ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602190110
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
There's a basketball game today at Cassell Coliseum.
Hargrave Military Academy meets the Virginia Tech junior varsity at about 2:30 p.m. There's even a preliminary game, too.
In case you've spent the winter in one of those snowbanks that's become a roadside attraction in these parts, top-ranked and unbeaten Massachusetts meets the No.10 Hokies at noon.
A ticket? What kind? Parking?
If this is such a big game, then why didn't ESPN assign Dick Vitale to work the telecast?
Because Vitale would be only one screamer among 10,000 maniacs in the coliseum for a game even old dribblers in these parts admit is the biggest in local hoops history.
And, if rankings mean anything, it's also the most attractive date in 20 years of the Atlantic 10, or Eastern Eight, or Eastern Collegiate Basketball League.
UMass-Tech is the fifth time ranked A-10 teams have met. It's the first conference game between top-10 teams in history, however.
An unbeaten No.1 has tripped here before. Eleven years, one month and one week ago, Memphis State (11-0) lost 69-56 to a 12-1 Tech team.
That brought a stampede from the seats, but there's never been mass hysteria here so long before a game as there has been for this one.
The Minutemen never before have been 24-0. The Hokies are 19-2 for the first time. Some have assumed that if UMass becomes the first No.1-ranked team to win at Cassell, it will be perfect going into the Final Four.
That is an assumption larger than Marcus Camby, however. While the shot-blocking 6-foot-11 pivotman makes UMass bigger than Tech, these teams are similar in many other ways.
Both play like veteran clubs - because that's what they do play. While the A-10 divisional leaders are on impressive runs, they haven't exactly been dominating clubs.
They just keep winning, maybe because they know how to do it.
UMass is unbeaten, but has been tied or trailed at halftime 10 times. The Minutemen have three overtime victories, but they have won their dozen A-10 games by an average of 17 points.
The Hokies haven't exactly blown away their recent opposition, either. Today's game is huge for a club that hasn't played a grueling schedule - perhaps a reason for the empty seats in Cassell all season.
UMass is only the second ranked foe for Tech. Virginia, No.22 when it lost to the Hokies at the Roanoke Civic Center during Christmas week, was the other. UMass already has beaten teams ranked Nos. 1, 3, 10, 13, 19 and 21.
And, the more you win, the more the pressure mounts. Tech struggled to overcome visiting Liberty on Tuesday. On Thursday night, UMass trailed a 5-19 La Salle team by eight at halftime.
If either of the A-10 powerhouses had lost one of those, the mood for today's game would have sunk lower than John Chaney's tie knot.
Today's tip-off is huge for other reasons, too. Impressing the NCAA selection - and seeding - committee is important. There also are the A-10 tournament seedings to consider, too.
George Washington - Tech's competitor at the top of the A-10 West - visits UMass a week from today. If the Hokies and Colonials both fall to the Minutemen, it may take a coin flip to break the tie.
The second among Tech and GW is likely to see UMass again in the semifinals of the A-10 tourney in Philadelphia. The Colonials already have beaten Temple. Tech visits the Owls in eight days.
Wouldn't Tech rather see coach John Calipari down the sideline again - he's the second Dr.J in UMass history - a round later than sooner?
UMass can likely afford a loss somewhere in the next three weeks and still keep a No.1 NCAA Tournament seed, with neighboring Connecticut, Kentucky and Cincinnati or Kansas.
What will be different for the Minutemen than in their other dates with the pollsters earlier this season is the Cassell atmosphere.
UMass topped Kentucky in Auburn Hills, Mich., stayed home to beat Wake Forest, won over Maryland at USAir Arena, beat Georgia Tech at the Meadowlands, surfed past Syracuse in Honolulu and edged Memphis in home-state Worcester.
Getting to Tech in Friday's snowstorm was difficult enough for the Minutemen. Calipari probably never figured an A-10 road trip would include a bus ride from Greensboro, N.C., to Olean South.
Playing at Cassell today might be almost as tough as ... getting in the door?
LENGTH: Medium: 85 linesby CNB