… well, I think you know what probably happened. Same ol’ story: competitive, but not nearly enough.

A reader unloads after the Miami loss:

For crying out loud….! What happened to the days when we’re supposed to win handily on our home court? Since the Miami game wasn’t on TV where I could catch it, I didn’t get to read about this recent loss until this morning. I have to agree with most of what I’ve read on the Message Board Friday AM. We can’t pass, much less get one into the low post. And even if we did, we don’t have anyone who can take it to the rim with authority. There’s a severe lack of super athletics on our squad, and there are no ball fakers who can create shots and make crisp passes for opportunities. Teams overwhelm us by simply shutting down our most productive players. I’m getting fed up just as much as any other fan out there at “super-recruiter” Leitao’s incessant excuses. Well, that’s my rant for the day.

If you’ve got comments for me on this or anything, send ‘em to mahini@thesabre.com.

If the men’s basketball team decided to quit the rest of the season, would anyone blame them?

So, in the giant checklist of losing, I don’t think going bone dry for the final three plus minutes of a tied game was checked off yet. It is now. After Jeff Jones tied the game with a clutch three, the Hoos notched three turnovers, three missed shots, and a foul, while Miami score the last 7 points of the game.

Next up: losing a game at the last second! This checklist is almost complete.

“Being able to retain [my assistant coaches] here – now going into our sixth season – has as much to do with our consistency as anything else.” – Brian O’Connor (in the Feb. 2009 Cavalier Corner).

Thinking about my last question, I thought the easiest way to look for an answer would be to put together a list of Groh’s first coaching staff:

Head Coach – Al Groh
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Bill Musgrave
Defensive Coordinator – Al Golden
Special Teams – Corwin Brown
Running backs – Kevin Ross
Wide receivers – Mike Groh
Offensive line – Ron Prince
Linebackers/Assistant HC/Recruiting Coordinator – Dan Rocco
Defensive Line – Mike London
Defensive Backs – Bob Price

So, how many of those positions have turned over since the first season? All of them. In fact, Bob Price is the only one consistently on the staff, and he’s was a Welsh holdover anyway.

Ah, but find me any coach that has kept his entire staff intact, you say? Well, good point. But every single coaching job? And almost every single assistant?

In fact, some of the positions have changed hands multiple times. By my quick count, Groh has had four different offensive coordinators in his nine years. And he’s had a bit more continuity generally speaking at defensive coordinator … until recently. Five different DCs, with two changes happening this year.

Coaching staff changes are a way of life in college football, but too much destroys continuity. Successful assistant coaches move on all the time, but there’s also such a thing as too much turnover. And I think that may be one of Groh’s bigger problems.

Has every position in Al Groh’s coaching staff been turned over at some point except for his?

If Virginia’s women’s basketball team beats Georgia Tech in its final game, the Hoos get sole possession of the 5th seed in the ACC tourney.

But what if the Wrambling Wreck wins? Then it gets complicated.

If Georgia Tech wins its last two games against Virginia and Virginia Tech, they’d force a tie with the Hoos in the conference standings. But if BC wins its last two games, the Eagles would join ‘em in a 3-way tie.

Looking at the rules I just posted, this tie would work like this: first, we’d look at their records against each other to see who did best. Here, though, each team would have won one and lost one in the group, so we’d have to move on to the next tiebreak rule.

That rule requires a comparison of the tied teams’ records against the best team in the conference and on down in the standings. Thus, if FSU is the outright top team, we’d compare the teams’ results against the Seminoles. And, so the rules Virginia’s win against FSU would pay big dividends, since Georgia Tech and BC both lost to Florida State.

FSU could end up tied with Maryland, and BC has a chance at a win against Maryland still, but Virginia beat both Maryland and FSU this season (2-2 overall). These two wins would trump BC’s lonely win against any of the top 4 teams above the this 3-way tie.

