Hokies Feel Lowe

Don't know exactly what Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenburg is thinking when this photo was taken, but given the trouncing his team took at the hands of Sidney Lowe's "we-go-six-deep" NC State, you can probably figure it out.

2. Ohio State: at Minnesota. Have we mentioned how many lakes Minnesota has? OSU wins, though, despite the great ice-fishing talents of the Gophers. Yup. Some pretty nice lakes up in Minnesota. Ohio State wins, though, and will most likely be #1 tomorrow.

23. USC: at Arizona State. You have to feel sorry for this ASU team. They have not one even a game in conference this season. Are they channeling the Wake Forest team of last season? Unfortunately, they will not win this game either. You have to feel good for the Sun Devils. They get a win against a top-ranked team, they break a 15-game losing streak, and they are no longer at risk of going down in the archives of the Pac-10 as the only team not to win a game in-conference for a season. Herb Sendek, son of a coal-miner's daughter (true drama: from his bio) and disciple of Ricky P, deserves this small break, because, folks, he is not that good. But, for tonight, he is.

25. Virginia Tech: at North Carolina State. Both teams have beaten UNC, but State has lost 3 in a row. Hokies win. OK, if you're Virginia Tech going into this game--coming off the battle with UNC at Chapel Hill on Thursday, and given the fact that NC State beat the Hokies at Blacksburg only three weeks ago--there will be some challenges. The Tech players are probably tired, and the Wolfpack players and fans are going to be fired up. So, you take what you can get in the first half, then come out firing, using your arsenal of 9-deep to eventually wear down the extremely young and depth-challenged State players. Sounds good, right? Well, that's not exactly what happened today. Today, the Hokies looked like this may have been their first time playing together as a team. They were lost. They didn't defend or share or hustle or care (we're rhyming again--we got skills). The Hokies had a pitiful 10 assists; ONE Tech player scored in double figures (BTW: FOUR Hokies average double figures this season); and VT pulled down a whopping 20 rebounds (NOTE: they average 34 per game for the season). But what about DEFENSE? Sure, NC State got hot from the arc. No big deal. Just step out and play defense and make them beat you with something else. But no, that was not to be, as the Hokies just continued to let State shoot and shoot and shoot. Hell, the Wolfpack made the same percentage from 3-point range as they did from total FGs--66.7%. One out of every three of their shots were 3-pointers. Just one more mind-blowing stat for you: only one player off of the State bench scored. And how did he score? Well, he hit a 3-pointer, of course. Sorry for the rant, but if you're going to play in the ACC, and if you're going to be ranked in the top-25, then you should give a crap and try the best you can to win every game. The Hokies (we are assuming now that a Hokie is a type of sloth) need to step it up.

New poll tomorrow. The top 5 should be very interesting. Look for Duke to make a triumphal re-entry into the top-25 with horns blowing and Coach Cry riding in on a little donky with Dook Vitale waving palm stalks and McRoberts and company following behind arguing about who is Coach Cry's pet this season. We hope Virginia will be in the top-25, and that the sorry-ass Hokies will not.

Speaking of the Blue Satans, we watched Georgia Tech lose to Duke today. First off, let's just say Billy Packer, like Dook Vitale, has sold his soul to the Blue Satans. Even when that team from Durham was "cheating" Packer was approving. For instance, when yet another Dook player was on the positive end of a "charging" call, Packer said, "That was another great flop. They have had several of those today." Can you imagine if Packer thought Tyler Hansbrough had gotten a charging call by "flopping"? He would have been livid! But, as with most of the sold-out media, Coach AMEX and his team of whining and flopping Satans can do no wrong.

Four games tomorrow, so let's break them down for you:

5. Pitt: at Seton Hall. The Pirates look sketchy as of late, with the loss to Louisville and the close call at home with Washington--both this week. But let's face it, Seton Hall will need a miracle to pull off a win here. They can't seem to win at home or on the road. Pitt wins.

8. Kansas: play at Kansas State. ESPN at 9:00 EST. Watch this. KSU has lost one game at home this season, and they will be smelling revenge from the 27-point hurting that the Jayhawks put on them earlier in the season. The Wildcats are a good team, but their biggest flaw is not sharing the rock. If they can look to pass (especially the easy ones down low that lead to high-percentage shots), and if they can get some production from typically quiet guys like Akeem Wright, then they have a good chance to win. In fact, we're going to call the upset. Kansas State wins.

12. Butler: at Wisconsin-GB. Butler is average, but WGB is bad. Butler wins.

13. Marquette: hosts Villanova. Marquette wins. No need to spend any time on this one.

Arrivederci.