Date: Saturday, November 19
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Williams Stadium, Lynchburg, VA
How To Watch: ESPN+
Record: Virginia Tech (2-8), Liberty (8-2)
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Why Virginia Tech Will Win
It’s not like the Hokies are getting wiped out.
They’re losing – seven in a row after starting the season 2-1 – but they were in most of the games with four of the losses by six points or fewer.
They’re failing to come up with the big plays at the right times to push through, but the defensive front hasn’t been bad against the run and the offense is getting its chances.
The Hokies haven’t allowed more than 28 points in over a month, and now they need a few breaks. That’s a problem because …
They’ve managed just seven takeaways on the year with a mere four over the last eight games. The offense isn’t good at going on long drives, third down conversions are a struggle, and the team isn’t able to control the time of possession battle to settle everything down.
Liberty turns it over a lot, but it takes it away a ton, too – it cleans up its messes. It’s got the defensive front to be disruptive and force mistakes, the pass rush should dominate the Hokies offensive front, and the secondary should have a decent day.
Virginia Tech is 0-8 when it fails to complete 64% of its passes. Only UConn and UAB were able to hit that mark against the Liberty defense.
Virginia Tech will struggle to consistently score, but it’ll hang around in this just enough to make it interesting into the fourth quarter.
Liberty’s defense will clamp down in the fourth quarter, the running game will take over when it has to, and the loss to UConn last week will be put in the rearview mirror.
Rankings reflect the final regular-season top 25 coaches poll.
Kickoff between the Vols and Hokies is slated for 11 a.m. EST at Tennessee Rugby Park. Admission is $5 and students can attend for free.
The Tennessee-Virginia Tech winner will play the winner between UMass and St. Joseph’s Dec. 3 at Penn State Berks in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The national championship will take place Dec. 10 in Houston, Texas.
Tennessee Rugby Park will also host a quarterfinal game Saturday between No. 1 Louisville and No. 10 South Carolina (2 p.m. EST). The winner will play No. 7 Binghamton and No. 5 James Madison. Both semifinal games will be played at Penn State Berks Dec. 3.
No. 2 Tennessee will play No. 9 Virginia Tech Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Collegiate Rugby Championship.
Kickoff between the Vols and Hokies is slated for 11 a.m. EST at Tennessee Rugby Park. Admission is $5 and students can attend for free.
The Tennessee-Virginia Tech winner will play the winner between UMass and St. Joseph’s Dec. 3 at Penn State Berks in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The national championship will take place Dec. 10 in Houston, Texas.
Tennessee Rugby Park will also host a quarterfinal game Saturday between No. 1 Louisville and No. 10 South Carolina (2 p.m. EST). The winner will play No. 7 Binghamton and No. 5 James Madison. Both semifinal games will be played at Penn State Berks Dec. 3.
My colleague and man I am happy to call a friend Pete Fiutak at College Football News calls what Notre Dame football has with the ACC: “A friends with benefits deal”. Look, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake won’t be making a movie about it anytime soon, but it’s impossible to argue against Pete’s point. Notre Dame keeps their independence while having to play a handful of ACC opponents annually for the foreseeable future. Benefits indeed!
Listen, I’d rather have traditional rivals Michigan, Michigan State, Pitt, and Purdue on the schedule regularly. Instead we’re treated to regular meetings with Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest, and the sort. It might not thrill the casual fan but it’s still a lot better than joining a conference full-time.
With the destruction of Clemson just over a week ago and Boston College headed to South Bend this weekend I thought it’d be a good time to take a look at Notre Dame and the ACC. Notre Dame sits at 7-3 entering Saturday’s date with the Eagles with a 3-0 mark against ACC foes this year.
No. 13 North Carolina, Syracuse, and No. 9 Clemson all have suffered losses at the hands of the Irish this year. We know nothing is a guarantee with Notre Dame at home this year (see Marshall and Stanford) but the Irish enter this weekend as a three-score favorite. Win that game and they’ll again sweep the regular season series with the ACC, something they’ve done every year since 2018.
So I was curious – how many regular season wins against ACC teams does Notre Dame have since 2018? And how does that compare to the rest of the league?
Here is the amount of regular season wins against ACC opponents each ACC team and Notre Dame have accumulated since the start of 2018, starting with the fewest.
Virginia Tech vs Duke game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 11 game on Saturday, November 12
Virginia Tech vs Duke prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 11, Saturday, November 12
Virginia Tech vs Duke How To Watch
Date: Saturday, November 12
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, NC
How To Watch: ESPN3
Record: Virginia Tech (2-7), Duke (6-3)
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It’s been a disastrous year for the Hokies, but they’re improving week after week – at least they’re competitive – and they’re in games.
