National Signing Day has come and gone. Despite Jawand Blue accepting Miami's last minute scholarship offer, and Korren Kirven deciding to head to Tuscaloosa, a place where he'll be able to achieve his goals, the Hokies closed strong, something the coaching staff struggled to do in previous years. They inked a class of 28 players including seven All-Americans (most since '07).

Ken Ekanem, after announcing he'd sign with Virginia Tech (via). There might be a four-spot on defense and offense these next few seasons.

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (12-9, 1-5 ACC) vs Duke Blue Devilss (18-3, 5-1 ACC)

When: Thursday, February 2 @ 7:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN (Mike Patrick, Len Elmore, Jeannine Edwards)

Where: Cassell Coliseum (9.847), Blacksburg, VA

Thanks to some technical difficulties on my end, my previously-written Duke preview disappeared last night. So, in lieu of a typical preview for this game, I'm using this space as a place for us fans to gather and talk about this team. After this weekend, we'll be halfway through the ACC slate, and Tech could be 3-5 and on the upswing or sadly, as bad as 1-7 and talking about whether the NIT is even a possibility at this point.

This is a defining weekend for our basketball team. And it all starts with the team that we earned our defining moment against last year. Our guys came out and showed just how well they could be if everything went right. Duke provided us with what is possibly the best day in the history of Virginia Tech basketball. Sure, it's a bit different this year with College Gameday not being in town, but this still could be a shining moment against an otherwise bleak backdrop.

Tomorrow is National Signing Day. Who's excited?

These guys, as I'm sure every other high school senior about to sign a National Letter of Intent, are. There won't be many surprises tomorrow. Beamer Co. has received verbal commitments from 27 players, two of which: J.C. Coleman and Donaldven Manning have enrolled early. Jawand Blue, who committed to Tech back in July, continues to be recruited hard by his home state Hurricanes.

Three-star OLB Jawand Blue of Boca Raton, Fla., will find out Tuesday if he'll get a scholarship offer from Miami, according to Canesport.com. Blue, 6-0, 215, is committed to Virgina Tech but has been courted by coach Al Golden and his staff in recent weeks and hosted Miami's coaches at his high school last week.

As expected, Blue took his official visit to Tech last weekend, but no one can say for sure what a high school kid will do.

Three uncommitted targets remain for the Hokies: Korren Kirven, Joel Caleb, and Ken Ekanem.

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. Tech target Joel Caleb was unanimously voted as the top recruit from the Richmond Metro area.

"He's a great athlete. An elite athlete," one coach said. "He has size, speed — all those things. I think he's clearly the No. 1."

Another coach added, "He has great explosion and acceleration. He can run away from people."

If the receiver picks the Hokies on Wednesday, Tech will sign 4 of the 5 on the T-D's 2012 A-List. Caleb is 90% sure of where he'll end up. The Hokies are relentlessly pursuing defensive tackle Korren Kirven, who made his official visit to Tech this past weekend, but so are Alabama and Tennessee.

He made an official visit to Alabama last weekend. Tennessee coach Derek Dooley visited Brookville on Monday to make a final plea with the player, and Alabama coach Nick Saban was in Lynchburg on Wednesday to put in a final word for the Crimson Tide.

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (12-8, 1-4 ACC) @ Maryland Terrapins (12-7, 2-3 ACC)

When: Saturday, January 28 @ 2:30 p.m.

TV: ACC Network (Tim Brantt and Mike Gminski)

Where: Comcast Center (17,950), College Park, MD

The Opponent: Fresh off another excruciatingly close loss to a big-name non-conference foe, the Hokies jump back into league play with a trip to Maryland. The Terps are under the direction of first-year head coach Mark Turgeon, who came to UMD after four years (and four NCAA Appearances) at Texas A&M.

Maryland was a rather large question mark in that people don’t really know what to expect after the resignation of Gary Williams after last season. And in some cases, they really are still an unknown. This game can be viewed almost as another non-conference game because the Hokies have never faced a Mark Turgeon-run team. This won’t be the same Maryland team as the last 20 years or so.

This year’s edition of the Terps are currently on a three-game losing streak to Florida State, Temple, and Duke and are 2-3 overall in the conference. This team has shown potential (78-71 win over Notre Dame), but has had some questionable losses (89-63 to Iona). The Terps are rather young, with 10 of the 15 players on their roster being freshmen or sophomores.

Here’s a look at their projected starting lineup:

The Hive is reporting Georgia Tech will open the season against Virginia Tech.

The Jackets will play their first game on Labor Day at Virginia Tech.

Over the last few weeks we had been hearing rumors that this was a possibility. We've followed-up The Hive's initial report with one our trusted sources who says it is a done deal.

We reached out to the ACC for an official response, and if/when we receive a reply it'll be posted here. Edit: this is the response we received via email from Michael Kelly Associate Commissioner (Broadcasting/Communications/Football), "The 2012 ACC Football Schedule is under development and nothing is confirmed until its official release. Any speculation prior to official release is premature since there are so many factors beyond our control and since dates frequently change."

What does everyone think about the game?

