ACC cancels NC State vs. Virginia Tech: How does it effect the NCAA Tournament bubble?

The final game of the ACC regular season for both the NC State Wolfpack and Virginia Tech Hokies, scheduled for Saturday in Blacksburg, VA has been canceled by the conference office.

The reason given by the league is “the canceled game follows quarantining and contract tracing review within the Virginia Tech men’s basketball program. The team is adhering to the outlined protocols within the ACC Medical Advisory Group report.” And this might certainly benefit one team more than the other.

Virginia Tech has struggled since the calendar turned to February, playing four games and going 2-2. The wins are against lowly Miami in overtime and Wake Forest, but they’ve suffered big losses to both Pitt and Georgia Tech, the last one being at home in Cassell Coliseum.

Right now the Hokies are projected somewhere from a No. 7 to No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and safely in the field despite losing their ranking from the AP Poll. But the Wolfpack could really use a win to get back in the bubble conversation. They’ve won four in a row, climbed back to 71 in KenPom and 76 in the NET, and sit at 12-9, 8-8 in the ACC.

Even a big win on Saturday wouldn’t have been enough for the Hokies to get back in the bubble conversation, but add it to some quality wins in the ACC Tournament and that might be enough. But with this game off the board, it’s now likely NCSU will need to win it all in Greensboro to advance to the NCAA Tournament.