The Atlantic Coast Conference announced the first three weeks' worth of game times for the 2012-2013 (see what I did there?) football season. Without further ado, here they are:

September 1st: Richmond @ Virginia - 3PM RSN

September 8th: Penn State @ Virginia - Noon, ABC

September 15th: Virginia @ Georgia Tech - 3:30 PM, ESPNU

The RSN game against Richmond will be seen regionally on Fox Sports Florida or Sun Sports, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas, Comcast Sports Mid Atlantic or NESN, but can also be watched, subject to blackout, on ESPN3. The 3PM start should allow ample time for tailgating before the game (not to mention a chance to recharge before post-game celebration festivities in C-Ville).

Wahoo fans have been eying that Penn State matchup for a while, and the national placement on ABC will give the whole nation, and hopefully plenty of recruits, a chance to check out the Hoos. While that exposure is a big plus, UVA got the dreaded noon slot for this game. Set those alarms now, students! The good news for me is that in the real world, people apparently don't whine about waking up at 10 or 11 AM, so hopefully I could adjust to that lifestyle. Last season, Virginia fans somehow avoided the 12PM time slot at home, likely as a reward for fourth-year students (or possibly by luck of the draw).

UVA kicks off the conference slate Week 3 in Atlanta with a 3:30 start on ESPNU.

One-third of UVA's regular season game-times are currently available, as UVA already has a nationally televised Thursday night game at home against North Carolina on November 15th at 7:30 PM on ESPN. The rest of the information is typically released two weeks prior to each game.

The 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game will be played on December 1 in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. You could catch the Hoos compete for an ACC title on either ABC at 8 PM or ESPN at 7:45.

The final weekend series of the year was always one of my favorite weekends of the baseball season. It is always a Thursday through Saturday series and we usually got back in time to go out on the corner Saturday night with nothing to do on Sunday hang out with the guys! Practices with no school to worry about made for great days of tropical smoothie, Xbox, or maybe a little fungo golf. This year should be as enjoyable for the Cavaliers as they travel to Maryland in their final weekend to take on the GREAT Terps.

These past two years were supposed to be different for Maryland. Bakich was entering his third year of his journey to get Maryland to the top of the ACC and had what many considered a strong contingent of JUCO transfers. Then the ACC schedule started and real baseball started getting played. After starting off 11-1 which included a series win over UCLA in Los Angeles, the shit hit the fan and they got swept by Wake Forest. Yes, they were swept by WAKE FOREST. You know how many other series Wake has won? Two (VT and GT).

Anyways, the Terps currently sit at 31-22 overall with a 9-18 record in the ACC. Right now they are two games behind VPISU and GT for the final spot in the ACC Tournament. Last time the Terps even made the ACC tournament? 2005, when every team made the tournament. Last time the Terps made the NCAA tournament? 1971. I am beginning to wonder why that school even has baseball anymore. (I jest. I hate it when any University gets rid of baseball, but that is for another discussion)

Historically, the Cavaliers have owned the UMD series with a 105-76-1record. Thing have been even uglier since Coach O'Connor took over in Charlottesville. Since Oak has been at the helm, Maryland has only been able to win a single game. That lone loss came in 2009 when UVa's own Robert Poutier's little brother David Poutier carried the Terps to an 8-7 victory.

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When the ACC announced next season's ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups, revealing a UVA trip to Wisconsin, another piece of Virginia's 2012-2013 scheduling puzzle was discovered. And at first glance, the out-of-conference section of the schedule looks to be substantially more challenging than the one UVA went 13-1 against last year on the way to an NCAA Tournament bid.

Though Virginia finished last season with a 22-8 regular season record, including a 9-7 performance against a difficult ACC schedule, fans still were uncomfortable with the team's selection hopes because of a weak OOC schedule. UVA competed against the 227th-toughest non-conference in the nation, which led criticism from pundits and even rival coaches.

Last season's scheduling failures weren't all about a lack of quality wins; the Hoos picked up a huge victory against Michigan, solid wins against Drexel and George Mason, and tough road victories at Oregon and LSU. The main problem stood with the bottom half of the schedule, which included too many matchups against the most fattening of the nation's "cupcakes," inflating the team's computer numbers.

Luckily, Tony Bennett appears to have made correcting this problem a focus. After last season, he acknowledged the issue, according to David Teel:

"I think we played enough quality games," Bennett said during a season-ending gabfest with reporters. "We talked about this in our head coaches' meetings at the ACC in the spring about when you schedule you have to be careful, and a lot of it's projecting so it's hard to know for sure how teams will be, but not having too many real low RPIs.

