Tech’s out of the Top 25, but it’s not yet on the bubble
Paul Hewitt to Iman Shumpert: "Please take me to the dance." (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
I keep hearing folks say Georgia Tech is in danger of missing of the NCAA tournament. It isn’t yet. Should the Jackets lose every game from here on, they won’t make it. But they won’t lose every game. (I feel very confident about this.)
Tech’s RPI is 29. If you’re a team from a major conference and you’re in the top 30, you’re a lock. (Yes, even if you go 7-9 in league play, which could happen. The Jackets are 5-6.) In his latest installment of Bracketology on ESPN.com, Joe Lunardi has Tech as a No. 9 seed, which isn’t bad for a team that has lost three of four.
Forget the Associated Press and coaches’ polls. They don’t register with the NCAA committee. (Good thing, since Tech just dropped out of both. In the former, it received only one 25th-place vote.) As esteemed former colleague Mark Schlabach notes in ESPN’s Bubble Watch :
“Tech seems to be in OK shape. The Jackets have five wins over RPI top-50 teams (Duke, Wake Forest, Siena, Clemson and Charlotte) and are 7-8 against RPI top-100 foes. But Tech can’t afford to lose the games it is supposed to win down the stretch, starting with Tuesday’s home game against defending national champion North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets play at Maryland on Saturday and play at Clemson on March 2. They could use another road victory before Selection Sunday.”
Tech could stand to win on the road, sure. It would also behoove the Jackets to win a game in the ACC tournament. But as long as they win their three home games — Carolina and Boston College are terrible, but Virginia Tech is playing well — they’ll make it. Since they don’t play anyone ranked ahead of them, their RPI doesn’t stand to rise or fall much from here.
But there is one major negative to all this. The lower your seed, the worse your chances. Back to Lunardi’s bracket: He has Tech meeting Illinois in Round 1, and Tech would beat the Illini on inside power alone. (Georgia upset both teams, as you probably know.) But look who would be waiting in Round 2.
Kansas. The best team in the country. In Oklahoma City.
It was six years ago that the Jackets beat KU in overtime in St. Louis to qualify for the Final Four. But that was then. (And the Jackets were a No. 3 seed to the Jayhawks’ No. 4.) If Tech plans to stay long in the Big Dance, it needs to work its way up to a No. 7 or even a No. 6 seed. Otherwise it’s looking at one win, max.
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170 comments Add your comment
LOST
February 16th, 2010
11:42 am
Reason #1 why CPH should be gone (if true). I have it from 3 different sources with close ties to the BB program and athletic department that Mark Price approached Hewitt about his open coaching job during the off-season. Price wanted the job and wanted to work with the guards. Hewitt said no.
LOST
February 16th, 2010
11:43 am
Hit enter too quickly… Price wanted the job and wanted to work with the guards. Hewitt said no – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! That’s enough right there to say goodbye…
Buzzzed
February 16th, 2010
11:47 am
I agree with Jeff C. way back at the beginning of this blog. This team may be better next year (not knocked out in the second round). Rice and Oliver are the future. These guys are the type of players we need (big-time four year players).
BuzzMaster
February 16th, 2010
1:07 pm
Tech should beat unc easily. The heels are terrible this year. Look for a tech blowout and a deep run to the NCAAs!!!
Yurtle_the_turtle
February 16th, 2010
1:20 pm
I’m officially done watching Tech play. I am not spending money to support this jacka$$ of a coach and I’m not wasting time seeing a team that has no fortitude or game-manship
nickj0321
February 16th, 2010
1:32 pm
does anyone have the details on hewitts contract?
Jaded Jacket
February 16th, 2010
1:54 pm
I hope they don’t make it. Whatever it takes to get Hewitt then I hope it happens, even if we lose the rest of our games.
Mark Bradley
February 16th, 2010
2:06 pm
Hewitt’s contract, as noted often, is a five-year rollover that automatic renews every season. If Tech were to fire him today, it would owe him $7 million. If it were to fire him in 2012, it would owe him $7 million.
Sick & Tired Of Being Sick & Tired
February 16th, 2010
2:49 pm
How many more years can GA Tech afford to keep Hewitt??? That is the “REAL” question. I agree with some of the other bloggers who have questioned how many top talented players will want to come to Tech with Hewitt in charge……time is running out!!!!
Daniel
February 16th, 2010
3:40 pm
Mark D’Andre Bell is not one of the top 6 players and Lawal may come back. Top 6 players are Lawal, Favors, Shumpert, Peacock, Rice and Oliver. The team will be guard orientated next year.
