1. Wake is not as bad as their record indicates. Yes, they're 3-4, 0-4 in the ACC, but they only lost to UVA by 9 points, in Charlottesville. They had 4 straight games get canceled or postponed, so they're still learning how to mesh as a team. I'm not saying we should be concerned with an upset, but I'm also saying...our guys should be cognizant of the fact that, if Wake comes out hot and plays good defense, this will be a closer game than any of us expect. In watching Tech in the past, we're prone to lose an easy game following a huge win. Mike Young is not a coach from the past, thankfully, but I do think today is closer than we expect.

2. We need to get Ojiako some minutes today. I want to see Maddox on the court, too. Bamisile has shown he's not ready for college basketball yet, so I doubt we see him much at all the rest of the year. I also think this is a game where N'Guessan can get some valuable minutes. I'm hoping we don't have to play our starters a whole lot.

3. Root for Isaiah Wilkins today. Living in the Blacksburg community, keeping up with the players personally and their fan involvement, Wilkins is as upstanding of a Hokie as we've had in the basketball program. He's just an awesome human. Obviously I want us to win today, but I would be happy if we come away with a win while Wilkins has a career day. Hey, he knows Young's system. He might exploit it a bit.

4. Some projected rankings (because I care way too much about rankings). We are currently 20th in the polls. Assuming we win today, that would put us at 11-2 with 2 more wins, 1 of which is against a ranked Duke team. So far, not including games today, since last Monday, teams ranked 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19 all lost. I didn't include any higher because they won't drop that far. 8 is Creighton and given their weaker schedule, they may fall substantially. 9 is Wisconsin and they won't fall too far. But, with our Duke win, we legitimately might jump to #14 or so. And with a week upcoming where we only have Boston College (3-10) and Syracuse (7-4), there's a decent chance we get INTO the top 10. Hey, just speculation.