Virginia Tech was one of the teams left out of the tournament, but will be a No. 1 seed in the WNIT this year
Phoebe Winters provided a breakdown of the decision to leave Virginia Tech out of the NCAA Women’s Tournament in favor of Princeton last night:
“Ultimately, it came down to the Princeton Tigers and the Hokies for the final March Madness bid.
Both teams had similar NET rankings (Virginia Tech 46, Princeton 47) and each had only one Quad-one win. Despite notable victories over Louisville (70-65) and Cal (87-84), the Hokies’ at-home losses to Stanford (75-74), Virginia (73-65), and road losses to Syracuse (93-87) and Boston College (92-89) ultimately hurt their chances. Entering Selection Sunday having lost four of their last six games placed Virginia Tech in a tough position, especially since Princeton did not have losses as damaging as those suffered by the Hokies.
Princeton could become the third Ivy League team to compete in the tournament after Harvard secured their first-ever Ivy League title and Columbia finished with the regular-season title. However, they must first defeat Iowa State to secure the 11th seed in the Birmingham Regional, where they would face the Michigan Wolverines.”
Virginia Tech, now one of the favorites for the WNIT, might not be competing in the NCAA Tournament, but performing well in the WNIT could serve as a springboard for next season.
