Hokie Club2008-09 ScheduleView The Virginia Tech Schedule
View The Composite ACC ScheduleBLACKSBURG, Va. - A visit by Big Ten champion Wisconsin and a trip to face SEC champion Georgia, plus eight home Atlantic Coast Conference contests, highlight the 2008-09 Virginia Tech men's basketball schedule.
The Hokies will also travel to Puerto Rico and return to Madison Square Garden to defend their Aeropostale Holiday Festival crown. Tech will return to the BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C., after a one year hiatus.
The Hokies open the 2008-09 ACC conference season on Sunday Jan. 4 as they travel to Durham to play Duke in a game nationally-televised by Fox Sports Net. Tech will host defending ACC champion North Carolina, along with league foes Duke, NC State, Florida State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Clemson in Cassell Coliseum. Along with Duke, the Hokies will travel to Wake Forest, Virginia, Boston College, Miami, Maryland, Florida State, and Clemson this season.
"Each year we will try to upgrade the schedule and this year is no different," head coach Seth Greenberg said. "Having the opportunity to play both the SEC and Big Ten Champion will challenge our team early in the season. Playing exempt tournaments and neutral site games are all part of our scheduling philosophy. I want to know who we are and where we need to go."
Virginia Tech will participate in the second annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-off in mid-November. The Hokies will open play on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. EST against Fairfield. The Hokies will then play either Missouri or Xavier on Nov. 21. The final day of the tournament will be on Nov. 23, with the Hokies playing either 2008 national runner-up Memphis, Southern California, Chattanooga or Seton Hall. All Virginia Tech games will be televised by ESPNU or ESPN2.
For the third consecutive season, the Hokies will play in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tech will try and defend its 2008 title and open play against Columbia in the first round of the Aeropostale Holiday Festival on Friday, Dec. 20. The next day, the Hokies will play either St. John's or Marist in the Garden.
The Hokies will host defending Big Ten Champion Wisconsin in the 10th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. This game will be played in Cassell Coliseum on Monday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. This will be the Hokies' fourth appearance in the challenge. Tech is 1-2 in the Challenge, winning its only previous challenge game in Cassell Coliseum, 69-65, over Iowa in the 2006-07 season.
The Hokies will play Navy in the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Dec. 7 and then travel directly to play defending SEC champion Georgia in Athens at 7 p.m., on Tuesday, Dec. 9, in a game televised by regional sports networks.
The Hokies open the 2008-09 season at home against Gardner-Webb on Friday, Nov. 14. The Hokies will host Longwood, Elon, Mt. St. Mary's and Richmond as part of the non-conference schedule. Virginia Tech will play a non-conference road game against Charleston Southern on Monday, Dec. 29 in the North Charleston Coliseum, on FSN South and Comcast SportsNet.
"Only playing 14 home games is a concern for me, but is something we just have to deal with. I think this schedule is challenging and fair," Greenberg said. "People talk about unbalanced schedules, but when you get into league play, there is no unbalanced schedule because every single game is an event and you need to play at a very high level to have a chance to win."
The Hokies will have at least 20 regular season games televised. More games may be added to television schedules at a later date. Also, all games in the ACC Tournament will be televised by either Raycom or one of the ESPN family of networks.