rest of the way to become NIT champions.

I hate going back to it, but I have to ask again. How does a team finish third in the ACC, beat the fourth, fifth, and sixth placed teams in their conference, have a better overall record than those teams and still not make the tournament when these others teams did?

Like the amounts of licks to the center of a Tootsie-Pop, I guess the world may never know.

The first few weeks of the college basketball season have come and gone and a lot has been learned from watching these games. Check it out:

1.) The University of North Carolina (12-7) isn’t worthy of even being mentioned for the national championship. You would imagine that a team would want to defend their national championship, right? Not in UNC’s case. Losing their last three games, and four of their last five, The Tar heels have done one thing well all season: turn the ball over (a lot).

2.) Games have been much closer than they should be. St. Johns (12-7) last night had a lead going into half-time against Villanova (18-1). Nova rightfully thwarted St. John’s in the second half, but why was it even this close to begin with? Number-five Syracuse (19-1) squeezed out a tight one with a Marquette (11-8) team who has looked less than stellar all year. This next one is probably my favorite. Michigan State (17-3) beats Minnesota (12-7) by a free-throw. Yes, giving credit where credit is due, State was losing by eight at half-time and managed to rally back. Although these close games make for great television, it makes me wonder if true dominance has left the game.

3.) Being King-of-the-Hill is hard. Ten weeks into the season, we’ve had two different number-one ranked teams and it’ll be three on Monday morning. Kansas (18-1) road the momentum longest spending a solid eight weeks on top, but their loss to Tennessee (15-3) sent them down two spots and out the target on Texas’ (17-2) back. They didn’t fair as well as Kansas losing their number-one ranking after just two weeks. A few hours from now Kentucky (19-0), the sole undefeated team, will get their first shot at sitting on the throne.

4.) The ACC as a whole hasn’t been up to its normal excellence. Last week I wrote an article about each team from the ACC and within that week, the situation has become more interesting. If I told you that Maryland (13-5) was on top of the ACC and that UNC was second from the bottom, I wouldn’t believe me either. Maybe it’s more mind blowing that the Cavaliers of Virginia (12-5) have beaten a Georgia Tech (14-4) team that has steamrolled the likes of Duke (16-3) and Clemson (15-5) this season. What was thought to be a typical UNC-Duke year has become more atypical then years passed.

5.) The most important thing we’ve learned from this season: There’s a reason we play the game.

Despite everything that we have learned from this season, questions are still being raised. Will UNC get back to contending form? Will the top-25 ever look relatively similar again two weeks in a row? But what I’m still trying to figure out is the following:

Why hasn’t Kentucky been the number one seed yet?

I’ll start by defending the rankings. There was multiple undefeated teams like Texas, Kansas, Syracuse and Villanova. There was also many strong one loss teams like Michigan State, Tennessee and Duke. Also, maybe playing in the SEC isn’t the best conference to play for, but when a team has a “W19″ in their current streak column, it means something.

Now I’ll talk about why the Cats should have been placed on top since the season’s beginning. Kentucky has the best player in the nation in John Wall taking the ball up court. What makes this team special is that Wall also averages 6.7 assists per game. Forward DeMarcus Cousins averages a smooth 15.4 ppg and 9.5 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe and Patrick Patterson make it four Wildcats with an average of 10 points or more. The Wildcats make it almost impossible to stop them averaging 83.2 ppg. More impressive is the mere 65.6 points against per game. That has to be intimidating walking into Rupp Arena knowing that in 19 games, the Wildcats have won by a 17.6 points average. However, all the great game planning requires great coaching.

John Calipari is truly defining himself as the best active coach in college basketball. He has a 416-137 overall record and after all the doubt about not being able to coach outside Conference USA, he’s just led the Wildcats to the number one spot overall in 2010. Yes, his NBA stint with the New Jersey Nets was as bad as dropping a full carton of eggs, but this guy knows how to motivate young players. Derreck Rose, Tyreke Evans and now John Wall are three “one-and-done” players to have been coached by Calipari and unlikely than any other situation, they play with pride for the one season. The one thing that I love about Calipari is that his team never plays to the level of their opponent. When they’re supposed to win big, they beat Hartford (5-15) by 43. When faced with SEC rival Arkansas (8-1), Kentucky made it look like a close game winning by 31.

It’s those big games that define a team as the number-one overall. They won 64-61 over a hot UCONN (13-6) team and going into The Swamp to play the Florida Gators (14-5) and going home a 12 point winner is rather defining. This team can flat out play. If you’re still not convinced that the Kentucky Wildcats should be number one, you should probably re-evaluate the way you watch the game.

If I were asked, I’d say their best chance to lose the rest of the season is February 27th when they travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. Who knows, maybe a week earlier on February 20th, the Vanderbilt Commodores (15-3) can surprise the Cats in Nashville. But like I just said:

It’s only a chance.

When men’s NCAA Division One Basketball is brought up in conversation, there are always the obvious schools that are mentioned. Duke, North Carolina, UCLA of old and Kentucky. When the topic of strongest conference is discussed, the ACC is a shoe-in for the nations best.

