Three seasons ago, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon and the rest of the Connecticut men's basketball team that would go on to win the NCAA championship visited Cassell Coliseum. The sixth-ranked Huskies trounced the Hokies 96-60.

Two seasons ago, Sean May, Rashad McCants and the rest of the North Carolina team that would go on to win the NCAA title visited Cassell. The fifth-ranked Tar Heels squashed the Hokies 85-51.

Today, the Hokies will host another formidable foe. North Carolina (15-1, 2-0 ACC) becomes the first No. 1 team to visit Tech in 11 years when it faces the Hokies (12-4, 2-0) at 3:30 p.m. in a game that ABC will broadcast to most of the nation.

"My class, we've played teams just as good as them or better, so it don't really mean nothing to me or a couple players on our team that they're No. 1," senior guard Jamon Gordon said. "That number, it looks good on paper, but you've still got to come out and play the game.

"These [UNC] players, they're still proving themselves."

Last season, the Hokies fell at then-No. 1 Duke on a Sean Dockery buzzer-beater. This will be only the seventh time Tech has faced a No. 1 team.

"Anytime the No. 1 team comes into your house, you want to put on a good performance," senior center Coleman Collins said. "We're going to have to try to rise to the occasion."

Tech coach Seth Greenberg said the Tar Heels will be the most talented team to visit Cassell since the UNC rout of Tech two seasons ago.

"This is kind of a test to see where we are and how far we've come," Greenberg said. "Our program has improved in the last two years."

The Hokies gained confidence from last weekend's win at then-No. 5 Duke.

"The younger guys, now they really believe that we can beat good teams," senior guard Zabian Dowdell said.

The Tar Heels have beaten the Hokies 18 straight times, including twice since Tech joined the ACC. Last season, the host Hokies cut the lead to 61-59 with 49 seconds left but lost to then-No. 20 UNC 64-61. Tar Heels center Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points and nine rebounds.

This UNC team is deeper and better than last season's edition, thanks to a talented freshman class. The Tar Heels have won 12 straight.

"They can come at you in waves," Greenberg said.

Tech will need good transition defense, Greenberg said. The Tar Heels rank second in Division I (behind VMI) with an average of 88.8 points. Dowdell said the Hokies, who rank second in the ACC in scoring defense (57.9 ppg) would like to slow the game down.

"We obviously don't want to get into a running, up-and-down game because they have a lot of depth," Dowdell said. "We have to play at our pace."

The Hokies could be overmatched in the paint. Hansbrough, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound sophomore, is averaging 18.6 points and 7.8 rebounds. Brandan Wright, a 6-9 freshman forward, is averaging 15.8 points and 6.6 rebounds.

Doing well on the boards and limiting the Tar Heels to one shot will be important, said Gordon.

Two seasons ago, UNC outrebounded Tech 34-24. Last season, UNC outrebounded Tech 39-26. This year's UNC team ranks third nationally in rebounding margin, outrebounding foes by 11.4 rebounds per game. Tech outrebounds foes by 1.5 per game.

"Our big men have got to step up," Gordon said.

"Not only do your big people have to check off, but your guards have got to check off and rebound," Greenberg said.

While Tech starts two seniors in the backcourt, UNC starts two freshmen. Guard Wayne Ellington averages 12.4 points. Point guard Ty Lawson, a former Oak Hill Academy star, averages 8.8 points and 5.1 assists.

The Hokies hope their backcourt experience will be a factor, just as it was at Duke last weekend.

"We're definitely going to try to make their younger guys do some thinking, try and take them out of their comfort zone," Dowdell said.

The Hokies have yet to lose at home this season. This will be only the second time UNC has played on a foe's court this season; the Tar Heels won at Saint Louis last month.

Gordon hopes UNC's freshmen will be shocked by what is expected to be a capacity Cassell crowd. Although Tech classes don't start up again until next week, students returned early and picked up all the student tickets.

"We hope our crowd can help us out a lot," Gordon said.

Virginia Tech's history against No. 1 teams

Houston 120, Virginia Tech 79

March 2, 1968 | at Houston

• Big names: All-American Elvin Hayes (right) scores 51 points and grabs 27 rebounds in his final home game for the unbeaten Cougars. He scores his 1,000th point — of the season. Houston is 53-of-115 from the field, with Hayes going 23-of-41. He scores 34 points in the first half. The taller Cougars outrebound Tech 77-41.
• Of note: Tech’s Dan Wetzel is called for a technical foul when he is called for a foul and doesn’t raise his hand quickly enough to satisfy the official. Another future NBA player, Don Chaney, has 21 points for Houston. Future ABA player Glen Combs has 21 points for Tech.
• Quotable: “He is the best I’ve ever seen,” Tech coach Howie Shannon says of Hayes after the game.
• Postscript: Houston winds up in the Final Four for the second straight year.

Indiana 101, Virginia Tech 74

Dec. 20, 1975 | at Indiana

• Big names: All-American Scott May scores 27 points to lead the Hoosiers in the final of their Indiana Classic. It is the 201st career win for 35-year-old coach Bobby Knight. Knight pulls the last of his starters with 9:17 left in the game. Bobby Wilkerson scores 16 points, future All-American Kent Benson 15 and Quinn Buckner 12. No IU starter plays more than 27 minutes.
• Of note: The game pits Knight against his former Ohio State teammate and his ex-Army assistant, Tech coach Don DeVoe.
• Quotable: “It’s impossible to say whether we played the best in the first half that we ever have played,” says Knight, whose team leads 41-15 with 8 minutes still left to play in the half.
• “They’re certainly the class of college basketball,” DeVoe says. “They simply wouldn’t let us run our offense.”
• Postscript: Tech loses in the first round of the NCAA tournament; Indiana finishes as the last undefeated NCAA champ.

Indiana St. 86, Virginia Tech 69

March 11, 1979 | at Kansas

• Big name: All-American Larry Bird, hampered by a fractured thumb, has 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists to help the unbeaten Sycamores beat the eighth-seeded Hokies in the second round of the NCAA tournament. He takes fewer shots than usual because of his injury, going 6-of-14 from the field, but is 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.
• Of note: Future NBA player Wayne Robinson scores just 10 points for Tech, and Dale Solomon just 12. The Sycamores use a 20-0 run to take a 34-18 lead in the first half.
• Quotable: “The way I look at it, if you’ve got to lose, it might as well be to the No. 1 team,” Tech coach Charlie Moir says. “Maybe they wouldn’t be 30-0 in some conferences, but they’re for real.”
• Postscript: Indiana State loses in the NCAA final.

Virginia Tech 69, Memphis State 56

Jan. 10, 1983 | at Tech

• Big win: The Tigers, who had risen to No. 1 earlier in the day, suffer their first loss. Tech improves to 13-1, and students rush onto the court. The Hokies, who were 3 1/2-point underdogs, cut down one of the nets; the cheerleaders cut down the other.
• Big names: Future All-American Keith Lee picks up his third foul with 14:10 left in the first half and spends the rest of the half on the bench. The sophomore finishes the game with just six points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes after going 2-of-13 from the field. Future NBA player Dell Curry scores 16 points for Tech.
• Of note: The Tigers commit 22 turnovers and are outrebounded 39-31 by the quicker Hokies. Reggie Steppe scores 21 points for Tech.
• Quotable: “We’ve proven we deserve some respect,” Steppe says.
• “I’ve had teams play better, but I’ve never had one play harder than this team did,” Moir says.
• Postscript: Tech makes the NIT. Memphis State loses in the NCAA Sweet 16 but makes the Final Four two years later.

Massachusetts 74, Virginia Tech 58

Feb. 17, 1996 | at Tech

• Big name: Future All-American Marcus Camby (right) has 31 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks to help unbeaten UMass snap the 10th-ranked Hokies’ 17-game home winning streak. He is 14-of-22 from the field.
• Of note: It is the first Atlantic 10 showdown between top-10 teams in 20 years. Tech’s Ace Custis doesn’t score a basket in the second half and finishes with seven points.
• Quotable: “There’s no doubt in my mind he’s the best player in the nation,” Custis says of Camby.
• “I was surprised they came out and played me one-on-one,” Camby says.
• Postscript: Tech loses in the second round of the NCAAs; UMass loses in the Final Four.

Duke 77, Virginia Tech 75

Dec. 4, 2005 | at Duke

• Stunning end: Coleman Collins gets a tip-in to give Tech a 75-74 lead, and Duke calls timeout with one second left. The officials confer and put another six-tenths of a second back on the clock. Josh McRoberts inbounds the ball from one end of the court and passes to Sean Dockery at midcourt. Dockery makes about a 40-footer from a few feet inside the half-court line at the buzzer.
• Quotable: “We got beat by a great team and a great shot,” coach Seth Greenberg says.
• Big names: Shelden Williams has 21 points and 19 rebounds for Duke, with fellow All-American J.J. Redick (right) adding 18 points. Collins has 25 points.
• Postscript: Duke loses in the Sweet 16.