Remember folks, the 2007-08 Hokies are playing with house money at this point, even after Tuesday night’s 73-63 road setback at the hands of the nc state wolfpack. At 5-4 in the ACC, the Hokies have already eclipsed the pre-season expectations of most so called prognosticators (including this one). I would assume that anyone who predicted that this youthful group would be in this position going into the second week of February also would have predicted back in mid- December that the Giants would beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

It was great to see the grit, determination, and never say die attitude the Hokies showed in Raleigh as they tried to battle back from a 19 point first half deficit. Even though they couldn’t pull this one out, they did make a game of it in the second half, cutting the lead to six, 54-48, on A.D. Vassallo’s three with just over eight minutes to go. Frankly, in season’s past, when the Hokies fell behind early as they did Tuesday, things seemed to snowball into an ugly loss.

Don’t overlook the miami hurricanes, even though they are coming off losses at duke and at home to fsu. The canes feature a tough inside game led by anthony king which will be a tough test for young Jeff Allen and J.T. Thompson. Guard jack mcclinton is one of the best pure shooters in the ACC and is capable of taking over a game by himself if he gets hot. With road games at unc and maryland looming this is a huge game for the Hokies.

No big surprise that tomorrow’s 2:00 tipoff will not be televised since the “experts” picked Tech & Miami 10th and 11th respectively in the pre-season ACC forecast. Memo to Raycom: how about working in some sort of flex-scheduling that would allow surprise teams (like Tech, miami, and wake) to have their games televised over games that feature teams that turn out to be duds (uva).

Some more house cleaning…..

• Expect a different outcome in the carolina – duke rematch in Durham if ty lawson is able to go.
• Talk about your home cooking: nc state went to the free throw line three times (30) than the Hokies (10).
• Looking forward to many more battles between Jeff Allen and state’s jj hickson. You’d better bring it if you’re going to challege one of those two on the inside.
• clemson 82, uva 51, in Charlottesville. ‘Nuf said. The wheels are off that wagon.

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