East Carolina took a swig of the briny deep early on with back-to-back losses to West Virginia and North Carolina, but last season's giant (and Hokie) killers are on a roll since hitting Conference USA play -- ECU's taken four of its last five -- and ought to have a crew of their best mates out to make the Hokies kiss the gunner's daughter during the Pirates' only real national showcase of the season. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, is going the other way: ECU has no bearing on Tech's finish in the ACC, but after two straight, nationally televised losses to Georgia Tech and UNC, the Hokies are getting a little desperate to beat anyone. In Blacksburg, three losses in a row counts as a catastrophe.

What: Thursday night live blog, Virginia Tech at East Carolina. Landlubbers welcome.
When: Game kicks at 7:30 p.m. ET, give or take some pregame banter; blog kicks roughly simultaneously. And they repeat "It's Always Sunny ..." like three times throughout the night, you know, so there's no excuse for skipping out early.
Who: You and all your rowdy friends. Come loud, proud and bearing your most prized booty.
How: Hit "Watch Now," enter comments into the available box and do your part to accelerate the slow, agonizing death of conventional journalism.
Why: Because lobbing snarky barbs at earnest adolescents never gets old, especially when it's another school night with the ACC. And Conference USA! Football!