Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Tech guard Malcolm Delaney is not concerned by the easy nonconference schedule, saying the Hokies are playing well.

BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team still lacks a marquee win, but coach Seth Greenberg isn't fretting.

The Hokies are off to a 10-1 start thanks to a soft schedule. Their loss came against Temple, which was their one chance so far to get a win that will impress the NCAA tournament selection committee come March.

It's doubtful that victories over the likes of Penn State, Iowa and Maryland-Baltimore County will dazzle the committee. But Greenberg sees plenty of chances for quality wins on the horizon.

"We've got 16 chances to impress the NCAA committee -- plus Seton Hall," Greenberg said. "So it's not like we don't have opportunities to impress people."

Tech, which is No. 65 in the Rating Percentage Index, faces Seton Hall (9-2) on Saturday, followed by ACC play.

But wouldn't it have been great if Tech had played another strong foe so it could've had another chance to impress the committee?

"We don't have to impress anybody," point guard Malcolm Delaney said. "We've got a top league. We don't care about this [nonleague schedule looking weak]. People can say whatever they want about our schedule -- we're playing good basketball. If you want to say, 'Well, we're not playing good teams,' you can say that. We don't really care. We're getting better as a team."

The Hokies are ranked No. 251 in strength of schedule so far in the RPI. Their schedule strength will take another dip when they play Longwood on Wednesday. Longwood is No. 305 out of 347 Division I schools in the RPI.

Only two ACC teams, Virginia and Miami, have a worse ranking in schedule strength than the Hokies. Virginia Tech is one of only three ACC teams ranked below No. 180 in that category, although five of the ACC teams with a better strength of schedule than the Hokies have already gotten a boost by playing an ACC game.

"I don't think our schedule's been bad," Greenberg said. "It's no different than the [type the] majority of the teams in our league play.

"We're going to play made-for-television games in our nonconference schedule. ... We'll always play in a good [tournament], and hopefully play in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge every year. We'll play one or two BCS conference teams home-and-home. ... Our schedule philosophy is not a whole lot different than anyone else in our league."

The Hokies have yet to beat a team currently ranked in the top 90 of the RPI. Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Wake Forest and N.C. State all have at least one nonleague win so far over a top-90 foe.

Greenberg had no say when Tech was assigned Iowa (5-7) in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. But he did schedule a home-and-home series with Georgia, which is hardly an SEC power such as Tennessee. He also scheduled a home-and-home series with Penn State, which is not a Big Ten power such as Ohio State. Even the Colonial Athletic Association team he scheduled (Delaware) is not a CAA power such as Virginia Commonwealth.

"We tried to get in the Jimmy V [Classic]; we couldn't get in," Greenberg said. "Syracuse isn't playing me home-and-home. Georgetown's not playing me home-and-home. Villanova's not playing me home-and-home. I tried to play West Virginia in Washington, D.C."

Virginia Tech's best win so far has come against Georgia (6-4), which is No. 96 in the RPI. Greenberg expects the NCAA committee will consider the win over Georgia and the win at No. 213 Penn State (8-4) to be good victories.

Seton Hall, which entered Saturday No. 71 in the RPI, will provide Tech with the chance for its best win so far. The Pirates and Hokies will meet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2 in Cancun, Mexico. ESPN is paying Tech a $70,000 game guarantee, plus hotel expenses.

While Tech hasn't helped its NCAA case yet, it hasn't hurt it, either. Tech has yet to lose to a bad team, like it did last season when it fell at Georgia or two years ago when it lost to Richmond, ODU and Penn State.

Greenberg said his main message to the Hokies is "not getting caught up in winning, but the things that lead to winning."

He is happy with Tech's improvement on defense, although he said the team is "not close to where we need to be." He is also pleased with the improved play of Dorenzo Hudson.

Greenberg's plan to employ the motion offense this season didn't pan out, though. He scrapped the motion offense after Tech went 1-1 at the Palestra in Philadelphia in late November, losing to Temple and needing overtime to beat Delaware.

"It just didn't fit what we were really trying to do," Greenberg said. "It's been good for us because we're a better screening team because of it; we're waiting on screens better. ... But in the end, ... we weren't making enough plays out of it.

"It takes a long time to develop. I'm not sure I was willing to invest that amount of time to get it where it needed to be."