No, the offense isn’t great, and no, the defense hasn’t been anything special, but they lost the last two games by two points combined and game Miami a fight in a 20-14 loss before that.
The running game isn’t working and the O struggles to get to 300 yards, but the defensive front is getting behind the line, the run D hasn’t been bad, and …
Yeah, the offense is having problems. It got past 300 yards just twice against FCS teams so far and lost both games.
There isn’t enough of a downfield passing game to worry about and there are way too many mistakes being made. One game penalties are a problem, the next game turnovers are an issue, and not helping the cause is a defense that generated just four takeaways in the last eight games since the opening loss to Old Dominion.
Duke has been one of the season’s most pleasant surprises, and now it’s bowl eligible.
The turnovers are kept to a minimum mainly because the offense doesn’t have to press. The strong running game will keep on going with over 200 yards, and the defense will catch a break – the mediocre secondary won’t get bombed on.
Duke 30, Virginia Tech 20
Line: Duke -9.5, o/u: 49.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Virginia Tech vs Duke Must See Rating (out of 5): 2
– Predictions of Every Game
Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 10 game on Saturday, November 5
Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 10, Saturday, November 5
Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech How To Watch
Date: Saturday, November 5
Game Time: 12:30 ET
Venue: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA
How To Watch: ESPN3
Record: Georgia Tech (3-5), Virginia Tech (2-6)
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The star quarterback had foot issues and missed the Florida State game and most of the loss to Virginia. The O didn’t do much without him, and the team needs his rushing to crank things up.
It’s this simple for the Yellow Jackets – they’re 3-0 when the run for 180 yards or more, and ran for fewer than 125 yards in all five losses. The Virginia Tech run defense has been fine, but that’s partly because everyone is too busy throwing it.
Only West Virginia and Pitt were able to run for more than 180 yards on the Hokie defense.
The offense is sputtering, but the D has been able to hold up enough to keep the team in most games. Georgia Tech’s offense isn’t going to run away and hide with this.
Things have started to slip over the last few weeks, but North Carolina, West Virginia, and Pitt can all get the offense moving. Even with Sims, Georgia Tech is awful on third downs, doesn’t come up with enough points when the chances are there, and overall averages an ACC-low 306 yards per game.
Which team can make fewer mistakes and which one can take advantage of the errors on the other side? Georgia Tech is better at limiting the turnovers and penalties.
First one to 20 wins?
This should be interesting and tight, but look elsewhere if you want an offensive firefight.
Georgia Tech 20, Virginia Tech 17
Line: Virginia Tech -2.5, o/u: 40.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1
Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech Must See Rating (out of 5): 2.5
– Predictions of Every Game
But it feels like there’s more parity in the sport this year too. The ACC seems to be wide open after N.C. State graduated four starters, so perhaps Jeff Walz can help Louisville slide into the top spot after a Final Four run last year. Like its men’s team, UNC is ranked in the preseason Top 25 Poll, and the odds for Virginia Tech to surge to a national championship are enticing.
What will be the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament?
After a breakout NCAA Tournament run last season, Hailey Van Lith is back for Louisville. (Mitchell Northam / For The Win)
Mitchell Northam: South Carolina, Stanford, Iowa, Louisville
Cole Huff: South Carolina, N.C. State, Stanford, Tennessee
What will be the best mid-major team in the country?
Mitchell: Princeton – The Tigers bring back four starters and 70.7% of their returning scoring from last season and haven’t lost an Ivy League game since 2019. As shown by its preseason ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll, Princeton isn’t just a good mid-major team; it’s one of the best teams in the country. They’ll miss Abby Meyers, who transferred to Maryland, but this group still has Ivy League Tournament MVP Kaitlyn Chen and Ivy Defensive Player of the Year Ellie Mitchell. The Tigers were third in the nation last season in points allowed per 100 possessions. That’s a defense that can power them well into March.
Cole: South Dakota State – What you’re getting with the 2022-23 Jackrabbits is a WNIT championship-winning roster that returns its top-four scorers from a season ago. Before capturing the WNIT title, the Jackrabbits were a win away (the Summit League Final) from reaching the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, SDSU should be out for revenge this season and will have additional help Utah transfer Dru Gylten, who should be one of the best floor generals in the conference. I like these Jackrabbits as the best mid-major in the country.
Who will win the Lieberman Award for the best point guard in the country?
