Lunardi's bracket updated today

[Coach34]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Last Four in:

Louisville- 40
USC- 27
Baylor- 63
Texas- 54

Last Four Out:

Syracuse- 46
UCLA- 52
Nebraska- 57
State- 62

Next Four Out:

Washington- 51
Boise State- 45
Utah- 55
Notre Dame- 68

[preachermatt83]

We have to win tomorrow night and I just don't think we can beat Tennessee

[Coach34]

Louisville is 9-7 in conference and 8th currently
Baylor is 7-9 and tied for 7th
Texas is 7-9 and tied for 7th
USC is 12-5 and 2nd in the Pac-12

UCLA is 4th at 10-7
Syracuse is 10th in the ACC at 7-9
Nebraska is 13-5 and 5th
State is 9-7 and tied for 3rd

[Coach34]

We have to win tomorrow night and I just don't think we can beat Tennessee

I think we win tomorrow and lose to LSU on the road

[smootness]

We have to win tomorrow night and I just don't think we can beat Tennessee

Interesting, what makes you say that? Their last 3 road games are an 8-point win over a garbage OM team, and big losses to UGA and Bama, both of whom are thoroughly mediocre. Even their most recent home games are close wins over Florida and SC. They don't seem like a typical top-20 team, at least not right now.

[smootness]

Louisville is 9-7 in conference and 8th currently
Baylor is 7-9 and tied for 7th
Texas is 7-9 and tied for 7th
USC is 12-5 and 2nd in the Pac-12

UCLA is 4th at 10-7
Syracuse is 10th in the ACC at 7-9
Nebraska is 13-5 and 5th
State is 9-7 and tied for 3rd

None of this really matters at all.

[ReikInTheKnees]

I think we win tomorrow and lose to LSU on the road

I totally agree with this. I like our chances tomorrow night with the way we've been playing and finding ways to win not to mention that 18-1 at home doesn't happen by accident even if the out of conference home schedule was weak. LSU is a trap game if I've ever seen one.

[smootness]

I think we win tomorrow and lose to LSU on the road

If this were to happen, it absolutely would not be a guarantee we'd be in.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I think we win both

[AlmostPositive]

I think we're dancing in March....boy has it been awhile.

[drunkernhelldawg]

I think we win tomorrow and lose to LSU on the road

It's a big game for Tennessee, but I like our chances. We will not lose to LSU on their Senior Night.

Winning Saturday was huge for our team. I see it as a step forward in that we pulled out the close game and stayed focused throughout. Coach Howland is performing at a high level, and the team is following his lead.

[Coach34]

None of this really matters at all.

so the **** what? I posted it anyway. Deal with it dickhead

[Ari Gold]

Texas .. @kansas , West Virginia.
Baylor .. Oklahoma , @ k state
Louisville .. Virginia , Nc State
USC .. UCLA

Nebraska..Conference tournery
ND.. Pitt , Virginia
Boise St. @ SD state, Wyoming

The last four in have a tough road. I don’t see any of them going 2-0 and we should jump USC by going 2-0 our next 2 . We have no room for error that’s for sure. 2-0 gets us in the last 4 for sure maybe even Higher which would be huge.

A lot then will depend on the conference tourneys . Upsets, teams going deep in tourneys, quality wins in tourneys Ect..

[Ari Gold]

None of this really matters at all.

It absolutely matters. And the four teams above the last 4 matter..

[msstate7]

Interesting, what makes you say that? Their last 3 road games are an 8-point win over a garbage OM team, and big losses to UGA and Bama, both of whom are thoroughly mediocre. Even their most recent home games are close wins over Florida and SC. They don't seem like a typical top-20 team, at least not right now.

Their ability to hit 3s concerns me. I also have no confidence our post guys can guard Williams. On the other side, I watched tyree (OM) drive at will vs Tennessee. We have 2 guards better at driving than tyree. Peters and nick should have a really nice offensive game

[Quaoarsking]

I think we win tomorrow and lose to LSU on the road

Then we better win the while SECT or it's NIT for us.

[smootness]

so the **** what? I posted it anyway. Deal with it dickhead

The heck? Haha, you offered some data, I said it won't matter in regard to NCAA selection, which was the topic of the thread. That's it. I wasn't angry or trying to shove anything in your face. But you seem reasonable.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Their ability to hit 3s concerns me. I also have no confidence our post guys can guard Williams. On the other side, I watched tyree (OM) drive at will vs Tennessee. We have 2 guards better at driving than tyree. Peters and nick should have a really nice offensive game

OM held Williams to 6pts on 3/10 shooting. He's a very good player but he's not invincible. He may score 20 but 2 out of his last 3 games he's scored 5 & 6 points. It's doable.

