The Dragons host Vermont at the DAC this afternoon, while the Owls welcome Virginia Tech to the Palestra tonight. Details on both opponents after the jump.

* Drexel, which won its first game after three season-opening losses by beating Penn at the P on Tuesday, plays Vermont as part of the Legends Classic, a 12-team, round-robin tournament that actually began last week, with the Dragons’ loss at Rutgers. It’s part of a doubleheader today at the DAC that opens with Cornell-Toledo at 2 and concludes with Vermont-Drexel at 4:30. All four teams will then play round-robin games tomorrow and Sunday, too, and the schedule is already set: Tomorrow, Cornell plays Vermont at 2, followed by Toledo-Drexel at 4:30. Sunday, it’s Toledo-Vermont at noon and Cornell-Drexel at 2:30. As for Vermont, the Catamounts are 2-2, with wins against Buffalo (58-57) and Rutgers (77-71), and losses against Loyola, Md. (79-66) and Providence (106-64). In that blowout loss to Providence, the Friars made 15 3-pointers while the Catamounts turned it over 23 times — ’nuff said. 6-5 senior forward Marqus Blakely was named to collegeinsider.com’s preseason All-America team and is a two-time America East player of the year who led Vermont in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg), blocks (88) and steals (67). He also shot 61 percent from the field a year ago, which ranked fifth in the country.

* Temple (3-1) plays Virginia Tech for the first time since a 60-59 loss in the first round of the NIT in 2005. Tonight’s game, which tips at 8:30 at the P, is part of the Philly Hoop Group Classic, another round-robin affair that stretches over several weeks. Tonight’s doubleheader opens with St. John’s playing Siena at 6:15, while tomorrow’s slate includes a tripleheader: Siena-Brown at 4, Virginia Tech-Delaware at 6:15 and Temple-St. John’s at 8:30. The Hokies (3-0) were picked to finish eighth in the ACC, so it’s not like they’re one of the league’s heavyweights. Their three wins are unremarkable, too, coming against Brown (69-55), UNC-Greensboro (59-46) and Campbell (71-60), the last of which is noteworthy only because Campbell is nicknamed the Fighting Camels. VT’s 6-3 junior guard Malcolm Delaney is the ACC’s top returning scorer (18.1 ppg) and was selected first-team preseason all-ACC. He’s also capable of playing either guard spot.

Links: 2009 Legends Classic [gazellegroup.com]
2009 Philly Hoop Group Classic [hoopgroup.com]
Ladies and gentlemen, the Campbell Fighting Camels [gocamels.com]