NCAA Tournament bracket (with tip times, TV and sites)
Greensboro, N.C. – Georgia Tech is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010 and for the 17th time in program history. The Yellow Jackets (17-8 overall, 11-6 ACC) captured the automatic bid from the Atlantic Coast Conference after defeating Florida State, 80-75, Saturday night in the ACC Tournament championship game at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum.
The Jackets, who received a No. 9 seed, first face No. 8-seed Loyola of Chicago (24-4), which won the Missouri Valley Conference title last Sunday afternoon with a 75-65 victory over Drake, on Friday, March 19, at a site to be announced. The winner of the Tech-Loyola game will meet the winner of No. 1 seed Illinois (23-6), the Big Ten champion, and No. 16 Drexel (12-7) the champion of the Colonial Athletic Association, in Sunday’s second round.
Friday’s game will tip at 4 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., and be televised nationally on TBS.
This will be the second meeting between Loyola and Georgia Tech and the first since December 30, 1967, when the Ramblers captured a 96-71 victory at Chicago Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets (17-8 overall, 11-6 ACC) captured the fourth ACC title in program history and the first since 1993 after finishing fourth in the regular season. Tech enters the 2021 NCAA Tournament on an eight-game winning streak, not having lost since Feb. 12 at Clemson. Tech won its last six regular-season ACC games, then defeated Miami (70-66) and Florida State in the ACC Tournament, giving the Jackets their longest winning streak since the 1995-96 season.
Tech’s 11 ACC regular-season wins this season matched its 2019-20 total, and its 11-6 mark by percentage (61.1 pct.) is the fourth-best in team history. The 22 conference wins over the last two seasons are the most for the program over a two-year span. Five of the Jackets’ ACC wins came away from home, including road wins at Miami, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest during the current winning streak.
Tech is led by the ACC’s Player of the Year in Moses Wright, a senior from Raleigh, N.C., and a first-team all-conference choice who lead the Jackets in scoring (17.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg). Jose Alvarado, a senior guard from Brooklyn, N.C., made the All-ACC second team and was named the conference Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in steals for the second straight year and helping Tech lead the conference in turnovers forced. He also averaged 15.3 points and 4.2 steals per game. Michael Devoe, a junior guard from Orlando, Fla., was the ACC Tournament MVP after scoring 33 points in Tech’s two wins. He has averaged 15.1 points per game and connected on 40.1 percent of his three-point tries.
Georgia Tech celebrates its Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
TECH’S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Georgia Tech has played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times in its history. Fifteen of those appearances have occurred from 1985 to the present, 10 under head coach Bobby Cremins and five under Paul Hewitt.
Tech has a record of 23-16 in NCAA Tournament play, highlighted by its 2004 trip to the NCAA title game as well as a Final Four berth in 1990. The Yellow Jackets have reached the NCAA Sweet 16 seven times (1960, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2004).
The 2004 and 2005 appearances were Tech’s’ first back-to-back appearances since Bobby Cremins led the Institute to the Big Dance nine straight years from 1985-93.
Georgia Tech has won at least one game in 11 of its 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including its last appearance when the Yellow Jackets defeated Oklahoma State in the opening round before falling to Ohio State as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region in Milwaukee, Wis.
VIDEO: Josh Pastner press conference (Selection Sunday - March 14, 2021)
VIDEO: Jose Alvarado press conference (Selection Sunday - March 14, 2021)
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and the Support The Swarm Fund, created to give fans an opportunity to help Georgia Tech athletics maintain its recent momentum through the financial challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its fifth year under head coach Josh Pastner, having finished fourth in the ACC in 2020-21, the program’s highest finish since 2004. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
-#TogetherWeSwarm-