[smootness]

It absolutely matters. And the four teams above the last 4 matter..

I just mean in regard to standing in respective conferences. The committee has said publicly that it doesn't matter, and all the experts on this say that it doesn't matter. It's only fans saying it does matter. That tells me it likely doesn't matter.

[JoseBrown]

It absolutely matters. And the four teams above the last 4 matter..

Dang right it does, that’s who we are competing with for at-large bids.. why wouldn’t it matter.

Just wondering, is Lunardi so accurate because he’s smarter than everyone else and computers, or is it because the committee just uses his bracket for the tourney minus any changes?

[msstate7]

OM held Williams to 6pts on 3/10 shooting. He's a very good player but he's not invincible. He may score 20 but 2 out of his last 3 games he's scored 5 & 6 points. It's doable.

We have really struggled lately defending the post.

[MetEdDawg]

Dang right it does, that?s who we are competing with for at-large bids.. why wouldn?t it matter.

Just wondering, is Lunardi so accurate because he?s smarter than everyone else and computers, or is it because the committee just uses his bracket for the tourney minus any changes?

Because about 63 or 64 of the picks are pretty easy to get. Auto bids plus RPI plus a few other indicators and all of us could get at worst 64 of the 68 teams.

[Dawgology]

If this were to happen, it absolutely would not be a guarantee we'd be in.

We know....you keep posting it.....

In truth, with a committee selection process you could win every single one of your games and not win your conference championship and you wouldn't be 100% guaranteed to be in...if you really want to start splitting hairs...

[AlmostPositive]

In the immortal words of Fats Waller, "One never knows, do one?"

[MetEdDawg]

Only saving grace for us with a loss @LSU is if they end up a Top 75 RPI. That would be a loss to a Tier 1 which would help. Would still give us room in the SEC Tournament to make a run and get in.

We desperately need SC to stay in the Top 75 RPI. Keeps our road win against them in Tier 1. We also need Arkansas to stay Top 30 RPI and it would help if Alabama and/or Mizzou could find a way to get back into the Top 30.

We need as many Tier 1 wins as possible right now. Right now we are 3-6 in Tier 1 games. There's a lot of factors in play right now, but we need as good a record as possible against Tier 1 teams. If we can beat UT, beat LSU, and have a team like Bama finish Top 30 RPI, we could end up around 6-6 in Tier 1.

To be honest, I don't care about what seed we are. If we win out things will take care of themselves. But we should NOT be rooting for conference standings interest. We should be rooting for RPI interest. The committee won't care whether we are 4 or 5. If we win our last 2 things will hash out however they hash out. The only way to help us is to bolster our resume and conference standings doesn't mean that much as is shown by the teams below us that are projected in the tournament.

[Coach34]

Just wondering, is Lunardi so accurate because he’s smarter than everyone else and computers, or is it because the committee just uses his bracket for the tourney minus any changes?

Lunardi is usually fairly close- but he always misses a couple each year

[Ari Gold]

Then we better win the while SECT or it's NIT for us.

If we go 1-1 with a win against Tenn and make to sec finals and lose we in. That?s 1 prob 2 more quality wins
Hell i think if go 1-1 with a Tenn win and win one tourney game we get in ( if that one win is a quality win)

[AlmostPositive]

Sometimes it seems winning tough conference games is just a detail. Why should they let that get in the way of punishing an athletic department for scheduling choices made years ago?

If we had only lost a few more games to the right sort of teams, we'd be in like Flynt! (I hope this sounds as absurd as it really is.)

[Chinchilla]

Dang right it does, that?s who we are competing with for at-large bids.. why wouldn?t it matter.

Just wondering, is Lunardi so accurate because he?s smarter than everyone else and computers, or is it because the committee just uses his bracket for the tourney minus any changes?

It's because the committee is very transparent and generally pretty consistent. Lunardi is not the only one that predicts the field with such accuracy. Even if he is the best (I honestly have no idea if he is), it's not by much.

[RiverCityDawg]

Because about 63 or 64 of the picks are pretty easy to get. Auto bids plus RPI plus a few other indicators and all of us could get at worst 64 of the 68 teams.

This. People pump up lunardi like he is a genius when anyone devoting all their time to this like him could do the same thing. ESPN always cites his % correct based on all 68 spots but it really comes down to picking 6 or so spots from about 10 teams and he gets 4 of the 6 right. (And yes, I'm just a hater who's jealous of his gig.)