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (12-7, 1-4 ACC) vs Brigham Young Cougars (17-5, 6-2 West Coast)

When: Wednesday, January 25 @ 7:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN3 (Walter Storholt and Stephen Binder)

Where: Cassell Coliseum (9,847), Blacksburg, VA

The Opponent: The Hokies finally got the ACC monkey off their back with a beautiful (to some eyes) 47-45 win over the Wahoos in Charlottesville on Sunday. Now, Tech looks to end non-conference play on a positive note with a victory over a BYU squad that is in its first year in the West Coast Conference.

BYU made a name for itself over the past couple years thanks to phenom Jimmer Fredette, but he’s since joined the NBA. This year’s Cougars squad has brought about a bit of rebuilding while also banking on some returning talent. That being said, this team hung tough with nationally-ranked Baylor and St. Mary’s before losing and they’re third in the WCC behind St. Mary’s (19-2, 8-0) and Gonzaga (16-3, 6-1). After this game, BYU has St. Mary’s and Gonzaga at home, so this is obviously a pivotal stretch for them.

Here’s a look at their revamped lineup:

Andy Bitter interviewed the Frankinator, asked some tough questions, and it seemed a little "chippy" at times. Read the entire thing, but here's what caught my eye: Beamer returned his $75,000 bowl bonus, the staff is focused on recruiting, like everyone else he thought Coale made the catch, and he knows the special teams need to be fixed. Most importantly, he's softened his stance on playing after only five days rest.

Overall, though, would you been opposed to playing that kind of game with such short rest before the following week?

"The one thing that I think that you want is for the game to be at home. When you're the visiting team and you're not getting in here until early the next day and trying to get ready for another game, time-wise it hurts and rest-wise it hurts. And if you're going to do something like that, you want that next game at home."

I've heard nothing factual to back up this claim, but I expect us to play on Labor Day, and then against Austin Peay the following Saturday.

Normally I know who's making the hit, and I have a good idea of the context of the play. This guy, I don't know who this guy is. I don't know who I am. It's appropriate.

I love Virginia Tech football. I hate that I try to say the right things about Virginia Tech football. But this guy, 44, this guy is what I want us to be. Look at this guy. He's evil. He's gigantic. He doesn't give a fuck. The no-name motherfucker comes into your house and just takes what he wants. Look at him. This guy has a smile that should do twenty to life. He's laughing at everyone. He presides over bodies to the ground. Cleats up.

There's a long ass two-hundred plus days until football.

I don't know how we're going to get by. I don't know how I'm getting by. Then I look at this picture. I just smell football. I smell that monochrome grass there. It's sharp, fresh cut and stings my nose. The fans are anonymously important. That's football.

I see everything I love and hate about football right here. Beating Cincinnati, losing to Michigan. Beating the Noles, losing to the Noles, Tyrod Taylor prancing into the end zone like he's a one man ballet on an open stage, David Wilson losing twenty yards on a carry and eating Chick-fil-A on Sunday. Frank Beamer getting his.

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (11-7, 0-4) @ #15/17 Virginia Cavaliers (15-2, 2-1)

When: Sunday, January 22 @ 6:00 p.m.

TV: ESPNU (Jon Sciambi, Hubert Davis, Allison Williams)

Where: John Paul Jones Arena (15,219), Charlottesville, VA

The Opponent: Well we saw about 22 minutes of good, fun, high-energy basketball on Thursday night. Then UNC went on a 26-2 run. Let’s hope we see more of the first 22 minutes the rest of the season as opposed to the final 18 minutes.

This game, however, is going to be drastically different. UVA’s game plan is to slow the game down to a snail’s pace and play defense for 35 seconds. They don’t want to score 70 points a game. They want to score 55 and hold you to under 50. That’s Tony Bennett’s game plan, and so far this year, it’s worked. The Cavs have held opponents to less than 50 points in seven games, and less than 40 points three times, including last time out in a 70-38 win over Georgia Tech.

It’s annoyingly slow to some people, especially when you look at how fast a team like UNC plays. But, it works. Only two teams have scored at least 60 this year, one being Seattle (in Washington), and the other being Duke, who scored just 61. This is the second-best defense in terms of points per game allowed in the NATION. Sounds great for our sputtering offense huh?

Here’s a look at their starting five:

Seth Greenberg is as animated of a basketball coach that you'll find courtside. I don't know how we've gone this long without "The Faces of Seth Bingo". Sometimes genius can be too obvious I guess. The start of ACC play has been rough to watch, but this ensures we'll have some fun the rest of the way.

The original source is unknown to me, but H/T to @hokie8807 and @Kevin_Foster for sharing this masterpiece on Twitter.

Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (11-6, 0-3) vs #8 North Carolina Tar Heels (15-3, 2-1)

When: Thursday, January 19 @ 9:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN (John Saunders and Jay Bilas)

Where: Cassell Coliseum (9,847), Blacksburg, VA

The Opponent: Well, things couldn’t have started any worse for the Hokies in conference play. Losing the first three games, including two to what many people considered the two worst teams in the conference and now Tech faces a UNC team that got shellacked by 33 at Florida State last weekend. Doesn’t sound that encouraging does it?

Coach Greenberg has already unleashed his mantra of “it’s never as bad as it seems, and it’s never as good as it seems.” Well with two top-15 opponents in the next four days, things may get a little worse than they currently are. But, as far as we know this 0-3 start could be a hidden gem and this young team could play with a passion we haven’t seen yet and knocks off both the Heels and Hoos. Two weeks ago, some of you may have believed that, but 0-3 starts drastically change expectations.