Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

There have been a few occasions this year where Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has pointed out upset losses across the college football and NFL landscapes to remind his players that a top-10 ranking does not mean they’re unbeatable.

This week, with Boston College (4-1, 2-1 ACC) coming to Blacksburg, the No. 5 Hokies (4-1, 2-0) didn’t need any reminders.

Boston College is the last team to beat Virginia Tech in Lane Stadium, and after back-to-back wins over Atlantic Division opponents, there’s a very real chance it could happen again. The underdog Eagles have won the past three regular-season games against the Hokies. It’s just in the ACC championship game the past two seasons where they tend to trip up.

“Whatever we’re doing in the regular season, we haven’t been doing in the other games,” Boston College coach Frank Spaziani said. “Those have been hard fought games. … We both know each other and I do believe there is a healthy respect there. We certainly respect everything that goes on in Blacksburg and know what we have to bring to the table just to get this thing into a competitive nature. There’s no one thing, I just think there’s some good coaches and good players competing, and this is what college football should be about.”

Virginia Tech’s lone loss this year was in the season opener to Alabama, a team that could be the best in the country this year. The Hokies have had one of the toughest schedules in the country, and have moved up in the rankings after wins over Nebraska and Miami. The Hokies should be favored in each of their remaining games, but Boston College has been one of the ACC’s most pleasant surprises this year. Under the direction of first-year starting quarterback Dave Shinskie, and with the help of a strong running game and traditionally strong defense, the Eagles are suddenly in the mix again to win the Atlantic Division.

“I don’t think we really need to trick ourselves,” said Virginia Tech linebacker Cody Grimm. “It’s getting down the stretch here, with mostly ACC games left. Every game matters. It seems like every team could beat each other every week. I wouldn’t put ourselves out in front of everyone else by any means. We know how good athletes they have and that they could easily beat us. We don’t need to trick ourselves into thinking it’s going to be an easy win. We know it’s not going to be.

“Sometimes you start to take for granted all the wins we get around here. But after barely pulling one out at Duke really shows you what we need to do to win.”

Virginia Tech is a stunning 34-8 against ACC opponents, but three of those losses have come to the Eagles. Virginia Tech running back Josh Oglesby said last week’s 34-26 closer-than-expected win over Duke wasn’t about Duke’s improvement or Virginia Tech’s lack of effort, it was simply the target that comes with being the defending ACC champs. He expects a similar effort from Boston College.

“Whenever you’re back-to-back ACC champions, everyone is gunning for you,” Oglesby said. “Everybody is like, ‘Oh, man, we play Virginia Tech this week. It’s Virginia Tech week.’ So I think everybody is a little more supped up for practice. I think we’re going to get everybody’s best shot in the ACC.”

Boston College has the No. 20 scoring defense in the country -- actually ranked ahead of the Hokies -- and is holding opponents to 15.4 points per game. The Eagles are No. 25 in the country in rushing defense, allowing just 101 yards per game, which will make for an interesting matchup against Virginia Tech. The Hokies, led by Ryan Williams and Oglesby, are averaging 203.2 rushing yards per game. Both teams, though, have made significant strides in their passing games over the past two weeks.

“We’re confident in our abilities every week,” said Shinskie. “All we have to do is work hard and take the field one game at a time. This team that we’re playing is a very good team -- quick, big. It’s Virginia Tech. You’re going down there, playing in front of the loudest crowd we’ll ever hear. It will be tough, but we’re looking at it as one more game. We’ve got to do our part this week in preparing for it.”

Beamer said the media made a mistake this summer in picking the Eagles to finish last in the Atlantic Division.

“Yeah, they have done a good job up there,” Beamer said. “They lost some key people. But I think this quarterback has just kind of made them here. Because now they can run the football, and they are going to run the football, but now they have the ability to run and throw. Defensively, they have always been tough, they don't give up the big plays. They are that way right now. I think they are much better than most people picked them at the beginning of the year.”

And Virginia Tech is right where it’s expected to be, though in this game, that never seems to matter.