Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 4, 1995                   TAG: 9503070017
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TECH'S BID CAN'T TAKE ANOTHER HIT

Whether Vince Lombardi said it or not, Bill Foster really can be that succinct and honest with his Virginia Tech basketball team before today's tipoff.

In the 102nd and last Metro Conference game in 17 seasons at Cassell Coliseum, the Hokies must beat regular-season champ UNC Charlotte to stay on the NCAA Tournament fence. If Tech (19-9, 5-6 Metro) loses for the fifth time in the past seven games, it likely will be the subject of NITpickers.

The Hokies are playing for their first 20-win season since 1985-86 and trying to reach a different kind of Fortune .500 list. They'll also be trying to land in the opposite bracket from host Louisville for next weekend's Metro tournament at Freedom Hall. That might give the NCAA Basketball Committee another chance to consider the Hokies.

No matter who wins today's other Metro game - Southern Mississippi visits Tulane - a Tech triumph over UNCC (19-6) will give the Hokies the fourth seed in the tournament, while the Cardinals will be second behind bye-catching UNCC, or third.

If the Hokies win today, they'll face the Southern Miss-Tulane loser at noon Friday in the opener of the 20th and last Metro tournament. If the Hokies lose today, regardless of the outcome at Tulane, Tech-Louisville is a Metro first-round date Friday night.

If the Hokies are grousing about having played their way into this corner, at least their destiny is in their own hands. Whether Foster's six iron horses have enough hands to beat the 49ers is a good question, since Tech's 71-60 loss at UNCC last month is the Hokies' largest scoreboard deficit this season.

But Jeff Mullins' club has been anything but spectacular recently. UNCC lost at East Carolina by 12, then barely beat a mediocre James Madison club on the road in the last 10 days.

In the Metro, however, the 49ers aren't alone in their stutter-stepping toward a Metro tourney that figures to be wild and wondrous - like those wondering whether Tech athletic director Dave Braine and his VCU counterpart, Dick Sander, will speak to anyone in the league except each other.

Although no one really knows what's running through the minds and computer of the NCAA committee, it's generally agreed upon that the Metro will get no more than three NCAA bids, despite the league's No.3 Rating Percentage Index standing and its No.7 strength of schedule ranking.

UNCC is regarded as a lock, perhaps because in games against Metro teams considered NCAA contenders, only the 49ers will finish with a winning record (6-2 or 5-3) and their three league defeats came with star Jarvis Lang hampered by an eye laceration.

So, it's likely four teams are playing for two spots.

Louisville (16-12), which figures to get a 13th loss Sunday at home against UCLA, might have to win the Metro tourney to reach the field of 64, although the Cardinals could get some committee relief for the four straight losses suffered with star freshman Samaki Walker on the sideline. The Cards have played the nation's seventh-toughest schedule, but are only 2-6 against clubs in the RPI's top 50.

Since Feb.1, UNCC, Tech and Tulane are 5-4. Louisville is 4-4 and Southern Miss 4-5. In the RPI, the order of ranking in the Metro is UNCC, Tech, Louisville, Tulane and Southern Miss.

In strength of schedule, it's Louisville, Southern Miss (15-10), the Hokies, the 49ers and Tulane (20-8), which has played only two games on opponents' floors all season, and lost both(?). Tech's No. 55 ranking should improve after games with Virginia and UNCC (16th and 27th) this week.

In non-conference games, the Green Wave is 2-2 against Top 50 RPI teams. The Hokies are 2-3 (beating Nebraska and Xavier and losing to North Carolina, Illinois and UVa). Charlotte is 1-0 (over George Washington), Southern Miss 1-2. As for losses to Bottom 150 teams, Tech and Tulane have none, while Louisville fell to Towson State, Charlotte lost to Davidson and ECU, and Morehead State topped Southern Miss.

Of course, none of this will matter to the Hokies if they don't reach 6-6 in the league. A loss today means Tech's road to the Final Four - even in the Metro - will go through Louisville in more ways than one.