When the Hokies lock horns with #20 Notre Dame on Saturday, they’ll be at an advantage.  First off, they are playing at home, and we all know how road games in the ACC have been tough on visiting teams this year.

But the big thing is the travel factor.  The Irish are playing at Miami tonight against a good Hurricane team.  They tip at 7pm, the game will end around 9pm, and they’ll leave the arena about 10.  I don’t know their travel plans, but they’ll either fly to Roanoke right after the game, or they’ll catch a flight early Friday morning.  And remember, they just flew to Miami on Wednesday.

That’s going to be a tired team when they play the Hokies on Saturday at 2pm.  From Wednesday through Saturday, they’ll have flown twice and played two road games.  They’ll have one day to prepare, or maybe a little less.  Meanwhile, the Hokies have been preparing for the Irish since Wednesday, with no travel dates.  That’s generally not a recipe for success for the visiting team.  This is one of those rare occasions where we can thank the ACC for a favor in the scheduling department.

Could the Irish still win the game?  Sure.  They are 14-2 and unbeaten in ACC play at the time of this writing.  Their only two losses were away from home against Villanova (74-66) and Purdue (86-81).  But they aren’t invincible.  All three of their ACC games have been close against Pitt, Clemson and Louisville.  If the Hokies show up and play a good game on Saturday, they should be able to pull it off.  They almost won in South Bend last year.

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