[AlmostPositive]

This. People pump up lunardi like he is a genius when anyone devoting all their time to this like him could do the same thing. ESPN always cites his % correct based on all 68 spots but it really comes down to picking 6 or so spots from about 10 teams and he gets 4 of the 6 right. (And yes, I'm just a hater who's jealous of his gig.)

I will be impressed if he ever picks the field correctly in January.

[MarketingBully]

I think we win both because I also think LSU loses to South Carolina. If we win tomorrow, no way we drop the game on the road to LSU. It will be a team with everything to play for who is motivated vs a freshman led meh team.

[smootness]

We know....you keep posting it.....

In truth, with a committee selection process you could win every single one of your games and not win your conference championship and you wouldn't be 100% guaranteed to be in...if you really want to start splitting hairs...

I keep posting it because I keep seeing people saying, 'If we ___, we're in.'

That response in particular was because he had said if we beat Tennessee, we're in...but he believes we'll lose to LSU...which would absolutely put our Tourney status up in the air.

[Covercorner2]

We have really struggled lately defending the post.

I feel like we defended Silva pretty well...

[msstate7]

I feel like we defended Silva pretty well...

Foul trouble was our best defense to Silva. Here are Silva numbers...

24 mins, 11 pts (4-5 fg) 12 reb

[Covercorner2]

Foul trouble was our best defense to Silva. Here are Silva numbers...

24 mins, 11 pts (4-5 fg) 12 reb

Foul trouble is part of it. Getting a guy in foul trouble is a gameplan.

[MCsMGs]

We have to win tomorrow night and I just don't think we can beat Tennessee

We see what you did there...

Thanks!

[ZedFedder]

so the **** what? I posted it anyway. Deal with it dickhead

HULK ANGRY! Cool down, brah.

[Dawg61]

We need to win our next 3 games and we need Texas, Baylor and Nebraska to suck the last two weeks.

[smootness]

We need to win our next 3 games and we need Texas, Baylor and Nebraska to suck the last two weeks.

Texas and Baylor both have tough games this week. It is absolutely possible for both to go 0-2...but they're also set up to be helped by a good win or two.

Nebraska's next game will be in the Big 10 Tournament against probably Michigan. A loss there would help us.

[Dawg61]

Texas and Baylor both have tough games this week. It is absolutely possible for both to go 0-2...but they're also set up to be helped by a good win or two.

Nebraska's next game will be in the Big 10 Tournament against probably Michigan. A loss there would help us.

Texas and Baylor look to be the two most likely to fall out of the tourney and Nebraska to me looks like they'll sneak in if they win a couple games in the B1G tourney so we need them to lose to Michigan.

[TheRef]

If you look, Lunardi has us as the First Four Out as #4

[Bully13]

We have to win tomorrow night and I just don't think we can beat Tennessee

TN has seemed a little vulnerable of late. didn't they lose one of their main players? I know AU did, but I was thinking maybe TN did too.

what's the line on the game at this time?

[Bulldog1]

TN has seemed a little vulnerable of late. didn't they lose one of their main players? I know AU did, but I was thinking maybe TN did too.

what's the line on the game at this time?
Pick ‘em, 0.0

[Bully13]

Pick ‘em, 0.0

hmm, Vegas disagrees with Preach.

[Dawg61]

TN has seemed a little vulnerable of late. didn't they lose one of their main players? I know AU did, but I was thinking maybe TN did too.

what's the line on the game at this time?

Tennessee hasn't lost anyone. They are a good rebounding team with Williams and Schofield and they are a good 3 point shooting team with about 4 guys capable of knocking down multiple 3s.

[Bulldog1]

Tennessee hasn't lost anyone. They are a good rebounding team with Williams and Schofield and they are a good 3 point shooting team with about 4 guys capable of knocking down multiple 3s.

I think I heard Grant Williams has/ had a minor injury, but he’s playing through it.

[tcdog70]

I think we win the both. why would you think we are going to lose? we got dicked at Mizzou and Vandy or we would a hellofa win streak going. We will win--have some faith.

[curmudgeon]

I'm going to laugh when we get in and they ask why and someone says "They finished third place in the SEC and that was hard to ignore."

It matters.

I think Louisville or Syracuse is in but not both.

So you have Baylor, Texas, USC, UCLA, Nebraska and MSU battling for three spots.

Baylor has Oklahoma and Kansas State this week (and two wins over Texas)
Texas has Kansas and West Virginia this week.

