Thursday night in Blacksburg, the Hokies host the North Carolina Tar Heels as Virginia Tech looks to make another push down the stretch at a ACC Championship.

Virginia Tech's hopes of getting back into the national championship picture appear to be over after their first ACC loss to Georgia Tech last week, but a chance to reach a third straight conference title game is still in play.

NCAA odds makers like their chances tonight as the Hokies are listed as heavy home favorites. The Vegas line is sitting at, Virginia Tech -16 with the total in the game set at 43.5.

The 14th-ranked Hokies should bounce back against the Tar Heels. Virginia Tech lost its season opener to current-No. 2 Alabama but looked like a possible BCS title contender after winning five in a row from there, including a 31-7 rout of then-No. 9 Miami on Sept. 26.

Of course that streak ended when they fell to the Yellow Jackets and now the Hokies need to win out in the conference plus they will need help to reach the conference title game, but head coach Frank Beamer still likes what he is seeing out of his team.

"What happened out there wasn't because of lack of effort," Beamer said about the Georgia Tech game. "Now is the time to come back and let's go get the next one. There's a lot of football to be played."

North Carolina began the season ranked No. 21, its first preseason appearance in the Top 25 since 1998, but after three losses, they have long since dropped out of the rankings.

The Hokies will be able to handle the Tar Heel quite nicely in this one. They should cover easily.

Take Virginia Tech and give the point at home.