T.M. Selection: Richmond.

Both teams lost to lower-seeded teams in their conference tournament openers, so each saw its NCAA Tournament hopes dashed. Now they face off here in Virginia Tech in the NIT. The Spiders finished 23-9 and the Hokies were 18-14. Richmond's loss to St. Joe's was the bigger upset clearly, as it was the No. 1 seed in the A-10 Tournament. "I think that a postseason appearance, more than ever before, is a great accomplishment," 19-year coach Chris Mooney said Monday. "We've already had a tremendous accomplishment, winning the regular-season championship. This is another opportunity to play in the postseason, to play at an ACC school we greatly respect." While I do think an outright is possible, my call is to grab as many points as you can.

T.M. Prediction: 73-71 Richmond.