Blewitt Must Go
February 16th, 2010
3:51 pm
Pulling teeth out with pliers couldn’t be anymore painful than watching GT basketball.
Tech Money
February 16th, 2010
5:02 pm
I heard Hewitt’s buyout is around $12 mil—which is peanuts for the millionaire Tech boosters—pony up the cash and get a real coach!
Mark Bradley
February 16th, 2010
5:05 pm
Hewitt’s buyout is about $7.2 million. It’s not $12 million.
Tech Hoops
February 16th, 2010
5:32 pm
Bell is not one of the top 6 players on the roster come next year. In fact next year I don’t think he’d be a starter. Yes we will lose all of our inside game. Favors could relaly do well staying an extra year, but the hype and money are just too big a draw for him to stay. Such a shame, look at Al-Faraqu. He was #1 last year and stayed and Wake is really rallying around him.
What sucks is that this team would be really good with Favors coming back. A true Wing Forward, some real experience in the back court, shooters being sophomores not freshmen. We have not had a good wing forward since 2005. And then not really because Ish had bad knees and could not penetrate like he did in 2004. So that spot has really been hard to fill. No penetration = many long scoring droughts, which we all remember and have painfully endured over the past few years.
But those of you who want HEwitt gone, be careful what you wish for. Yeah UGa beat us and a 2nd tier SEC team. But they are below .500. So you UGA fans saying your hoops team is better than ours can suck it. You will not be in the NIT.
If Hewitt is run out of town, expect some of the talent he brought in to go too. I don’t see everyone staying if he is fired. Tech puts players in the NBA. Now if we could win jsut a few more games while doing that, then everyone is happy. But you replace Hewitt with a coach who doesn’t develop the players like Hewitt and they will be gone. And you guys say “Oh Hewitt sucks can’t coach and develops noone” – You are wrong. Mario West is in the NBA for 3 years counting from HEwitt alone. He would not be in the NBA in any other program. The problem is that the teams gell a bit too late. They are playing good basketball at the end of the year but the record is trashed. WE have been blown out of 1 game. Had 3 games we could not win in the final minute. That’s not too bad, but too many losses have the masses asking for the coaches head on a platter. Look at Maryland. The AD wanted to fire Williams last year. Look at them now. 2nd best team in the ACC. Im just saying, be careful what you wish for. The only difference from Gary Williams and Hewitt in the new millenium is 1 rolled ankle and early fouls called against us when we played UConn. (Schenscher did a block that got all ball and got a foul. Okafor could push him to the ground and nothing called) Otherwise Hewitt would have brought a championship to GaTech.
So what are you gonna say when he’s gone and we are getting blown out by 20 against teams we used to play tough?
wes
February 16th, 2010
5:32 pm
Mark, you fail to realize that Bracketology comes out in the middle of the week.
Joe Lonardi (sp?) hadn’t even factored in the WF loss yet. He’s probably got us as a #10 seed now.
just an FYI
Mark Bradley
February 16th, 2010
5:36 pm
Wrong, Wes. Bracketology is released on Monday afternoon. And this one was. Click the link.
Udofia will be great
February 16th, 2010
5:36 pm
Udofia will be better than Jack. He is better as a Freshman. Doesnt have to run the team though like Jack did. Jack worked hard and developed a lot. But if Udofia takes that same mentality, he and Shumpert can both be better than Jack. they are higher caliber players. Either one of them can be special at the next level if they develop. Jack will never be great in the NBA but has an insane work ethic. He always plays hard and you love to see that as a fan.
Go Jackets
NYJacket
February 16th, 2010
5:37 pm
Jackets 2010,
Our present basketball coach has been here long enough to start producing on a consistent basis.
The bottom line he has not!
Bill
February 16th, 2010
7:02 pm
Tech probably will win tonight, but before Davis got hurt, I wasn’t as confident. They get Md on Sat at a good time as Terps will be playing 4 th game in 8 days. Well, Tech blew it vs Miami and couldn’t get back on track vs Wake. Lose tonight and it will be the beginning of the end for Hewitt. No way they run off the last 4 to go 9-7. That is really what they have to do. Maybe get a 6 or 7 seed if they are 9-7 avoiding 8-9 game. Of course, loss tonight and it doesn’t matter. What angers me is Tech should never have been 5-6 at this point. Poor, poor coaching this season. No doubt.
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February 16th, 2010
8:13 pm
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