Diamond Johnson won the ACC Sixth Player of the Year award last season. Now, she’s due for a starting role at N.C. State. (Mitchell Northam / For The Win)
Mitchell: Diamond Johnson, N.C. State – The last time Diamond Johnson was a starter – in the 2020-21 season for Rutgers – she put up numbers that no player in the HerHoopStats era (since 2009) has ever matched. You can take a closer look at the criteria here, but in short, Johnson was essentially the only player from a Power 5 team to post a 50-40-90 season. Last year, Johnson came off the bench and was voted ACC Sixth Player of the Year as N.C. State won its third straight conference title and made the Elite Eight. After four starters graduated, the Wolfpack are now Johnson’s team.
Cole: Olivia Miles, Notre Dame – During her true freshman season (2021-22) Olivia Miles looked every bit as good as the prospect she was hyped up to be. She walked right into the ACC, as a teenager, and became the driving force behind a team who made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. She’s got the size to create matchup problems for opposing defenses and that’s before factoring the presumed refinement to her offensive game in Year 2. Any improvement to her 3-point shooting and general turnover issues (3.8 per game) should add to what was already one of the nation’s best passers (7.4 assists per game). I’ve got the Fighting Irish winning the ACC this season, and it’ll be because Olivia Miles will separate herself as the best point guard in the world.
Will anyone other than Aliyah Boston win National Player of the Year?
Mitchell: No. – Boston has been the most dominant player in this sport for at least the past two years. She’s started in every game she’s played in for the Gamecocks and is shooting 54.2% from the floor for her career while averaging a double-double. Last season, Boston was the only player in the country to rank in the top five of both offensive rating (131.3) and defensive rating (63.6), according to HerHoopStats. As long as Boston is on the floor, she’s the best player in the country.
Cole: No. – For all of the reasons that Mitchell mentioned above — she’s just so good. Also, Aliyah is a friend of the site! She spoke with us here at For The Win about her partnership with Orangetheory.
Which team that made the NCAA Tournament last year won’t make it this year?
Mitchell: Florida State – Aside from the COVID year in 2020, the Seminoles have missed the NCAA Tournament just once since 2005. Indeed, Sue Semrau’s run there was pretty remarkable. But, on paper, it seems unlikely that FSU is going to have the talent to go dancing in Brooke Wyckoff’s first season with the interim tag removed. If you remember, FSU just snuck into the tournament field last season, and they were powered by Morgan Jones, who was the Seminoles only double-digit scorer at 13.8 points per game. Jones is now at Louisville, and FSU’s third-best rebounder and fifth-best scorer – River Baldwin – transferred to N.C. State. And the only player on the team last season who made at least one 3-pointer per game – Sammie Puisis – transferred to USF. Florida State didn’t really go out of its way to reload either, bringing in just one transfer and two freshmen. What’s more, the Seminoles enter this season with just 10 players on their roster. Talent could be one problem for them, and depth could be another.
Cole: Colorado – So, the easy answer for me would be South Dakota, since I already mentioned how South Dakota State is out for revenge. Instead, I’ll pivot to the Pac-12 to talk about why the Buffaloes. Colorado finished fifth in the Pac-12 last season and lost its best player – Mya Hollingshed – to the WNBA. Once you factor that in and realize that they saved their tournament hopes with a late six-game winning streak, it’s easy to imagine them not finishing that high in the standings again. And if the Pac-12 caps out at its usual six NCAA Tournament bids, or even slides to five, Colorado could be in real trouble.
Which team that missed the NCAA Tournament last year will make it this year?
Mitchell: Syracuse – First year Orange head coach Felisha Legette-Jack won a lot with a little at Buffalo, posting five 20-win seasons and going to four NCAA Tournaments with the Bulls. Now she’s back at Syracuse, where her jersey hangs in the rafters, and has the chance to make a real impact at her alma mater. Legette-Jack brought back All-ACC talent Teisha Hyman, but otherwise transformed this roster, bringing in 10 transfers, including four who followed her from Buffalo. One of those former Bulls is Dyaisha Fair, who has been one of the best five scorers in the nation in each of the past three seasons (she averaged 23.4 points per game last year). Two freshmen join Cuse too, one of whom is Lexi McNabb. You might know her father, who once quarterbacked the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance.
Cole: UCLA – The Bruins make that rise from the WNIT to the Big Dance. Between their star-studded freshman class, highlighted by Kiki Rice, and the return of the Pac-12’s third-leading scorer, Charisma Osbourne, the Bruins are in good shape heading into the year. They’re also getting a healthy Gina Conti, who was an All-ACC talent at Wake Forest a few years back. They’ll have the right balance of youth and experience to make a run at a top-three finish in the conference. Hey, perhaps they’re one of the teams that replaces Colorado.
