Thursday night ESPN games are big, especially good for recruiting. When North Carolina travels to Virginia, it will important to both teams to win as well. The Cavs have won two in a row and looking to finish the season at .500 while the Tar Heels, who are on probation, have two games left in their season and simply want a win after scoring 50 and still losing Saturday.

UNC coach Larry Fedora said the quick turnaround for a Thursday game is probably just what the doctor ordered. “I think our guys have had a great attitude this week and I’m excited about getting back out on the field with them,” he said.

UVA coach Mike London said he feels honored to be playing on national TV when all eyes are on you. “ESPN is a great brand and does a great job of marketing it’s programming, particularly on those Thursday nights,” he said. “You look at the last couple Thursday night games, you see teams that are playing that I think have received bumps in their recruiting.”

He said playing at Miami on a Thursday ESPN game a year ago helped his team’s recruiting. He added that while his Cavs aren’t doing as well this year but this is an opportunity to improve their brand. He also said that the exposure may allow a recruit to get a second look at Virginia

Fedora seemingly is focused on the game itself and having his Tar Heels improve after giving up 68 points last Saturday. “We gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown,” Fedora said. “We had a botched fake punt on the 25-yard line that gave them another score. We turned the ball over on a screen pass on our own side, and we fumbled ball in the red zone going in. So there were around 24 points just off of special teams and turnover mishaps. We can correct a lot of things.”