First, we have what amounts to a 6-game free for all for the ACC regular season title. I have not done all the math, but I believe UNC, UVA, Louisville, Duke, and Miami all control their own fate. If any of them win out, they win the ACC regular season title. Plus, ND, Clemson, FSU and the Cuse all have outside shots.

What is even better is all these teams play each other, and that means there will be so many big games down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if any team can sweep coming in.

Next, comes the ACC tournament, which will also be a free for all.

Then finally, there is the NCAA tournament

For UVA, our next game is at Duke, and while playing Duke is always huge, you know that both Coach K and CTB have marked this game as extra special. While LP was mellow about V. Tech as he is from Cali, you know the whole team from CTB down wants to beat Duke very badly, and you know Coach K is very worried that if he starts losing to CTB that his time as king of the ACC may be coming to an end.

Also, the match ups are fascinating. Allen v. Brogdon is going to be classic. Plus, the match ups with bigs will be key. I do not see how the Duke bigs can stop Gill, and imho, this is the game for Tobey to shine. He finally gets to go against a guy slower than him. I expect a lot of zone from Duke, which means we may need Nolte to hit a shot or two to open the middle for Brogdon.

It is a great time to be fan.

So in 2012 when we finally started winning, I learned the game of "what place has UVa reached now" ... the idea is mathematically what is possible based on the current standings. Sort of like a "magic number" in baseball in reverse. I like seeing how it moves game to game this time of year and things start really shaking out.

At 8-3, the Hoos have guaranteed themselves to finish no worse than 8-10. BC and Wake have each lost 10 and thanks to the miracle in Winston-Salem, UVa holds the tiebreaker on each. Therefore, the worst UVa can finish is 13th with the 12 seed in the tournament (because of UL's non-participation). Obviously we won't finish anywhere near there, but that is the guarantee, home jerseys on opening day of the ACCT.

If they can win tonight, it won't change anything other than to guarantee 9-9 and to mean that NC State can do no better than tie UVa at 9-9 (though the Pack could still win in Cville and get the tiebreaker). Winning tonight and Saturday puts us ahead of an NC State tiebreak and into, at worst, a tie with GT (provided they beat Wake in Atlanta this week).

And for those who look at this as pessimism, I only do it based on what is mathematically possible in the most simplistic way. I'm sure there are ways to show that it would be mathematically impossible to fall below a certain point based on other results in the league (for instance, Cuse and FSU play Thursday night and each has five losses, so somebody gets put 2 or 3 games back of us, depending on our outcome tonight ... i.e., everybody can't run the table).

Anyway, just interesting to note. We're one or two wins away from guaranteeing one bye in the tournament. The difference between one bye and two will probably be pretty slim this season.

has been so good the last four games: 47, 47, 50 and 49 points allowed.

Granted, they haven't been against great offensive teams, but with the new rules I think it's something to feel accomplished about.

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After No. 7 UVa won its seventh game in a row in a 67-49 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night, senior forwards Anthony Gill and Mike Tobey talked about the game, about playing better defense during the streak, about taking advantage of the Hokies in the post, and more.

We are ranked number one and look to be playing well this early. UCLA was 9.

Greetings from JPJ where Virginia Tech and No. 7 UVa will tip it up in about an hour. I'll be back with starters shortly. This is something to keep an eye on, though.

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As always, have at it folks...

First of all it's important because everyone who was born a UVA fan hates the Hokies, but the current theme to the season in a way is we sometimes play down to competition. Just because Tech is 13-11 shouldn't mean a thing because when they're knocking down shots they're a very good ballclub. This is a type of game that might frustrate us on the board because we might be sitting with a 10 point lead, but don't seem to want to push it to 20 where tonight would be a good indicator of us learning lessons from early in the season to put teams away when we need to. Hopefully Tony's not tinkering with his lineup too much because Tech will attack the rim and shoot the three point shot. I fully expect us to win by 12 to 15. It would be disappointing if it's close throughout just because we're clearly the better ballclub even though I feel in the last match up Buzz outcoached Tony (God forgive me for saying that).

