The Virginia Cavaliers host the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday afternoon in a top-10 college hoops showdown out of the ACC.
The Virginia Cavaliers might be the most dominant dark horse in college basketball. Perhaps colored by their loss to UMBC in the tournament last season, the Cavaliers are unbeaten to start the 2018-19 season, but are ranked just No. 4 in the country. They’ll have a chance to strengthen their résumé on Saturday afternoon, however, as they take on the Florida State Seminoles.
Virginia boasts arguably the most talented team that they’ve had under Tony Bennett. From Ty Jerome to De’Andre Hunter to Kyle Guy, this is a talented team that remains a stalwart defensively, but with a bit more offensive firepower than we might be used to seeing from the Cavaliers. Having said that, they will be tested on Saturday.
This Florida State team enters this matchup as the No. 9 ranked team in the country in college basketball. They too are a defensive-minded basketball team that boasts a balanced and experienced group of players like Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele, in addition to M.J. Walker.
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This should be a gritty and hard-fought ACC showdown on Saturday afternoon, one that will help set the tone in the loaded conference this season. We should be in for a treat.
TV and Live Stream info
Date: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2018
Start Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Arena: John Paul Jones Arena
TV Info: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN
There’s no question that both Florida State and Virginia are contenders on a national level this season. Having said that, we’ve seen ACC play separate teams in terms of quality year after year. With conference play getting underway, this is a massive way to begin that separation process.