"We talked about, I think the number is 250 or below. It's OK to have two or three of those. We might have had five. It might have worked out that way, and some were really low, the mid-threes or something. When you have those, (they) can really pull you down."

Actually, Virginia played, and defeated, six opponents ranked below 250th: Nos. 272 Winthrop, 277 Seattle, 311 Towson, 320 Maryland-Eastern Shore, 337 Longwood and 343 South Carolina State.

Here's a look about what we know about next year's schedule, as compared to last year's. I matched last year's RPI and KenPom data with next season's announced opponents. Note that we will have 4 games as part of the Preseason NIT, for which opponents are not yet known. Additionally, the ACC has expanded the in-conference schedule from 16 to 18 games, which will cannibalize two out-of-conference matchups. Teams are allowed to schedule 28 games, but the Preseason NIT counts as an exempt tournament, which only counts as one game. Thus, UVA could potentially play up to 31 games this year (or 13 outside the ACC).

*Mean data for the 8 announced teams (of 12) that could be in UVA's "pod" - for more on Preseason NIT, try this.
**Median data from last year's final ACC rankings
***Median data among Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Kansas State, the other Preseason NIT hosts (and likely opponents in NY)

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The Virginia Cavaliers have grabbed their 7^th commitment for the 2013 class, as Ocean Lakes Quarterback Corwin "Turtle" Cutler committed to UVA today. Cutler is the 3^rd commit for UVA from the State of Virginia, joining Varina Safety Tim Harris and Oscar Smith Wide Receiver Zack Jones, and the 2^nd Quarterback in the class, along with Good Counsel QB Brendan Marshall. Virginia was the only school that has offered Cutler to this point. The Ocean Lakes signal-caller is a 3-star prospect, and is rated the 21^st best player in the state by Streaking the Lawn. Cutler will join former teammate and Cavalier signee Eli Harold in Charlottesville next year.

Cutler stands at 6'4'' 180 lbs, another tall Quarterback (Lambert, Johns and Marshall are all 6'5'') for Virginia. Although Cutler only holds one offer, he has shown well at camps this spring. Cutler won the Leadership Award at a combine in New Jersey recently and also showed well at the Baltimore NFTC and Junior Rank camp in Virginia Beach in recent weeks. Cutler has a strong arm, as well as the ability to fit balls into small windows. The future Cavalier also has good touch on passes where he has to go over defenders heads on deep routes. Cutler also plays against some of the best competition in the state, the Beach District, which won't hurt for his transition to the next level.

Even though Virginia didn't need another Quarterback for the 2013 class, Cutler is a nice luxury to have. Even with his commitment to UVA, expect Cutler's offer list to grow over the summer, especially if he continues to show well at the camps and combines he attends. With Cutler on board, Virginia now has 3 Quarterbacks from the "757" area, with David Watford and Phillip Sims already on the roster. Expect Cutler to redshirt in 2013, then learn under the more experience Quarterbacks before competing for playing time a few years down the road.

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Here's a new recruiting feature on Streaking the Lawn, where we rank the Top 25 prospects in the Commonwealth, and give our take on how their recruiting is going, and where it might be headed. Keep in mind that this list is fluid, and players will be moving up, down, in and out of this list as we move towards National Signing Day in February. So, without further adieu, here's Virginia's Top 25 for the 2013 class.

1. Jonathan Allen | Defensive End | Stone Bridge

Contenders: Alabama, Florida, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Penn State

The Stone Bridge defender is the state's top player. With an impressive offer list to match an impressive 6'3'' 225 lbs frame, Allen can basically go wherever he wants. Two SEC schools, Alabama and Florida, have the lead. Allen has been to Virginia several times, but not lately. Since his recruitment has taken off, the Defensive End seems more focused on the big time programs than the ones closer to home. He continues to list Virginia Tech amongst his favorites however, and if he decides to stay close to home, he will probably choose the Hokies. Allen recently cancelled a visit to Ohio State, and set a visit for Tuscaloosa for the near future. The Ashburn product was born in Alabama, and his recruitment could wrap up in favor of the Crimson Tide when he makes his visit south.

Prediction: Alabama

2. Christian Hackenberg | Quarterback | Fork Union

Contenders: COMMITTED TO PENN STATE

Hackenberg's father, Eric, played Quarterback at UVA for several years before transferring out to a lower division. This fact made many believe that the Hoos would have a leg up on the field. His father was also close with Tennessee coach Derek Dooley (who played at Virginia with the elder Hackenberg), so many thought Tennessee would be a player for the Fork Union signal-caller. In the end, Hackenberg chose the team he grew up rooting for in Pennsylvania, the Nittany Lions. There was much jockeying between 2013 QB prospects to become the first prized field general to commit to former New England Patriots coach Bill O'Brien, who has a reputation as a Quarterback guru of sorts. Hackenberg won that derby. Of the four Virginia QB's in the top 25, Hackenberg is the most polished right now. He might not have the highest ceiling of the bunch, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had the best collegiate career of the three.

3. Ryan Burns | Quarterback | Stone Bridge

Contenders: COMMITTED TO STANFORD

Ryan Burns was one of those prized Quarterbacks that considered jumping on board with Penn State earlier this spring. Burns did not pull the trigger, but Hackenberg did. Right after that Burns, took a trip to Palo Alto, and, like many recruits who see the Stanford campus for the first time, he fell in love with the school. Burns, whose family is originally from Wyoming, does not have deep roots in Virginia, so his decision to go west was not a huge shock. Virginia was Stanford's biggest competition for the Stone Bridge Quarterback. At one point many UVA fans hoped to grab commitments from both Allen and Burns, Bulldog teammates. It appears now that both of them will leave the Commonwealth for school next summer. Burns has tons of potential, but he plays in a high school offense that doesn't feature the pass very much. In fact, Burns threw more interceptions than touchdowns as a junior. He does have a great arm and is a great student, so Stanford is a great fit for Burns.

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The 2012 NBA Draft is just a little over six weeks away, but mock NBA drafts are popping everywhere. Virginia's own Mike Scott has been spending the past couple months working out in Vegas and presumably trying to put on a little bit of muscle mass while slowing down the aging process as much as humanly possible (which is to say, basically not).

While most mock drafts at this stage are only going through first round picks, there are some more exhaustive lists, and it's in these lists that you'll find that Scott is predicted to be drafted in the middle of the second round.

NBADraft.net predicts that Scott will be taken by the Wizards as the 16th pick of the second round (46th overall). And updated as of May 5, they have him as No. 51 overall on their big board.

Meanwhile, Chad Ford from the worldwide leader only did a first round mock draft (as of April 30), but his Top 100 of 2012 has the 6'8, 237 lb. power forward as the No. 44 prospect of the draft. Ford compliments pretty much all aspects of Scott's game, including his rebounding, inside/outside ability to score, 3-point range and "high motor," but considers his age and his smaller size as negatives. Ford/ESPN predict him as either a second round pick or undrafted.

As official workouts begin and more scouting reports are available, we'll keep you updated as to Scott's progress, and provide you with our own analysis of where he might fit. SB Nation's San Antonio Spurs site, Pounding the Rock, calls Scott a potential gold mine for the Spurs.

The conferences announced the matchups of the ACC / Big Ten Challenge today. The Virginia Cavaliers are slated to take on Wisconsin this year on Wednesday, November 28.

That's right, once again, just to have fun with storylines, Tony Bennett is heading back to his home state of Wisconsin for some hoops action. Bennett was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 1999-2003.

The Badgers had a great season last year, advancing to the Sweet 16 as the No. 4 seed before falling to top-seeded Syracuse by just one point, 64-63. They finished their season with a 26-10 overall record, 12-6 in the B1G, for a fourth place finish. The Badgers finished 12th in the final Coaches Poll.

Virginia has only ever faced Wisconsin twice, with each school taking a win. The Cavaliers won the first contest in 1975, 86-78, while losing the second one in 1999, 66-56. This is the first time the two teams will play each other in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge. Wisconsin is 6-7 overall in the Challenge.

Virginia hosted No. 14 Michigan in last year's iteration of the Challenge, coming up with a big win over the Wolverines as part of a 12-game win streak for the Hoos. It was Virginia's only win over a ranked opponent last year, but it was the statement game that allowed UVA fans to believe that the Hoos really could go dancing. And they did.

The Cavaliers are 7-5 all time in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge and have won the last two, against No. 14 Michigan and on the road against No. 13 Minnesota. While the ACC has a commanding 10-3 all time record over the B1G in the Challenge, the Big Ten has somehow won each of the past three.

Here is a look at the full matchups between the conferences:

2012 ACC/Big Ten Challenge schedule (times and networks are to be determined):

Tue, Nov 27

North Carolina at Indiana
NC State at Michigan
Minnesota at Florida State
Maryland at Northwestern
Iowa at Virginia Tech
Nebraska at Wake Forest

Wed, Nov 28
Ohio State at Duke
VIRGINIA AT WISCONSIN
Michigan State at Miami
Purdue at Clemson
Georgia Tech at Illinois
Boston College at Penn State