The NCAA Tournament is finally upon us and the matchup between Alabama and Virginia Tech may be one of the most intriguing of round one.
Could this be one of the craziest years in NCAA Tournament history? It’s starting to look that way as a team like Alabama with a 19-15 overall record reached the field as an at-large bid. Since the SEC is being slightly overvalued, the Tide will get a chance to make some noise in March.
Their first task? Taking down a Virginia Tech squad that has pulled off a few impressive upsets this season, including beating No. 1 Virginia on the road. Alabama is led by a shining talent in point guard Collin Sexton who put the team on his back in the SEC Tournament to notch a couple of key wins to secure a tourney berth.
The Hokies, on the other hand, took down North Carolina, Virginia, Duke and Clemson this season, proving that they can hang with the big dogs. Many will be picking the Crimson Tide to pull off the No. 9 over No. 8 seed upset, but Virginia Tech won’t be an easy team to beat. Moreover, the Hokies could be a major threat to Villanova in round two.
Buzz Williams has done a solid job with this program and he’s close to getting the Hokies back to perennial contention. A win in the NCAA Tournament and a potential 1-seed upset would be a good stepping stone.
Here’s how you can watch Thursday’s Alabama vs Virginia Tech game online:
Date: Thursday, March 15
Time: 9:20 p.m. ET
Location: Pittsburgh, Penn.
Venue: PPG Paints Arena
TV: TNT
Live Stream: NCAA March Madness Live
Next: NCAA Tournament 2018: First round tip times, TV schedule
Alabama barely squeaked into the NCAA Tournament, but the Crimson Tide have the talent to put on a show in the first round against a tough team like Virginia Tech. Don’t sleep on this 8-9 matchup.