Georgia Tech has a win against Duke, and the Blue Devils could end up tied for first with FSU. But the same story unfolds: that would be Georgia Tech’s only win in the top 4. Virginia’s win against FSU would match Georgia Tech’s win against Duke, and Virginia would trump with its win against the (at worst) tied-for-second Maryland team under this scenario.

But it’s not all tiebreak heaven for the Hoos. In fact, if BC doesn’t win both games, then the 2-way tie between Virginia and Georgia Tech would be broken by looking at the head-to-head between the two, of course. And Georgia Tech had to beat Virginia to forge this tie in the first place, so bye bye Hoos.

Moral of the story: Virginia needs to beat Georgia Tech to avoid this mess. And rooting for Boston College and Virginia Tech along the way wouldn’t hurt.

More on this shortly, but I asked for and received the following from the ACC’s media department:

ACC Manual. Section V-2 (pgs 64-65)
c) SEEDING. Seeding for the Basketball Championship will be determined by the regular season Conference standings. In case of a tie, the following formula will be used:
 
1) When two teams are tied in the standings, regular season head-to-head results are used as the tiebreaker.
 
2) If the tied teams played each other twice in the regular season and split their games, then each team’s record vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings (or in case of a tied for first place, the next highest position in the regular season standings) and then continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.
 
a) When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tie-breaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
 
b) When comparing records against a single team or a group of teams, the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against a team or group is unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1; 1-0 is the same as 2-0; 2-0 is the same as 4-0, 2-1 is the same as 4-2; 1-0 is better than 1-1; 0-1 is the same as 0-2; 0-2 is the same as 0-4). If the winning percentage of the tied teams is equal against a team, or a group of tied teams, continue down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.
 
3) If three or more teams are tied in the standings, the following procedures will be used:
 
a) The combined record of conference games between the tied teams involved will be compiled. Ties will be broken and seedings assigned based on the winning percentage of the combined conference records.  The higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group is unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1; 1-0 is the same as 2-0; 2-0 is the same as 4-0; 2-1 is the same as 4-2; 1-0 is better than 1-1; 0-1 is the same as 0-2; 0-2 is the same as 0-4).
 
b) If procedure (a) fails to break the tie, then each tied team’s record shall be compared to the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage by a higher winning percentage.
 
c) If the tie is broken by (a) or (b) regarding one or more teams, but three or more teams remain tied, then procedures (a) and (b) will be re-applied among those tied teams only.
 
d) If two teams remain tied, procedures (1) and (2) will be followed.
 
4) If there is more than one tie in the standings, and when utilizing the tie-breaking procedures there are a pair of teams tied, a team’s record against the combined tied teams (prior to their own tie-breaking procedures) is used, rather than performance against the individual tied teams.
 
5) If procedures (2) and/or (3) fail to establish an advantage, a coin flip to break the tie will be conducted by the Commissioner after the final regular season game before the Conference Championship.
 
6) If a coin flip or draw (for a three or more teams tied) is required, the procedure takes place immediately following the conclusion of the last regular season game prior to the Conference Championship. The procedure is administered by the Commissioner or a designated assistant.  This session is open to the media and to the athletics department representatives from the tied teams.

A big conference win, as the #21 Hoos take down the ACC leading/#11 Seminoles in Tallahassee, rallying from a slow start and a 9-point halftime deficit to win 68-63. The Hoos avenged an earlier season home loss to FSU. Big night for Lyndra Littles (24 points), Monica Wright (17 point), and Aisha Mohammed (15 points and 11 rebounds).

The Hoos are now 8-5 in the conference, good for 5th place right now. And, looking at the remaining relevant schedules, Virginia has nowhere to go but down, if tie breakers work against them. While they only trail third and fourth place Carolina and Duke by two games, there’s only one game left in Virginia’s regular season. Not enough space to move up in the standings. However, the teams right behind the Hoos (Georgia Tech and BC) are back two games and have two to play, giving both teams a shot at forcing a tie break situation. In fact, Virginia’s last game is against the Wreck, which means Georgia Tech has a little control over handing UVa a final loss. However, if Virginia holds serve, they lock up the 5th seed in the ACC tourney.