Midwest 2 seed

With Iowa as the 1

First round vs SF Austin

32 vs Utah or VCU
16 Texas A&M is the 3 seed

Utah in a 32 matchup would be tough

Iowa-Iowa St on the other half of bracket

I know it's only early February, but March will be here soon and I get super excited thinking about this stuff

A Duke win gives us sole possession of second place. Depending on how you feel about momentum, it could be good or bad for Saturday. I prefer to look at it as good. I'd rather face Duke at Cameron after they have won three in a row than after a loss. I am rooting for Duke.

Gill was one of ten athletes named to the 2016 Allstate Good Works Team for his contributions to the community. Gill follows Harris, who was named in 2014, and Brogdon, who was named in 2015. UVA has been very fortunate to attract such young men to the grounds, and they have been very fortunate to have a coach who emphasizes the five pillars.

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From UVa:

Virginia and Old Dominion announced today (Feb. 8) the first football series between the two programs. The three-game series is scheduled for the 2018, 2020 and 2022 seasons. The first and last games in the series will be held in Charlottesville while the middle contest will take place in Norfolk.

The specific dates and locations for the games are listed below and subject to change:

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 – Charlottesville, Va.

Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020 – Norfolk, Va.

Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022 – Charlottesville, Va.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams from the Commonwealth. ODU restarted its program in 2009 after previously fielding a team for 11 seasons from 1930 to 1941. At that time the school was known as the Norfolk College of William & Mary. The two schools never faced each other during the first era of ODU football.

Funny, no mention of this anywhere on ESPN (for now). Check out Allen fulfilling some prophecies...

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/02/duke-grayson-allen-villain-trips-louisville-player-intentionally

Love the part about Perrantes barking at Tobey. That's the kind of floor leadership we need from our big three of Malcolm, London, and Anthony.http://www.dailypress.com/sports/uva/dp-spt-teel-column-uva-pitt-20160206-column.html

UVa has moved up to No. 7 in the updates Associated Press Top 25.

Link

Top 10? Top 20? Based on history, recruiting potential, location, exposure, etc. what would you consider the top 10 jobs...if they all were to come open...in the country?

1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Arizona
4. Duke...want to see what someone other than K can do there before I'll say it's the best job
5. Kansas
6. Michigan State
7. Indiana
8. Louisville
9. UCLA...job has lost some luster, but they're still UCLA
10. Florida/Texas/Michigan...consider these 3 jobs about equal in prestige, but all 3 face the challenge of being a football-first program

FWIW I'd put UVa somewhere 15-20 right now...only thing keeping us from higher is sustained history.

Riding high off the win do wanted to start a fun thread..... To me the answer is easy: Bryant Stith. But wanted to see if anyone else had any thoughts?

If we get things done this week, we will be looking good.

We've all discussed the improvement of the ACC this season and how stout it is. Thought I would try and start a conversation about overrated and underrated conferences amongst the biggest seven or eight leagues.

ACC - Very stout. 5 top 25, 9 top 50, 13 top 100, only 1 sub 150.
Big XII-ish - The best. 6 top 25, 7 top 50 (and TT at 52 for 8 of 10 teams in the top 52), and 1 sub 150.
B1G - OVERRATED. 4 top 25, but only those 4 in the top 50, only 8 top 100, 3 sub 150.
Big East - Solid, but not as good as last year. 2 top 10, 4 top 50, 7 top 100, 1 sub 150.
Pac-12 - UNDERRATED. 3 top 25 but 7 top 50 and 11 top 100.
SEC - Mediocre. 4 in the top 26, but no one else in the top 50. 5 teams at 88 or lower and 4 below 100.

I rank them as Big XII, ACC/Pac-12 in a tie for second (just different numbers of teams, but maybe a slight edge for the ACC's top end), Big East, B1G and SEC.