USC and UCLA are both top four in the Pac 12. They both have a chance to get in.

USC has Utah
UCLA has Colorado
then they play each other

Nebraska is the one we need to watch the closest, because I think that's our main competition for the last spot.

Their regular season is over. If you remember, we played them in an exhibition and they beat us 76-72.

They play Michigan/Iowa/Illinois on Friday (they got the No. 4 seed in the B1G), we need them to get beat first game. One win and they are in.

[Bully13]

I'm going to laugh when we get in and they ask why and someone says "They finished third place in the SEC and that was hard to ignore."

It matters.

I think Louisville or Syracuse is in but not both.

So you have Baylor, Texas, USC, UCLA, Nebraska and MSU battling for three spots.

Baylor has Oklahoma and Kansas State this week (and two wins over Texas)
Texas has Kansas and West Virginia this week.

USC and UCLA are both top four in the Pac 12. They both have a chance to get in.

USC has Utah
UCLA has Colorado
then they play each other

Nebraska is the one we need to watch the closest, because I think that's our main competition for the last spot.

Their regular season is over. If you remember, we played them in an exhibition and they beat us 76-72.

They play Michigan/Iowa/Illinois on Friday (they got the No. 4 seed in the B1G), we need them to get beat first game. One win and they are in.

thanks for this for those like me who don't understand how this shit works. the first part of the post got my hopes up but at the end you say NE is our main competition and all they have to do is win one in their tourney and they're in. that was kinda a buzz kill.

[shannondawg]

If we make it we make it, if not Nit and probably home games are definitely a step up from where we have been.

[dawgs]

We have to win tomorrow night and I just don't think we can beat Tennessee

If we CAN?T beat Tennessee, then we don?t derserve to make the tourney. I?m not saying we?d win a majority of the time, but I think it?d be like a 60-40 split in favor Tennessee over the long haul. That?s a long way from CAN?T beat Tennessee.

[Bully13]

I know I don't know shit about this stuff but if we beat TN & LSU then win a couple in the tourney, no way we get left out. 17 NE.

[Bully13]

If we CAN?T beat Tennessee, then we don?t derserve to make the tourney. I?m not saying we?d win a majority of the time, but I think it?d be like a 60-40 split in favor Tennessee over the long haul. That?s a long way from CAN?T beat Tennessee.

when the line is pick 'em, "can't" shouldn't be part of the conversation. Right now, the way this team is playing, Old Man Can't is dead. we buried him a while back.

[Coach34]

I'm going to laugh when we get in and they ask why and someone says "They finished third place in the SEC and that was hard to ignore."

It matters.

Can anybody find any evidence of the 3rd or 4th place team in a top 3 RPI conference being left out? I'd be shocked if that happened in the last 20 years

[Bulldog1]

Can anybody find any evidence of the 3rd or 4th place team in a top 3 RPI conference being left out? I'd be shocked if that happened in the last 20 years

South Carolina a few years ago, but the SEC was a lot weaker then.

[Bully13]

South Carolina a few years ago, but the SEC was a lot weaker then.

we prolly were not a top 3 conference that year. just guessing,

[Intramural All-American]

Texas without Mo Bamba tonight. That helps.

[Intramural All-American]

I think we win the both. why would you think we are going to lose? we got dicked at Mizzou and Vandy or we would a hellofa win streak going. We will win--have some faith.

We clearly got screwed against Missouri, but how did we get hosed against Vandy? I’m asking legitimately because I didn’t get to watch the second half except the last 5 seconds. I know there was a bad call on X, but then the refs made an inexplicably bad call that resulted in X going to the FT line to put us up 3 if he hits both. From what I saw, we lost that game, not he refs. Again, I didn’t see much though.

[Coach34]

South Carolina a few years ago, but the SEC was a lot weaker then.

The SEC wasnt a top 3 RPI conference that year

[Coach34]

We clearly got screwed against Missouri, but how did we get hosed against Vandy? I’m asking legitimately because I didn’t get to watch the second half except the last 5 seconds. I know there was a bad call on X, but then the refs made an inexplicably bad call that resulted in X going to the FT line to put us up 3 if he hits both. From what I saw, we lost that game, not he refs. Again, I didn’t see much though.

The Vandy shooter walked before taking the shot- he was shocked Q left him open

[RocketDawg]

The Vandy shooter walked before taking the shot- he was shocked Q left him open

Seems like they rarely call traveling, and when they do it wasn't even obviously traveling (to me). Seems to me like when a guy's got the ball, jumps with no dribble, then jumps again and shoots, that should be traveling. But apparently it's not. It happens all the time.

