I understand why Virginia Tech wasn't one of the 34 at-large teams ... but how where they dumped for Villanova?
Tech finished fourth in the RPI's top conference, the ACC, with a 9-7 record. Villanova ended up 9-9 in the Big East (RPI #5), good for eighth place. Speaking of RPI's, there were similar as Nova finished 51 to Tech's 52.
Maybe it was the strength of schedule. Oh, wait. The Hokies' SOS ranked higher (39 to 47).
Nova lost to NC State (the ACC's worst team) in Orlando earlier this year. Virginia Tech won at St. John's, who finished 14th in the 16-team Big East. Tech didn't lose to Rutgers, either, who were ranked 211 in the RPI.
Conference tournaments? Villanova was beaten by Georgetown by 19 in the Big East quarterfinals. Virginia Tech lost by two points to North Carolina, the tournament's top overall seed, in the ACC semis (oh, and Tech had to beat tourney bound Miami to get there).
Maybe there were other schools that deserved to be there instead of Virginia Tech. But Villanova wasn't one of them.
