Hokie Tracks Won 47-45.

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.

No one knows anything until letters of intent are signed and faxed to schools. But these guys know more than most, and all six believe Joel Caleb will end up at Virginia Tech.

Hoops. Conference wins on the road against ranked teams are the ones that get teams invited to the dance. Starting out 0-4 in ACC play keeps you out of it. No matter how disastrous the season is, beating Virginia is always sweet. Zo Hudson had just 29 total points, shot 32% and missed eight three-balls against Wake, FSU and BC. Seth relegated him to the bench for UNC and since then he's caught fire. Against UNC and UVa he shot 64%, drained 5 of 7 threes and scored 28 points. Against a lot of adversity, he stepped up. I'll be more inclined to believe this is a turnaround if we beat BYU and win at Maryland before hosting Duke.

For the most part, filling the holes on the 2012 depth chart will be pretty straightforward. Davis, Coles and Roberts will try to replace Coale and Boykin, Tech's two most productive receivers ever. The bulk of the carries will be Michael Holmes and J.C. Coleman's to lose. Lil' Wang, Benedict, Via and Becton will be tops on the o-line heading into spring. By consensus, and even though it lost more players, the offense seems pretty figured out. How it plays out on defense is more interesting to me. G-W, Tweedy, Nick Dew and perhaps an incoming player like Trey Edmunds will battle it out at Whip. G-W played much better in 2011 than he did in '10 before he got injured, but he still wasn't the big-time playmaker that we've seen at Whip. Can Bonner, Jarrett or Farrow step up at corner to free up Fuller to move elsewhere? Will either Corey Marshall or Luther Maddy be able to leap Antoine Hopkins?

There'll be balloons, cake, pin the tail on the donkey. The #newhoos are at it again. I just hope they shoot a promotional video as asinine as "All of the Hoos" or "I Pledge" for my entertainment.