Mitchell: Virginia Tech will make the Elite Eight, at least.
This roster is simply too talented to not make somewhat of a deep run in March. Let’s start with the transfers, Ashley Owusu and Taylor Soule. At Maryland, Owusu was an All-American, one of the best players in the Big Ten and a Drysdale Award winner, given to the nation’s top two-guard in the country. Soule was a three-time All-ACC selection at Boston College and did a little bit of everything for the Eagles as a versatile forward. Combine those two with Elizabeth Kitley – a preseason All-American this year and the reigning ACC Player of the Year. And then throw in Georgia Amoore, who averaged 11.2 points and 4.4 assists last season, and carried a Kitley-less Virginia Tech to a win over North Carolina in last season’s ACC Tournament. This March will be the Hokies’ third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and their stay should last into the second weekend.
Cole: South Carolina will run the table.
Is that bold? The Gamecocks are title favorites and it wouldn’t shock anyone if they repeated as national champions, but going undefeated? That’s tough to do, which is why only nine teams since 1982 have accomplished such a feat. Staley’s Gamecocks will be the 10th.
The start of the 2022-23 women’s college basketball season is less than two weeks away. And yes, once again, the South Carolina Gamecocks are the favorite.
And for good reason too. They return national consensus Player of the Year Aliyah Boston – who is likely to be the No. 1 overall pick in the forthcoming WNBA Draft – and the great Dawn Staley is still on the sidelines in Columbia. The Gamecocks received all 30 first place votes in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll released last week (including one from this writer), and they are also the favorite among sportsbooks to repeat as national champions. Draft Kings has South Carolina’s odds of repeating set at +150 while Caesars has the Gamecocks at +160.
But South Carolina is not invincible. Last year, the Gamecocks lost in the regular season to Missouri – which didn’t make the NCAA Tournament – and fell to Kentucky in the SEC title game. North Carolina gave them a good fight in the Sweet 16 too.
It has also proven to be extremely difficult to repeat as champions in this sport in recent history. The last team not named UConn to do it was Pat Summitt’s Tennessee Vols in 2007 and 2008. In fact, to find a team not coached by Summitt or Geno Auriemma that repeated as champions, you’d have to go back to 1983 and 1984, when Linda Sharp’s star-studded USC squads won back-to-back.
So, history tells us that it might not be a bad bet to take a flier on a team other than South Carolina to win the national championship in Dallas in 2023. And while it’s easy to convince yourself to put money on recent contenders – like Stanford (+500), Louisville (+2000) or UConn (+1200) – or a superstar-powered squad like Caitlin Clark’s Iowa (+700), we’re here to convince you to look past the traditional favorites to get the most bang for your buck.
Here’s four teams with enticing odds that just might be able to pull off winning the whole dang thing.
Texas is third in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, but fifth best in odds to win the national championship.
There’s a lot of reasons to like the Longhorns. In Vic Schaefer’s second season at the helm last year, Texas won the Big 12 Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight where they lost to Stanford by nine points. They were powered by talented guard Rori Harmon, who won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award, the Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player award, and was an honorable mention All-American.
This year, Harmon is back, and she’s joined by a trio of talented transfers in Sonya Morris (DePaul), Taylor Jones (Oregon State) and two-time WCC Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales (BYU). The Longhorns are also brought in what ESPN deems to be a top 15 recruiting class with three players in the top 100 rankings. On paper, the Longhorns certainly have the talent to end Baylor’s streak of 12 consecutive Big 12 regular season titles, and to make the Final Four.
As mentioned above, the Tar Heels – despite being undersized in the matchup – gave South Carolina all it could handle last March in the Sweet 16 in Greensboro. North Carolina played the Gamecocks closer than anyone else in the NCAA Tournament.
This year – head coach Courtney Banghart’s fourth in-charge – the Tar Heels bring back four starters and five of the top six scorers from last year’s squad. The group is led by junior guard Deja Kelly, an All-ACC selection last season who was named to the preseason watchlist for the Lieberman Award and preseason AP honorable mention All-American. She dropped 23 points on the Gamecocks last season.
And healthy this season is Teonni Key, who ESPN tabbed as the ninth-best player in the 2021 class. The 6-foot-5 forward took a redshirt last season after tearing her ACL. She should give the Tar Heels a post presence on both ends of the court, bolstering a UNC defense that was fourth in the nation in points-allowed per 100 possessions last year with a mark of 76.3, according to HerHoopStats.
Dawn Staley: “I thought Deja Kelly did a great job of putting us back on our heels.” #ncaaW
Under Kenny Brooks, the Hokies have been slowly building towards what could be a transformative season for their program. After a 15-year postseason drought, the Hokies have now made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. And while they lost Aisha Sheppard to the WNBA, the Hokies got a whole lot better this offseason.
