I'm not one to lean into the gloom and doom "sky is falling" mentality of the general college football landscape, but in all reality, I just don't see how we have a college football season. It's not that it couldn't happen - I think there are plenty of right ways to allow the teams to properly play. The issue is that too much has happened to recover and feasibly play: entire conferences have canceled their teams' seasons, individual teams have canceled, notable players have opted out; it's not a good scenario. In my opinion, it gets moved to the Spring, and that's best case scenario.

Assuming we don't have a college football seasoncollege basketball becomes king. Smaller teams and staffs, playing in smaller venues, much more easily regimented safety protocols, and the potential for no fans/heavily regulated attendance caps and distances. I see college basketball coming back strong this fall/winter, particularly in light of how successful the NBA has been. Different circumstances, sure, but it's the same sport; that is enough to change the public's perception.

It's been a touchy subject for the board in recent years, that VT is becoming a "basketball school" but since 2017, I don't think anyone can credibly argue against it. Yes, historically we're football heavy, but honestly not by that much. We let the late 90s - early 2010's shape perception. Take that 30 year stretch away and we're extremely average. So, "becoming" is the right word for basketball. I think we're becoming a basketball school and it's not off the wall to say we could officially be there as early as this upcoming year. A few things:

1. The ACC provides an amazing opportunity for every ACC school except for Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, and FSU to be nationally recognized as basketball-first. We can, as surprising as it may be, be a basketball-first school. Last year was a rebuilding year with a brand new head coach and went 16-16 playing with the youngest lineup in the nation in the toughest conference in America. Don't get it twisted, we were far from a bad program.

2. We return a ton of talent. Bede, Radford, Cone, Cattoor, Alleyne, Ojiako. Not world changers by any means but with an offseason and a year of experience under their belts, they'll all take a step forward. I love our potential. Even more, I love the heart of this team. We fight. These returners alone could replicate last year's record.

3. We bring in even more talent than we return. Joe Bam has a chance to be a one and done. Pemsl and Diarra will get starter's minutes. Aluma will give us much needed depth. Darius Maddox seems to be the one we talk about the least but I've watched a ton of his game. He's a 4-star for a reason. Kid's the real deal. Justyn Mutts can be a good role player off the bench and his midrange/inside game is super solid - I suspect he will get starter's minutes midway through the year and very well could be one of our top overall players by year's end. He's got size, too. I'm so excited about the newcomers.

4. The ACC will be a bit down, giving us a shot to make some noise. UNC will be absolutely stacked, but outside of them, the heavyweights of recent years have lost too much. UVA will struggle big time. Diakite has graduated and so has Braxton Key. Miami no longer has Lykes, Wardenburg, Miller, or McGusty (all 4 lit us up last year). Wake, GT, and Clemson will be even further down. Notre Dame graduated Pfluegger, Gibbs, and Mooney. NC State graduated CJ Bryce and Markell Johnson. Every player I've listed above was a team's best player last year or top 3 at worst. Our debate is Nolley, and I still think he was a net-positive, but not by that much. A black hole player will lose games as often as he wins them and by the year, our team identity featured him less and less.

I guess my point is this: We have some crazy momentum in our basketball program, and not having a football season will give more attention, energy, and hype around a team that has a chance to be REALLY special. Go Hokies
[Post edited by SkoHokies at 08/11/2020 11:30AM]