#604 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* Virginia Tech Money Line -120 over Virginia, Saturday at 12 PM ET - Hmm. What do we have here? A Virginia team currently ranked in the 3 top 10 with a 9-2 ACC record vs a Va Tech team that is unranked and just 3-8 in the league. And Va Tech is favored! That alone speaks volumes and we do understand why they are a slight favorite. The Cavs have played one of the weakest schedules in the ACC thus far. There are 5 teams in the ACC ranked outside the top 100 and Virginia has already faced 3 of them including Florida State twice. They’ve also faced Syracuse twice who is the next lowest rated team in the conference behind the 5 outside the top 100. The four highest rated teams in the ACC besides UVA are UNC, Duke, NC State, and Miami. The Cavs have played just 2 of their 11 conference games vs those teams and they are 1-2 in those games losing to Miami and beating UNC. Their win over the Heels comes with a big asterisk as UNC played without 2 of their key players in that game Bacot & Nance who combined to average 29 PPG and 17 RPG on the season and despite that UNC trailed by just 3 on the road with less than 40 seconds remaining in the game (lost by 7). Despite their 3-8 ACC record, Virginia Tech is rated in the top 55 in the nation. They are 13-9 overall but better than their record would indicate. 5 of their 8 conference losses have come by 4 points or less or in OT. The Hokies played 4 conference games without their top 3 point shooter, Hunter Cattoor (43% from deep & 11 PPG), and lost all of those games. He’s back now and has scored 55 points in his last 3 games alone including wins over Duke & Syracuse. They are 10-2 at home this season but Cattoor was out of the line up for both losses, down to the wire games vs NC State and Clemson. These 2 met a few weeks ago @ UVA and the Cavs prevailed by 10 points hitting 51% from the field and making 10 more FT’s which was the difference in the game. Va Tech has won each of the last 2 seasons at home vs Virginia and we think they topple the Cavaliers again on Saturday. Last year was on a similar path start slow in conference play (2-7 through first 9 games) and then closing strong winning 9 of their final 11 before sweeping 4 games in the ACC tourney and winning that. This team is healthy and starting to play well. Take the Hokies on Saturday.