You can thank TV and particularly ESPN for the Hokies continued snub from the Top 25.

I’ve always found Seth Greenberg very compelling and interesting.

He’s just such a contrast to Frank Beamer.

The main reason Tech’s not in basketball’s Top 25 is its schedule.

And this is not entirely Tech’s fault.

Greenberg and Jim Weaver do the best they can with these schedules but they need help from TV.

A lot of the really good non-conference games we see every year are set up almost entirely by ESPN (think “Bracket Buster Saturday” for the mid-majors).

In the ACC-Big Ten challenge Tech got Iowa.

Iowa’s having a rough year.

Playing Iowa is not Tech’s fault.  ESPN and others set up the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for TV, and they pick who plays whom (remember North Carolina got paired with Michigan State).

So the thing that always helps Tech in football (TV), always ends up hurting in basketball.

Remember ESPN always wants Tech on Thursday nights (which Tech doesn’t mind) because of TV ratings.  Chick-Fil-A wanted Tech to play Alabama for TV ratings and then got them again in a bowl game that got a good number (TV speak for a good rating).

It’s just too hard right now for Tech basketball to consistently find a good non-conference opponent for TV.

This could be Tech’s year to do well in the ACC Tournament, and then make the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAAs.

That will lead to a better non-conference schedule in the future.

Here’s my proof:

Tech has beaten Brown, VMI, Charleston Southern, and Longwood non-conference.

Lost to Temple.

Georgetown has beaten Savannah State, Mount St. Mary’s and American.

Beat Temple by one.

Then beat Butler in the Jimmy V Classic (a game set up by ESPN), and Duke on CBS (TV again).

If you give Greenberg two opportunities to play decent non-conference opponents and you might get the same result.

Georgetown’s No. 7 in the polls and recently lost at Rutgers.