Granted, there is not much difference between not being televised and being on ESPNU but the fact the game has been moved from 3:00 to 3:30 and put on a television channel somewhere is an indication that this game has implications beyond the possession of an old bell. Both teams are working towards bowl eligibility at 5-3 each and Duke is presently tied in the loss column with division leader Georgia Tech.
You want to know who the real victims is in all of this? Wolfpack fans, many of whom are just fed up. Seriously, how bad could this week be for them? Last Sunday NCSU was picked dead last in the ACC for basketball, by a wide margin. On Thursday UNC pulls themselves up by the boot straps, goes to Blacksburg and shocks Virginia Tech reviving a season left for dead. Duke wins at Charlottesville setting up the two local rivals in a meeting of 5-3 teams all while NCSU fell to 0-4 in the ACC despite scoring 42 points. At this point NCSU needs to win out to qualify for a bowl game, something that is unlikely to happen. Across the board, NC State might be the most irrelevant athletic program in the ACC at this point.
And yeah, Pitt has to be kicking themselves for that loss in Raleigh.
Elsewhere in the ACC this past weekend:
Miami and Wake Forest played an epic game in which the Hurricanes waited for about half the contest before deciding to show up and play football. Miami rallied to take a one point lead and knock Riley Skinner out of the game which ultimately did the Deacs in.
Georgia Tech took some time to get going before overwhelming Vanderbilt. Clemson and Boston College performed as expected in beating out of conference opponents of a lesser stripe.
