Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh will play for position in the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division race when they clash Thursday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.It is pretty much an elimination game for the Panthers and close to that for the Hokies.A win would keep the 25th-ranked Hokies (5-2, 3-1 ACC) on the road to the conference title game Dec. 3 in Orlando. They hold the tiebreaker over present division leader North Carolina (6-2, 4-1), which is off this weekend.The unranked Panthers (5-2, 2-1) need a win to keep the pressure on the division-leading Tar Heels, who hold the tiebreaker over Pitt.A loss wouldnt eliminate the Hokies from the title race but would leave them needing the Tar Heels to lose at least one of their remaining conference games against Georgia Tech, Duke, and North Carolina State to regain the advantage in the tiebreaker.A Panthers defeat would leave Pitt them on the outside and hoping for some sort of multiple-team deadlock at the end of the regular season that doesnt include both North Carolina and Virginia Tech, which both would hold tiebreakers over the Panthers.Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi acknowledges the Thursday contest is pretty much a must-win game.Yeah, I would say so, Narduzzi said. I would say so. Based on how things look and I think every ACC game is a must win as we go on, as far as what you want to do. Youre a 5-2 football team, and each one of these games is important.The Hokies are 1-2 away from Blacksburgs Lane Stadium, and the trip to Pittsburgh represents their biggest road test of the season. Virginia Tech is headed for a place where it hasnt experienced much success.The Hokies last road win over the Panthers was in 1999 in the old Pitt Stadium, when both teams labored in the Big East Conference. The Panthers have won all four meetings played at Heinz Field and have won six of the past seven meetings overall.Its not something weve addressed, Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuentes said of the Hokies recent struggles vs. the Panthers. I know that Pitt has been very good and we havent, for whatever reason, whether it was there or here, havent had much success in recent history. But its not something we dwell on.Hokies running back Travon McMillian said, This is a totally different team than weve had in the past.Narduzzi sees the Panthers recent success as a non-factor.If we need the past to help with our confidence, then we probably got issues, Hey, we got a chance to win because this is what happened in the past, he said. It doesnt matter.This is a new football team. Theyre coming in here, they have never come in here in October 2016 to play us. So they get a chance to come here, and its a new show, in my opinion.What concerns Narduzzi more is a Hokies offense led by versatile quarterback Jerod Evans (229 yards a game passing and 60 rushing) and McMillian, who is coming off a 131-yard rushing performance in Techs 37-16 thumping of Miami last week.The Tech defense that held Miami to just 42 yards rushing and recorded eight sacks. It is, Narduzzi acknowledges, the best defense his team has faced so far.Based on the stats, without a question, he said.The Hokies have yielded only nine touchdown passes this year while also recording nine interceptions.Pitt itself is no slouch defensively, holding opponents to less than 97 yards a game rushing and sacking opposing quarterbacks 25 times, which is tied for fourth-best total in the country. Defensive end Ejuan Price has a national-best nine sacks.The Panthers also are one of the top rushing teams. Behind junior James Conner (76 yards a game) and a stable of backups, the Panthers rank 20th in the country with their average of 239 rushing yards per game.You can tell the makeup of their team starts with running the football and stopping the run, Fuentes said. And theyve been successful at that, and that is why theyre winning ballgames.Pitt is coming of a bye week, but Narduzzi isnt convinced that will be an advantage.You can go either way, he said. You would like to keep the momentum. You would like to keep playing and stay in that same rhythm. However, it did give us a chance to get fresh and get healthy. I dont think it will play a big part either way. That wont be an excuse or a benefit. Cheap Shoes Wholesale . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Cheap Shoes For Sale . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. https://www.cheapshoesdiscount.com/ . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Cheap Shoes Replica . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Cheap Shoes .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. TORONTO -- The first time Samoa Joe won the NXT championship, it came in surprising fashion, as he defeated Finn Balor during an NXT Live Event in Lowell, Massachusetts, in April. His historic second title was just as shocking.?Joe ended Shinsuke Nakamuras unbeaten streak within WWE on Saturday and threw NXTs future for a loop when he regained the title by pinfall at 20 minutes, 12 seconds, in the main event of NXT Takeover:Toronto at the Air Canada Centre.The ring entrances provided everything you would need to know about how differently the two superstars go about their business. Joe swaggered to the ring with all the confidence in the world; then he watched on as Nakamura employed 10 different violinists to play his theme song.Once the introductions were made and the title was held to the sky, their similarities became quite clear, as well. Each men swung their fists and forearms with reckless abandon and accurately conveyed how much their characters despise each other within the storyline.The action spilled out into the crowd, with Joe taking the brunt of it. There was little space for either man to catch a breath in the early going, as every ounce of energy Joe and Nakamura had was poured into laying their opponent to waste. Joe grabbed his first significant edge for a few moments during this sequence, which included a step-up Enziguri kick in one corner and an STO in another.Samoa Joe worked the knee for some time and continued to wear down Nakamuras base (and primary weapon -- the Kinshasa) with a kneebar. It took Nakamura several minutes to escape, and all that rolling out of the ring earned him was a tope suicida to the face, as Joe dove through the middle rope to the outside.Joe recorded the first near-fall of the match, but as has been the case throughout his WWE run, damage only seemed tto inspire Nakamura.dddddddddddd With a few knees and a corner strike, Nakamura regained control, albeit briefly, because Joe seemed to have an answer for every sequence. He countered with a powerbomb, which led directly into a modified Boston Crab and then an STO.Neither man yielded an inch for most of the match, and it felt right for all these two men have put each other through in the buildup. Both of their finishing moves failed to connect, and even when Nakamura finally hit his Kinshasa, it only drew a two-count. Joe couldnt quite convert a sleeper hold into a Coquina Clutch choke.A cross-armed German suplex combo gave Joe another near-fall, but as soon as he got up from that sequence, Joe was clearly bleeding from the side of his nose. Nakamura seemingly all but knocked Joe out with a knee to the back of the head, which also sent him tumbling out of the ring. But it would be that ringside area that would ultimately be Nakamuras undoing.Joe eventually hit a low blow while the referees back was turned, followed by an STO onto the steel steps and a Muscle Buster in the ring to earn the pinfall, silencing the Toronto crowd.Nakamuras first loss changes things dramatically at the top of NXT. Instead of Joe being written off the brand and sent onto Raw or SmackDown -- as many expected -- a third showdown between Joe and Nakamura becomes inevitable. Nakamuras in-match antics arent quite as forgivable without the perfect record. And while many would hope that one (if not both superstars) will soon be on the main roster, Joes second title reign keeps the top rivalry on NXT white-hot for the near future.For full match recaps and ratings from NXT Takeover: Toronto, click here. ' ' '