Here is What ESPN's BPI Says About Georgia Tech's Matchup With Virginia
After a buzzer-beating win over Wake Forest on Tuesday, Georgia Tech wraps up its regular season seeking a fourth-straight win as it heads into the ACC Tournament. There have been plenty of highs and plenty of lows this season for Damon Stoudamire, but they have a chance to enter the ACC Tournament playing its best basketball of the year.
But they are going to be underdogs once again tonight. The Yellow Jackets were 13.5-point underdogs against Wake on Tuesday, but they found a way to win outright. Not only does Vegas have Georgia Tech as a big underdog tonight, but so does ESPN's BPI.
But what is BPI? Here is how ESPN describes it:
"The Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily."
Tonight, BPI is giving Virginia an 87% chance to win. On Tuesday, BPI gave Wake Forest a 95% chance to win.
Virginia (21-9, 12-7 ACC) has not played since dropping a 73-48 decision last Saturday at Duke. UVA sits alone in third place in the ACC standings but has lost four of its last six games. including home-court defeats to Pittsburgh (74-63) and North Carolina (54-44). The Cavaliers have defeated Wake Forest (49-47) and Boston College (72-68) in that stretch.
Charlottesville is a place that Georgia Tech has had a hard time winning at.
Virginia has won the last 11 games in the series, and 19 of the last 21 meetings to move ahead 48-40 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1947.
Tech is just 1-10 at John Paul Jones Arena and has lost on its last nine trips to Charlottesville. The Jackets’ last win on the Cavaliers’ home court was Jan. 27, 2008, a 92-82 overtime decision.
Miles Kelly (14.6 ppg) leads three Yellow Jackets averaging in double figures this season, including freshman forward Baye Ndongo (11.7) and junior guard Kowacie Reeves, Jr. (10.1). Tech’s other rotation player averaged between 4.8 and 9.4 points per game.