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Virginia is a 23.5-point ‘dog in Saturday’s game against #10 North Carolina, which is what it is. Tony Elliott is reminding his guys what happened when the two teams met last year.

“For us, it’s about opportunity and having confidence that they return a lot of guys, we return a lot of guys, we got some new additions, and last year this was a three-point ballgame, and it was a possession-for-possession ballgame,” said Elliott, describing the 31-28 loss in Charlottesville about as well as he could.

More online: https://augustafreepress.com/news/elliotts-message-ahead-of-game-at-10-unc-this-is-what-you-dream-about/

Vegas has Florida State a double-digit favorite over Duke on Saturday, but don’t sleep on the Blue Devils.

That one, and a sorta, kinda elimination game between Clemson and Miami highlight the ACC Football weekend slate.

I had Scott German, the keeper of our weekly ACC Football Power Rankings, on for a podcast today to preview Saturday’s action.

Quick hits

• FSU-Duke: Duke’s lone loss was a last-minute setback at home to a good Notre Dame team. Don’t be surprised if the Blue Devils pull the upset.

Also on the show

• Scott comes hard with the observation that the success at Duke under Mike Elko and UNC under Mack Brown is a sign that Virginia can have success with the right coach.

You know it’s been a bad week for AEW head honcho Tony Khan when you come across a headline about Khan saying in an interview that it’s “great” that he gets death threats, and that one barely gets any notice, considering all of the other stupid things he’s had to say the past few days.

My first instinct here: please, god, no!

I remember telling my wife about Tony Bennett when he was hired: “His teams will score in the 40s and 50s, but they’ll win.”

And then her saying back to me: “Are you going to like watching that kind of basketball?”

Me: “As long as they win.”

OK, but I’m not sure I’m willing to go there with a triple-option team.

But I have to concede, there’s something to what Charlie T. is saying here.

Kyle Larson led 133 laps, but needed a good late-race pit stop to get the lead back from Christopher Bell, before outracing Bell to the finish line, by a mere 0.082-second margin, to get the win in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The win puts Larson in the Championship 4 in Phoenix on Nov. 5.

Who else will be joining Larson?

Rod Mullins helps us break it all down.

Virginia, 1-5 at the midway point to its 2023 season, has, on its second-half schedule, games with three teams in this week’s AP Top 25, one that was just knocked out of the national rankings, and the two Techs.

Today we turn to our friends at the ESPN Football Power Index, the dreaded (by the ACC Network’s Mark Packer, anyway) FPI, for guidance on how those games might go, and thus what we might be able to expect in terms of a final record for our Cavaliers for the season.

Saddle up.

This year’s Virginia team is going to be dramatically better than last year’s team, which spent half the season ranked in the Top 10, was ranked as high as #2, and shared the ACC regular-season title with Miami, which went on to the Final Four.

The 2023-2024 preseason AP Top 25 is out today. Virginia isn’t in it.

Duke, of course, is, at #2, with Miami, which lost ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong, is #13, and North Carolina, which didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and lost its leading scorer, Caleb Love, to the transfer portal, is at #19.

Is what it is.

Tracy Pyles served on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors for 22 years. Now the Augusta County native is running for the county commissioner of revenue post, with the goal of having the office serve as a check and balance to the Board of Supervisors.

AFP editor Chris Graham interviews Pyles to talk about the revenue post and county politics.

Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag in Talladega on Sunday, outdueling Kevin Harvick, who was later DQ’d, to the finish line.

The win gives Blaney a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 8.

Another playoff driver could punch a ticket to the Round of 8 with a win in this weekend’s race in Charlotte.

Rod Mullins joins the show to break down the top contenders from the playoff pool gearing for the win.

William Byron won in Texas on Sunday, taking the lead on the final restart after Bubba Wallace, who led for 111 laps, faltered down the stretch.

Byron is the first to punch a ticket to the Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR playoffs.

Rod Mullins joins the show to break down what happened in Texas, preview this weekend’s race at Talladega, and take us through some off-track news and notes, including bits about next year’s Brickyard and All-Star races.