Over the last decade, the ACC has won four of the ten total Men’s Division One National Championships. Duke and Maryland once each and North Carolina twice have been the representation for the ACC this decade. Below is a short breakdown of how each ACC school prepares to start the new decade off on the right foot.

North Carolina (12-6, 1-2)- After starting the season 8-2, the Tar Heels find themselves 12-6 and a scarce 2-4 against AP Top 25 teams. Turnovers have been the downfall of Roy Williams’ squad. Falling all the way to number 23 in the nation, the Tar Heels find themselves with 13 straight ACC games left on their schedule which they are 1-2 against already. Hopefully the Tar Heels can turn around this rut and at least make good conversation about defending their 2009 title.

Duke (15-2, 3-1)- Standing high and mighty at number six in the nation, the Blue Devils haven’t had to much to complain about. Other than being notorious for collapsing when it matters, Coach K and his Dukies are 3-1 in the ACC and only find themselves a half game back of the University of Virginia. Averaging close to 86 points a game has to be something the Blue Devils like coming down the stretch. It’s up to the Cameron Crazies to help their Blue Devils win a big one when it matters most, March.

North Carolina State (12-6, 1-3)- The highlight of the season for the NC State Wolfpack has to be beating a ranked Florida State team on the road. At 2.5 games back in the conference, you cannot count out the Wolfpack to make a late season run, but hosting Duke, then going to Maryland only to come back home and play UNC isn’t what most players would like to plan for. Expect North Carolina State to finish strong, but still towards the bottom of the ACC.

Virginia Tech (14-3, 1-2)- Seth Greenburg has been making progress with the Hokies over the last few years. Impressively 14-3 this season and being a school mentioned for the top 25, this year’s Hokies aren’t going down without a fight. Beating such teams as Miami, Seton Hall and Penn State are notable wins that vouch for their long desired top-25 rank. Expect an upset from the Hokies come March time.

Miami (Fl) ((15-3, 1-3))- Winning 15 of their first 16, the Hurricanes have lost their last two. Yes, both loses were to ACC foes, but Miami still has their eyes set on a first ACC title. Miami hopes to beat last place Boston College at home after losing to them on the road earlier this season. The Hurricanes will again the crack the top-25, but it’s unlikely we will see them in the field of 65.

University of Virginia (12-4, 3-0)- The Cavaliers are the current school sitting on top of the ACC at a solid (3-0). However, it’s far from safe up there with Duke only a half-game out. The Cavs have won their last nine straight including big wins over Miami, Georgia Tech and NC State. Although it is still early, this year’s UVA squad looks like they might give UNC and Duke a run for their ACC money.

Clemson (15-3, 3-1)- Posting a 15-3 overall record so far this year, the 16th ranked Tigers are also just a half-game back in the conference. Recently coming off a narrow win against NC State and a monster 19 point win over UNC, the Clemson Tigers are for real. Clemson will easily be around come March, but this doesn’t come as a surprise to basketball fans nation wide.

Boston College (10-8, 1-3)- Despite being an ACC worst 1-3 in conference, the Eagles are still above .500 at 10-8. Losing their last three, the future does not look any brighter. The U, then the Hokies and finally Clemson round out the next three games for the struggling Eagles. Obviously we will not see a March appearance, but a winning record is still an option.

Georgia Tech (13-4, 2-2)- In my eyes, the Yellow Jackets are the most fun team to watch. Ranked 18th in the nation, Georgia Tech is constantly playing to the level of their opponent. Even though this is not a winning plan, it’s fun to watch close games. Their next game is against Clemson which is sure to be a good conference match-up. Keep your eyes out for the game on January 19th at 7:00 p.m.

Maryland (11-5, 2-1)- Only one game back in the ACC, the Terrapins of Maryland are still trying to get back to their 2002 National Championship ability. Only five players on the roster average 15+ minutes for Maryland this year. They’re 11-5 overall now, but eventually these starters will not be able to get it done day in and day out.

Wake Forest (12-4, 2-2)- The Demon Deacons are an impressive 12-4 so far this season, but the story has been there lack of ability to get it done in big road games. Yes, going into Duke, Miami and Purdue is difficult, but William and Mary? Like every season, Wake will figure their style out and start playing good basketball. I’d love to see this team play down the stretch come Madness time.

Florida State (14-4, 2-2)- The Seminoles have a serious love-hate relationship about being ranked. Bouncing in and out of the top 25, Florida State stands at a strong 14-4 record in 2010. Playing Georgia Tech in their next match-up will be a true test of character for the boys from Tallahassee. Being able to defend big time scorers is a key to the Seminoles game only allowing an average 59.8 point-against to lead the ACC.

Each team in the ACC has their upsides and their downsides, but every team in the conference has something in common; all 12 teams currently stand with a winning record to show for their hard work. Also something that needs to be noted is that each ACC team has a win in-conference showing the level of competitiveness up and down the East Coast.

