Louisville vs. Virginia Tech: Preview & Final Predictions

The Louisville Cardinals will host the Virginia Tech Hokies tonight at the KFC Yum Center, and will look to try and completly derail the Hokies season. Virginia Tech is on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, but with winning their last 2 games and winning a decent amount in the ACC tournament they might still have a small shot.

However, Louisville is not fighting for much in this game against the Hokies. The outcome of the season was determined a while back, and even a 40-point win here wouldn't help Kenny Payne's argument for a year three in Louisville.

Virginia Tech lost to Syracuse and Pitt last week, but had a big win against Wake Forest over the weekend, and a win over Louisville would certainly help their postseason chances (not than a win over the Cardinals is very impressive at this point).

Louisville will need thier key players to continue to step up, especially Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Skyy Clark. Both of them have been playing well as of late and will need them to continuing playing well against the Hokies. Guys like Tre White and Mike James will also need to play well on both ends. As when they start playing lackluster it seems to start to affect the whole team.

I again suspect that Louisville will play it close early on and keep it competitive throughout the game, but somewhere in the 2nd half the Hokies will likley pull away. Virginia Tech has not been good away from home this year but the fight from Louisville at this point in the season has been seemingly getting worse from game to game in the last month.

Kenny Payne's time at Louisville seems to be coming to an end, and even if the Cardinals find a way to win here, it is looking like an exit in 2 weeks is imminent at this point.