As Gobbler Country observed, Virginia Tech's football team will feature an All-Name candidate in 2009. The Hokies got a commitment from the fabulously named Nubian Peak on Tuesday.

According to the Roanoke Times, Peak's a burner, running a 4.28 in the 40 during a prospect camp in Blacksburg.

The ACC added Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to improve the conference's football status. That move didn't work but it has been a financial boon for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech made $40.75 million for the 2006 season, according to information obtained by the Virginian-Pilot, almost double the amount ($21.69 million) the program made during 2002 season when the Hokies were still in the Big East.

Peter Rose will have clear his good name elsewhere.

Virginia Tech has rescinded his football scholarship after the Amherst County, Va. high school senior was busted for selling marijuana.

Rose, a high school quarterback, was projected to play defensive back for the Hokies.

Billy Shakespeare just keeps finding ways to remain relevant, almost 400 years after parting with such sweet sorrow.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose ..." Shakespeare waxed romantic in "Romeo and Juliet." How did the Bard know?

Peter Rose, the Virginia Tech football recruit, was busted on Friday for selling marijuana to an undercover cop in Amherst County, Va., the Virginian-Pilot reported.

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• How low can the ACC go?
• Boston College and Clemson
• Florida State and Maryland
• N.C. State and Wake Forest
• Miami and Ga. Tech
• UNC and Duke

2007 record: 11-3, 7-1 ACC (Coastal champs, ACC champs)

Returning starters: Offense 7, Defense 4.

Quarterback?: Yes. Sean Glennon (12 TDs, 5 INTs) and Tyrod Taylor (5 TDs, 3 INTs)

Avoid in the ACC: N.C. State, Clemson, Wake Forest

Coaching situation: Frank Beamer has won 167 games in 21 years at his alma mater and, if he wants, he can coach the next 21 years there.

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• Wake Forest and N.C. State
• Boston College and Clemson
• Florida State and Maryland
• Va. Tech and UVa
• Miami and Ga. Tech
• UNC and Duke

If you thought the ACC was bad last year, or the year before, or the year before ... brace yourself for 2008. The league could be even worse, if that's possible.

Attrition, either through the NFL Draft, graduation or suspensions, has hit the division champs, Boston College and Virginia Tech, hard.

Traditional powers Miami and Florida State, who went a combined 12-13 in 2007, are no longer reloading but out-and-out rebuilding. FSU is doing so with the handicap of an academic scandal.

The ACC, and Coastal Division in particular, is so bad that Duke could equal its combined win total since 2004 before October ends.

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When the ACC spring meetings begin Sunday at Amelia Island, Fla., discussions of expanded conference scheduling will not be limited to basketball.

Also under review will be the possibility of going to a nine-game league format in football. Under the current system, ACC teams play eight conference games. Each school in the two six-team divisions — Atlantic and Coastal — play the other five division members plus three from the opposite division.

Should a nine-game format be adopted, each team would play four games against teams from the opposite division.

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Thursday, Aug. 28
Jacksonville State @ Ga. Tech
Charleston Southern @ Miami
N.C. State @ South Carolina
Wake Forest @ Baylor

Saturday, Aug. 30
Boston College vs. Kent State (@ Cleveland)
Alabama vs. Clemson (@ Atlanta)
James Madison @ Duke
Delaware @ Maryland
McNeese State @ UNC
USC @ UVa
Va. Tech vs. East Carolina (@ Charlotte)

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North Carolina will play Michigan State at Detroit's Ford Field and Duke will play at Purdue in next season's ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

As expected, N.C. State will be left out of the made-for-TV event for the first time because it finished last in league play. The Big Ten features 11 teams; the ACC has a dozen.

The schedule:

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BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Chris Warren scored five of his 22 points during a 9-0 second half run Wednesday night and Mississippi beat Virginia Tech 81-72 in the NIT quarterfinals to earn a trip to Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ole Miss (24-10) led 51-49 with 10-49 to play before Warren's layup sparked the burst. He later added a 3-pointer, Eniel Polynice hit a jumper and Kenny Williams made a layup to cap the spurt, which gave the Rebels a 60-49 led with 8:22 to play.

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BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — A.D. Vassallo made 11 of 14 field goal tries and scored 27 points in 25 minutes Wednesday night as sharp-shooting Virginia Tech made easy work of Morgan State, 94-62, in the first round of the NIT.

The Hokies (20-13) showed no letdown after feeling snubbed by the NCAA tournament. They led 40-25 at halftime and shot better than 65 percent for the game.

Morgan State (22-11), guaranteed a spot in the NIT as a regular season conference champion knocked out of its league tournament, trailed 21-18 before the Hokies went on a 19-7 run to close the first half. Vassallo had nine points in the burst.

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Today's topic: The Heels and the Tigers meet for the third time this season in the ACC final. Duke loses in the semi-final and needs a lift from a freshman to make a run in the NCAA tournament.

Staff video: Rob Roberts, Tim Lee, Joe Giglio and Caulton Tudor. Staff photos by Robert Willett, Ted Richardson and Ethan Hyman. Video courtesy of pool feed.

• ACC Now: The Podcast archives

• Heels' home away from home
• Kudos to Seth Greenberg
• A.D. Vassallo: Friend of press row

CHARLOTTE — Tyler Hansbrough ended up hitting the game-winning shot for UNC on Saturday but it was the third time in 12 months the Tar Heels have had the ball and a chance to win in the final seconds and Roy Williams has not designed the play to go to his best player.

Against Georgetown in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, Williams turned to Wayne Ellington and he drew up a similar play for Ellington on Jan. 6 at Clemson. Ellington missed the shot against Georgetown but made it against Clemson.

With 21.0 seconds left, Williams called a timeout Saturday and had Ty Lawson dribble into the lane to either shoot or kick to Ellington on the right wing.

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UNC coach Roy Williams

Tech coach Seth Greenberg

• Photo gallery

• Box score

CHARLOTTE — Tyler Hansbrough's basket with 0.8 seconds left gave UNC a 68-66 win over Virginia Tech in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.

Hansbrough collected a missed Ty Lawson shot and swished a 12-foot baseline jumper to put the defending ACC champions back in the title game. Hansbrough led all scorers with 26 points but the Heels led for less than 20 seconds in the second half.

A desperate Virginia Tech team, which lost to UNC by 39 almost a month ago in Chapel Hill, got 17 points from A.D. Vassallo and 15 from Malcolm Delaney and it controlled most of the second half.

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Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg

Miami coach Frank Haith

• Photo gallery

CHARLOTTE — At 9-7 in the ACC and with an RPI of No. 59, Virginia Tech hopes to see its name included when the field of 65 is announced Sunday. The Hokies took a step back to the NCAA Tournament with a 63-49 win over Miami on Friday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

Malcolm Delaney and A.D. Vassallo (15 points each) led the Hokies into a Saturday semifinal matchup with No. 1-seeded UNC (1:30 p.m.).

Friday's win was the Hokies' first against a team in the top 50 of the RPI, which helps explain their bubble-like RPI. They lost all four of their games against the top-rated ACC teams losing to UNC, Duke, Clemson and Miami in the regular season.

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