[RocketDawg]

Somebody help me out ... is it better to be one of the "last 4 in" or "last 4 out"? I just don't understand that terminology.

[Dawg61]

Can anybody find any evidence of the 3rd or 4th place team in a top 3 RPI conference being left out? I'd be shocked if that happened in the last 20 years

Nope but can anybody find a 3rd or 4th place team in a top 3 RPI conference with an OOC SOS as bad as ours this year either? They have been hammering us all year long about our OOC schedule. Howland put us behind the 8ball there and we all knew it back in December. We go 4-0 here were definitely in we go 3-0 we'll be sweating bullets on SS. 3 wins were sweating big time, 4 we can breath a little only 2 wins we're toast.

[Dawg61]

Somebody help me out ... is it better to be one of the "last 4 in" or "last 4 out"? I just don't understand that terminology.

Last 4 in means you made it into the tournament as one of the last 4 teams. Last 4 out means you didn't make the tournament.

[RocketDawg]

Nope but can anybody find a 3rd or 4th place team in a top 3 RPI conference with an OOC SOS as bad as ours this year either? They have been hammering us all year long about our OOC schedule. Howland put us behind the 8ball there and we all knew it back in December. We go 4-0 here were definitely in we go 3-0 we'll be sweating bullets on SS. 3 wins were sweating big time, 4 we can breath a little only 2 wins we're toast.

I think you're right about the OOC killing us, but hopefully they'll take into account our improvement and virtually running the table in the last half of the conference schedule.

[RocketDawg]

Last 4 in means you made it into the tournament as one of the last 4 teams. Last 4 out means you didn't make the tournament.

Thank you sir. That makes sense once you think about it.

[Bulldog1]

The SEC wasnt a top 3 RPI conference that year

Nope. That’s why said the SEC was a lot weaker then

[Coach34]

Nope but can anybody find a 3rd or 4th place team in a top 3 RPI conference with an OOC SOS as bad as ours this year either? They have been hammering us all year long about our OOC schedule. Howland put us behind the 8ball there and we all knew it back in December. We go 4-0 here were definitely in we go 3-0 we'll be sweating bullets on SS. 3 wins were sweating big time, 4 we can breath a little only 2 wins we're toast.

Top 4 teams in a top 3 RPI conference are not going to get left out of the NCAA Tourney

[Coach34]

Nope. That’s why said the SEC was a lot weaker then

thats why your response to my post didnt make sense

The NCAA is not going to leave out a team that finishes 3rd or 4th in a conference that finishes in the top 3 in RPI.

[Bulldog1]

thats why your response to my post didnt make sense

The NCAA is not going to leave out a team that finishes 3rd or 4th in a conference that finishes in the top 3 in RPI.sorry. Didn’t see that part
ETA: I agree with you. I’ve been saying for 2 weeks they won’t leave us out 11-7 in conference.

[Bulldog1]

Now we’re 1.5 point favorites.

[Ari Gold]

Need Kansas to take care of business against Texas tonight

[tcdog70]

We clearly got screwed against Missouri, but how did we get hosed against Vandy? I?m asking legitimately because I didn?t get to watch the second half except the last 5 seconds. I know there was a bad call on X, but then the refs made an inexplicably bad call that resulted in X going to the FT line to put us up 3 if he hits both. From what I saw, we lost that game, not he refs. Again, I didn?t see much though.

The play that screwed us at Vandy. We are up 2. They miss a free throw and Q rebounds and they call a phantom foul on X. We would have been up 2 with Q shooting free throws.

[Quaoarsking]

thats why your response to my post didnt make sense

The NCAA is not going to leave out a team that finishes 3rd or 4th in a conference that finishes in the top 3 in RPI.

St. John's 2014

[Quaoarsking]

St. John's 2014

Virginia Tech 2010

[Bulldog1]

The play that screwed us at Vandy. We are up 2. They miss a free throw and Q rebounds and they call a phantom foul on X. We would have been up 2 with Q shooting free throws.

I still don’t know what they called on X. That was terrible

[MarketingBully]

We clearly got screwed against Missouri, but how did we get hosed against Vandy? I?m asking legitimately because I didn?t get to watch the second half except the last 5 seconds. I know there was a bad call on X, but then the refs made an inexplicably bad call that resulted in X going to the FT line to put us up 3 if he hits both. From what I saw, we lost that game, not he refs. Again, I didn?t see much though.