It may not be an ACC team hoisting the trophy at the end of March this year. Something I can assure you of is that it will be an ACC team that ruins your bracket and makes you rethink your entire game plan for next year.

On Tuesday night, all eyes will be on the Orange Bowl, as the Iowa Hawkeyes will take on the Yellow Jackets from Georgia Tech.  Iowa, who saw their dreams of a Big Ten Championship and trip to the Rose Bowl end at the hands of Rose Bowl Champs, Ohio State, will try to cap off a great season in Miami.

Standing in their way will be Paul Johnson’s triple option attack that has given college football all it can handle since he took over in 2008.  The Jackets will look to continue their new version of college football’s most traditional offensive attack en route to a twelve win season.

College FootBlog will provide a breakdown of each team’s strengths and areas for concern, we will analyze some of the match ups in the upcoming game, and we will give our prediction of the outcome of this BCS contest.

Strengths:  When head coach Paul Johnson announced that he planned on bringing his triple option offense from Navy to Georgia Tech, many (including College FootBlog) thought he would not last long before being run out of Atlanta. 

Instead, his Yellow Jackets have dominated the ground game, and this year, GT ranks second nationally in rushing yards per game with just over 307 ypg.  Jonathan Dwyer leads the Jackets with just under 1350 yards, and he is averaging just over six yards per carry.  

Quarterback Josh Nesbitt is equally dangerous running the football, rushing for 18 touchdowns this season, and he is only nine yards away from breaking the 1,000-yard mark this season. 

Key Concerns:  As great as GT runs the ball, their defense has been very inept at stopping, or even slowing down, opposing running backs.  The Yellow Jackets have given up over 150 yards rushing per game. 

They will have to do a much better job on Tuesday if they have any aspirations of beating an Iowa team that depends on their ground game as well.  

Iowa 

Strengths:  Make no mistake about it, Iowa has won their games because of a dominant defense.  The Hawkeyes have the nation’s 11th best total defense.  In fact, ‘Hawks’ dominant “D” held their opponents to 17 points or fewer in eight of their twelve games this season. 

DE Adrian Clayborn leads Iowa's dominant front four (google images)

Like all great defenses, it has to start with the front four.  Led by junior DE Adrian Clayborn, Iowa’s defensive front as equally good at defending the run and pass.  Just as disruptive is the linebacker corps, which is anchored by junior Jeremiha Hunter. Key Concerns:  The play of quarterback Ricky Stanzi has been great at times, but downright dismal at others.  This inconsistency could really hurt, and can, and has, at times this season, made Iowa offense very one-dimensional. 

After suffering a severe high ankle sprain against Northwestern, Stanzi had a minor surgery, and it appears that he will be 100%.  He will have to limit the turnovers if he wants to keep his team in the game–Stanzi has 15 TD’s, but 14 picks this season. 

Georgia Tech Offense vs. Iowa Defense 

As talented as Iowa’s defense is against the run, they have not seen an offense like Georgia Tech’s–not for several years.  The only team to slow down GT’s running game in the last two seasons was the Miami Hurricanes early in the season, when they held the Jackets to 95 yards on the ground. 

Paul Johnson added a few new wrinkles to his option attack and got his team right back on track.  Iowa’s hard-nosed defense should contain the Jackets better than most, but it is usually only a matter of time before Dwyer, Nesbitt or one of the many other dangerous weapons in the GT backfield breaks loose for a couple huge gains.  EDGE:  Georgia Tech 

Iowa Offense vs. Georgia Tech Defense 

Although Ricky Stanzi has been rather erratic this season, the Iowa running game has been very solid.  After losing Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Shonn Green to the NFL Draft last season, many wondered who would fill the void.  The tandem of Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher has amassed over 1,300 yards this season. 

As we mentioned, the Yellow Jackets have had their issues with the running game this season.  Look for the Hawkeyes to get in a lot of third down and manageable situations, which should take some pressure off Stanzi and the passing game.  EDGE:  Iowa 

Special Teams 

Iowa kicker Daniel Murray and punter Ryan Donahue were both honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media.  Georgia Tech’s kicker, Scott Blair has put up solid numbers as well, but his five missed field goals this year show a little less consistency than Iowa’s Murray. 

Each team has utilized multiple players in the return game, but for both teams, the offenses are built for grinding it out and establishing field position by grinding it out and punting when necessary. 

Prediction 

As solid as Iowa’s defense is and has been all season, look for Tuesday’s game against Georgia Tech to be the fifth game this season that the Hawkeyes surrender more than 17 points.  The Yellow Jackets have scored 30 or more points in nine of their thirteen games this season.  Iowa will contain Dwyer and Nesbitt for a while, but look for one of those two great runners to open up a few big runs, at least by the end of the first half. 

Iowa’s ground game will keep them in this football game, as it should have some significant success against Tech’s struggling rush defense.  However, even though the Hawkeyes are more than capable of playing from behind, if Georgia Tech can get to 28 points, Iowa will have to turn to its erratic passing game, and that could prove to be the difference.  Score Prediction:  Georgia Tech wins 31-27