Bob Lipper of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a great article today on Virginia and Virginia Tech and their big game coming up on Thursday.
Not only is this by far the most important game in the history of their basketball rivalry, it might the be only important one ever. Let’s face it, until a couple of years ago, UVA didn’t really care much about this basketball rivalry. Tech wasn’t in the ACC and they just weren’t good enough to get fired up about. Cavalier fans were much more concerned about Carolina, Duke and Maryland. On the Hokie side, they just didn’t really care that much about hoops at all. Sure, they always enjoyed beating UVA because they knew that hurt the Cavs, but if they lost, it didn’t matter.
This could be one of the few really good things about ACC expansion – Virginia Tech might start caring about hoops and their rivalry with UVA might blossom.
Regardless, right now it’s a hell of a big game and that’s pretty amazing.