The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team gathered Cassell Coliseum Sunday afternoon for the announcement of who they would play in the NCAA tournament. The Hokies will face Alabama in a first round game.
Virginia Tech will face the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in the East Region at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday, March 15.
The Hokies, 21-11 on the season, are the eighth seed in the East Region and earned an at-large bid out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Alabama 19-15 overall, is the ninth seed. The Crimson Tide earned an at-large bid out of the Southeastern Conference.
This is the Hokies’ second consecutive NCAA bid, marking the first time since the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons that Tech has appeared in consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Tech was the ninth seed in the East Region last season and lost to eighth-seed Wisconsin, 84-74, in Buffalo, New York.
This will be the 15th all-time meeting with the Crimson Tide. Tech is 5-9 all-time against the Tide, but won the last meeting, 76-75, in Cassell Coliseum on Dec. 5, 1989. The Hokies are 1-1 against Southeastern Conference schools this season.
On Saturday, March 17, the winner of the Virginia Tech – Alabama game will play the winner of the No. 1 seed Villanova game against the winner of LIU Brooklyn – Radford University First Four game, which will be played in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday, March 13. Villanova is the second national seed in the tournament.
The Hokies are one of nine Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the field of 68. Duke, the second seed in the Midwest Region, will also play in Pittsburgh.
Game time for the Virginia Tech-Alabama game has yet to be announced. The event will be played at the PPG Paints Arena and is hosted by Duquesne University.
— VT Athletics
