It wasn’t that long ago that ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi was predicting a Virginia Tech-Davidson matchup in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Now that both are almost sure to miss out on the NCAAs, we could see them play each other in the NIT.

Think the NIT selection committee is considering that potential pairing right now? If not, you better start, because there’s a strong possibility Stephen Curry and the Wildcats will be playing the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum some day very soon.

For those who don’t know the story, Curry is the son of former Virginia Tech legend Dell Curry, who went on to become one of the best shooters the NBA has ever seen. Stephen’s brother Seth led all freshmen in scoring this year at Liberty. Both brothers were lightly recruited by the Hokies and chose to play elsewhere.

Now one of them could get his chance at revenge.

Another intriguing possible NIT matchup would be Tech and VMI. The Keydets play a style no team can easily prepare for, even one like Tech that has been tossed around in the rough-and-tumble ACC this year.

It’s unfortunate the Hokies couldn’t get the resume building wins needed to make the NCAAs. They are an NCAA caliber team. They just play in a league that presents monumental challenges on a daily basis. The fact that they closed their season with games against Florida State, Clemson, Duke, UNC, Florida State, Miami and UNC didn’t help them much either. Not many teams could be expected to emerge from that gantlet of opponents with an NCAA tournament bid in hand.

Tech made a valiant effort Friday in the ACC tournament quarterfinals. It was in contention until the final buzzer, but the Tar Heels were able to answer everything it threw at them. And they were much deeper. And they had one of the ACC’s top players ever in forward Tyler Hansbrough.

Friday’s loss didn’t prevent Tech from getting in the NCAAs, by the way. Last second losses to Xavier, Wisconsin, Georgia and Boston College did. Winning two of those might have done the trick. But those are the breaks.

On the bright side, if the Hokies advance in the NIT, they have a chance to host three more games like last year, and getting to the semifinals would include a trip to New York’s Madison Square Garden, basketball’s Mecca in the eyes of coach Seth Greenberg.