Is Virginia Tech-ECU a rivalry? After 2 straight upsets, it still looks more like a mentorship – SBNation.com

Conference realignment has left two consistent winners to figure out how they think of their ongoing series. We took a trip to Greenville to find out.

The PA announcer at East Carolina’s Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium proclaimed the crowd to be 50,414, the program’s 11th sellout since 2010. And even though a few thousand had taken shelter in their cars and tailgate tents to avoid the rain and wind by the second half, the stadium was still loud, proud, and packed with purple and gold.

You wouldn’t know from looking that ECU had just been pounded at Navy, 45-21, to fall to 1-2 or that ECU’s starting QB had been lost to a season-ending injury before the first game. Home to one of the most successful non-power programs over the last few years, Greenville is always a dangerous place to play, even if the Pirates are wounded.

And yet, Virginia Tech was here anyway.