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For longtime Hokie fans of a “certain age,” the idea of Louisville coming to Cassell Coliseum brings back a sense of excitement. It stirs the true “Hokie-ism” in one’s soul.

The Hokies admission into the Atlantic Coast Conference for all sports allowed Tech fans to be a part of rivalries that have long mattered in these parts. A homecoming of sorts. Louisville’s returning to Cassell Coliseum allows for another chapter in Virginia Tech athletics history that can be rekindled.

During the heyday of the old Metro Conference, few matchups in the country brought out fan interest as much as Tech and Louisville. Outstanding players and coaches competing in meaningful games in front of loud, supportive crowds. Legends of the two schools competed against one another, and there was usually something big at stake when Cassell or Freedom Hall opened its doors for the series.

There was something so right about a lot of those old Metro matchups, and with Louisville joining the league, there is a feeling of déjà vu.

Names like Curry, Griffith, Ellison, Coles, Crum and Moir were on everyone’s lips as the rivals tipped off in each of the games. It is an interesting series, as the teams never met prior to the dawn of the Metro Conference and then went 20 years between meetings.

On Wednesday, the importance of this series is brought back into focus, as the 16^th-ranked Cardinals come to Cassell Coliseum for the first times since Jan. 12, 1995.The game once again has major conference implications, only this time of the ACC variety, as the Metro Conference is but a fond memory to college basketball fans. The teams met last season at the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville as ACC opponents, but for Tech fans, this series really gets back underway Wednesday, as the teams square off for the 13^th time in The Cassell.

Now is probably a good time to look back at the memorable and important contests in the series. Though just the 38^th all-time meeting, there have been some doozies since the teams first met in 1979.

When the topic of great Virginia Tech-Louisville games is mentioned, the first date in every Hokie fan’s memory is Jan. 9, 1982, when the unranked Hokies upset the 12^th-ranked Cardinals 75-74 in overtime in Cassell Coliseum. Most consider this the true beginning to the rivalry, as it was Tech’s first win in the series on its home court. The year before Dell Curry and Bobby Beecher donned Tech uniforms, the then-Gobblers got 23 points from Dale Solomon and 19 points from Jeff Schneider in the win. The Hokies wound up sweeping the season series, downing the 17^th-ranked Cardinals in Freedom Hall two weeks later.

Tech’s first win over Louisville came in just the second meeting, as the Gobblers defeated the 13^th-ranked Cardinals 72-86 in Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis in the semifinals of the 1979 Metro Conference Tournament. The win spurred the Hokies on to the title game, where they defeated Florida State 68-60 to win the school’s only conference championship in basketball.

The Hokies also picked up a season sweep during the 1990-91 season, including a 72-56 victory at Cassell Coliseum. Following that season, Louisville has had the upper hand in the series.

Dell Curry was one of the greats that seemed to always have a big game against the Cardinals. In his only game against Louisville as a freshman, he scored just four points. It was the last time the Cards held him in single figures, as he scored 26, 23 and 18 points in the three meetings between the two schools during his sophomore year. For his career, he averaged 17.5 points per game against Louisville and set the school’s single-game steals record with eight steals on Jan. 14, 1984.

When second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels came into Cassell Coliseum on Sunday afternoon, the Hokie faithful showed up in full force and full voice, once again making the arena on the corner of Washington Street and Beamer Way one of the best home-court atmospheres in all of college athletics. It would be a shame to see the 16^th-ranked Cardinals walk through the same doors and not get the very same “welcome,” now wouldn’t it?

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