Game 6: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech Preview

On By Littum

Michigan opens the Fort Myers tip-off against Virginia Tech tonight (6 p.m., FS1) at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.

The Wolverines have not faced Hokie head coach Mike Young since the 2014 NCAA Tournament, when he was still the head coach at Wofford. Dusty May met Young nearly a year ago, beating Virginia Tech by 34 points in the ESPN Events Invitational championship game in Orlando.

Young has established himself as a reliable, high-floor, low-ceiling coach throughout his five years in Blacksburg. The Hokies have been around a .500 team in ACC games throughout his tenure, reached the NCAA Tournament a couple of times and generally finished around the middle third of the KenPom top 100.

It feels like the high floor might be bulging this year. Virginia Tech is off to a 3-2 start with losses to Penn State (by 22 points) and Jacksonville. In what is becoming a world of haves and have-nots in the NIL and transfer portal era, the Hokies increasingly look like have-nots.

Four rotation players from last year’s roster opted to transfer to other major programs – Ole Miss, Miami and two to Vanderbilt – and the incoming transfer class is heavy on developmental projects. A key newcomer, Hysier Miller, was dismissed in the preseason for his role in a point-shaving scandal at his last school.

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