Thanks to the transfer portal, Virginia Tech added a dynamic guard and legit WNBA prospect in Ashley Owusu. At Maryland, she was a two-time Big Ten Tournament MVP, a two-time AP All-American, and the winner of the Drysdale Award in 2021 – given each season to the nation’s top two-guard. Virginia Tech then went out and added forward Taylor Soule, who was a three-time All-ACC selection at Boston College.
Combine those two players with savvy point guard Georgia Amoore and reigning ACC Player of the Year (and preseason AP All-American) Elizabeth Kitley at center, and Virginia Tech has arguably as talented a roster as any team in the country. The only question is, can Brooks make all the pieces fit? A matchup at preseason No. 5 Tennessee on Dec. 4 should be an early indicator of this team’s potential.
As previously mentioned, the Terps lost Owusu to Virginia Tech via the portal. Then Angel Reese bolted for LSU and Mimi Collins left for N.C. State. Initially, the outlook for this season seemed grim for the Terps. But, as she always does, head coach Brenda Frese – a national championship winner in 2006 – went out, reloaded and rebuilt this Maryland team into a unit that resembles a contender.
Diamond Miller is at the nucleus of the roster as one of the few returners. She’s a long guard with WNBA potential who battled injuries for most of last season, but stepped up in big moments, averaging 19.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in Maryland’s three NCAA tournament contests. She’s joined by another fellow returner, sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers, who did a little bit of everything for the Terps last year on her way to being named Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year.
Frese then went out and grabbed guard Lavendar Briggs, an All-SEC selection at Florida, AAC assist leader Elisa Pinzan from USF, Vanderbilt starter Brinae Alexander, and Ivy League Player of the Year Abby Meyers from Princeton. Maryland was fifth in the nation in scoring last year and has a roster this season that could run a lot of opponents off the floor.
The #WNBA just announced that the draft lottery for the 2023 #WNBADraft will occur on November 11, 30 minutes before during the Maryland + South Carolina game at 6pm on ESPN2.
Is it a coincidence that this game features two lottery prospects in Aliyah Boston and Diamond Miller?
Virginia Tech vs NC State game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 9 game on Thursday, October 27
Virginia Tech vs NC State prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 9, Thursday, October 27
Virginia Tech vs NC State How To Watch
Date: Thursday, October 27
Game Time: 7:30 ET
Venue: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Virginia Tech (2-5), NC State (5-2)
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It continues to be a rough run under first year head coach Brent Pry, but the team has been competitive enough at least push Miami a few weeks ago and now have two weeks off to build on.
The defense is battling. It’s the best in the ACC on third downs and isn’t awful against the run – that all comes from being strong at getting into the backfield.
NC State is still smarting from the loss to Syracuse, it has to try pushing on with QB Devin Leary banged up, and the other side doesn’t generate enough of a pass rush to be a problem for the struggling Hokie offensive front.
It’s been a struggle against everyone – who scores just ten points against North Carolina? There’s no ground game, the passing attack isn’t getting anything moving, and closing out decent drives with points is like pulling teeth.
Virginia Tech had two weeks off, but so did the NC State defense that’s bene struggling a bit against the run, but won’t have any issues with that in this.
The Hokies can’t move the chains – struggling to average three years per carry is part of that – and on there other side, the D isn’t coming up with enough takeaways to help the O.
Be conservative, grind it out, and NC State should be fine.
No, this hasn’t been the season the team was hoping for with two losses in the last three games, but everything will get back on track with a rejuvenated defense holding firm from the start.
The Wolfpack are 5-0 when hitting 100 yards rushing and 0-2 when they don’t. They’ll hit 100 without a problem.
NC State 30, Virginia Tech 10
Line: NC State -13.5, o/u: 39.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Virginia Tech vs NC State Must See Rating (out of 5): 2.5
– Predictions of Every Game
Here’s what we heard when we traveled to the Irish’s local media day.
[autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] is coming off his best season coaching Notre Dame over the past few years. Irish fans will be anxious to see how his team will be able to build off last season’s success. Until they learn how or if that happens, words from the longtime coach will suffice. And he has plenty to say about it.
Fighting Irish Wire accepted an invitation to attend a media day for local media at Purcell Pavilion and was with the assembled group when Brey spoke. He addressed everything from the outlook of this year’s team to the ACC’s reputation to players old and new. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone by now, but he knows his team very well and is as much of an open book as you can imagine for a college basketball coach.
Here is some of what Brey had to say to the local media:
