UVA vs Syracuse: ACC Showdown Game Thread; Final Score

What: No. 12/11 Virginia Cavaliers (24-5, 15-1 ACC) vs. No. 4/5 Syracuse Orange (26-2, 13-2)

Time: 4:00 p.m.
Place: John Paul Jones Arena
TV: ESPN; WatchESPN.com
Radio: Virginia Sports Radio Network

Last Meeting: UVA 70, Syracuse 73 (Nov. 28, 2008)

Odds: Vegas: UVA -4 | KenPom: UVA 58, Syracuse 53 (71%)

Raise your hand if you really, really want to win this game.

Now put your hand down, because you're staring at a webpage right now and look rather silly doing so.

Virginia is riding a 12-game win streak heading into today's matchup, but over the past few days, have come under heavy criticism for what Syracuse fans are calling a soft schedule, claiming that UVA's "played no one" this season, and pointing to a 35 point loss to Tennessee, while ignoring Cuse's loss to bottom-dwelling Boston College.

To date, all of Virginia's five losses are all "in" on Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology.

There's not much to add to today's game story. Everyone knows that this is a showdown of the conference's top to teams. A win for Virginia would clinch the regular season title for the Hoos, while a win for Syracuse would mean that Virginia would need to beat Maryland, and Syracuse will need to lose one of their next two (vs. Georgia Tech and at Florida State) to seal the deal.

Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts here and as always, Go HOOS!