Q got that rebound on the block out by X where the phantom foul was called. At that point, we were up by 2 with 6 seconds left. If that foul isn?t called, we go up by 4 as you saw what happens when Q gets a rebound when we are up by 2 with mere seconds to go. Q drains those free throws. If the ref just swallows his whistle, we win that game. We were screwed.

[Dawg61]

Top 4 teams in a top 3 RPI conference are not going to get left out of the NCAA Tourney

I wish I could agree with you but even if we beat Tenn and LSU our work isn't done. I'll have your same confidence once we win the next 4 games in front of us. That puts us in the SECT Champ game and 24-8 playing for an automatic bid vs probably Kentucky. That's what I want. SECT champ game vs Kentucky. Win and we are in automatically lose and we are still in at 24-9. I wouldn't be shocked if this team continues on a nice winning streak. We are peaking right now, we are healthy and we are gaining more confidence with each win.

[Intramural All-American]

Q got that rebound on the block out by X where the phantom foul was called. At that point, we were up by 2 with 6 seconds left. If that foul isn?t called, we go up by 4 as you saw what happens when Q gets a rebound when we are up by 2 with mere seconds to go. Q drains those free throws. If the ref just swallows his whistle, we win that game. We were screwed.

Gotcha, thanks. Yea, I never saw that play, but I heard it was a terrible call. Really frustrating that the refs very easily could screw us out of the NCAA tournament. We would be on a 9 game win streak and easily in the tournament without those calls. The fact that A&M is safely in is baffling to me. It is crystal clear who the better team is between the two teams. At some point you have to put the numbers down and actually watch the games. We are clearly one of the top 38 teams in the country, and we have demonstrated that in conference. We are also clearly a different team now than we were in January. Unfortunately, we watch us a lot more than everyone else, so what we see may not be as evident to outsiders.

[Coach34]

St. John's 2014

Big East was 4th in 2014- try again

[Coach34]

Virginia Tech 2010

ACC was 5th that year and only got 4 bids. Why are you posting completely wrong teams? You are usually better than that

[Coach34]

I wish I could agree with you but even if we beat Tenn and LSU our work isn't done. I'll have your same confidence once we win the next 4 games in front of us. That puts us in the SECT Champ game and 24-8 playing for an automatic bid vs probably Kentucky. That's what I want. SECT champ game vs Kentucky. Win and we are in automatically lose and we are still in at 24-9. I wouldn't be shocked if this team continues on a nice winning streak. We are peaking right now, we are healthy and we are gaining more confidence with each win.

The SEC is a top 3 RPI league

WE finish top 4- we are in. Nobody has been left out for 20 years or more in that case

[msstate7]

VT punched their ticket with duke win tonight

[Coach34]

VT has been solid for awhile

[Quaoarsking]

ACC was 5th that year and only got 4 bids. Why are you posting completely wrong teams? You are usually better than that

ACC was 2nd in RPI in 2010: http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/conferencerpi
Virginia Tech was in a 2-way tie for 3rd in 2010: http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/conference/ACC
Virginia Tech played in the NIT in 2010: http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/schedule/Virginia%20Tech

ETA: The ACC had 6 bids that year, but 10-6 Virginia Tech got left out in favor of 10-6 Florida State, 9-7 Clemson, 9-7 Wake Forest, and 7-9 Georgia Tech.

[Quaoarsking]

Big East was 4th in 2014- try again

I concede that St. John's was 3rd place in the 4th best conference and, after I double-checked, you specifically said "4th place team in a top 3 conference" and not the opposite.

[msstate7]

VT has been solid for awhile

Did not know that. Their rpi was only 58 before win tonight

[Coach34]

ACC was 2nd in RPI in 2010: http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/conferencerpi
Virginia Tech was in a 2-way tie for 3rd in 2010: http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/conference/ACC
Virginia Tech played in the NIT in 2010: http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2010/schedule/Virginia%20Tech

ETA: The ACC had 6 bids that year, but 10-6 Virginia Tech got left out in favor of 10-6 Florida State, 9-7 Clemson, 9-7 Wake Forest, and 7-9 Georgia Tech.

http://www.realtimerpi.com/2009-2010/rpi_conf_Men.html

Realtime has them in 3rd

[Covercorner2]

VT punched their ticket with duke win tonight

Conversely, Texas loses.

[Intramural All-American]

http://www.realtimerpi.com/2009-2010/rpi_conf_Men.html

Realtime has them in 3rd

Which would still be a top 4 team in a top 3 conference....