It's the middle of July, and football season is right around the corner. Preseason magazines hit the shelves long ago, the latest edition of NCAA Football has been released, and now it's about time to get things started.

This coming week will be the final week of the preseason in which nothing is expected to happen. On Sunday, July 25th, the ACC coaches and media will descend upon Greensboro, NC for the ACC Football Media Kickoff. The media will spend a few days interviewing players and coaches about the season, make their preseason All-ACC picks, and also make their conference predictions.

Things will start up quickly for the Hokies, as players report on August 5th, and practice begins on August 6th. Some key preseason dates include:

TSL will be there to get you through the entire month of August in anticipation of the season and the Boise State game. In fact, our preseason content will begin on Monday, July 26th, and it will run through the end of August.

Preseason content will be a bit different this season. In the past, we've provided short previews on all the ACC teams on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while previewing Virginia Tech position by position on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This year the content will be more Virginia Tech centric, with less attention being paid to the other ACC schools.

There will be previews and predictions of the Coastal Division and the Atlantic Division, but not ACC team-specific previews. For Virginia Tech, there will be a Monday Thoughts each Monday, position previews on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a preseason practice report on Wednesdays, as well as a Friday Q&A each week, not to mention scrimmage reports.

Other content will include a look ahead to 2010 and 2011 to see which year promises to be better for the Hokies (that 2011 schedule sets up really well for a great run), a general look at the 2010 college football season, including which teams are expected to be good in each conference, and whom the Hokies might expect to play in their bowl game.

Overall, we're planning on a TSL Pass article per day during the month of August. Combined with Chris Horne's recruiting articles, that's quite a bit of content that we'll be running starting in the final week of July. If you aren't already a member of TSL Pass, we hope that you'll sign up and joining for an eventful August, and then stick around for what is expected to be an exciting season.

News broke on Thursday that the NCAA is investigating the University of North Carolina's football program. Officials from the NCAA have reportedly met with several UNC players in private meetings in Chapel Hill.

Though no official news has been released, it has been reported that the primary investigation surrounds All-American defensive tackle Marvin Austin, as well as All-ACC wide receiver Greg Little. The NCAA is apparently also investigating how much contact agents have had with players recently, and looking into whether or not improper benefits have been received.

How could this affect the Hokies? A number of top recruits in the state of Virginia are considering the Tar Heels this year. Offensive guard Landon Turner, the #4 recruit in the state, has already verballed to UNC. #3 Demetrius Nicholson and #6 Travis Hughes are thought to be slight UNC leans also, with Virginia Tech just trailing. An investigation by the NCAA into the Tar Heel football program could potentially help Virginia Tech's recruiting efforts in the 2011 class.

It's too early to tell exactly what is going to happen, but the situation is worth monitoring.