If you do this as long as I've been doing it, things start to repeat themselves. Important game against an SEC team, in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta ... where have we seen this before? And will Santa Claus please bring me a different outcome this time? Please??

This CFA Bowl game against Tennessee is a bookend to the season opener against Alabama. Back in late August, the bookshelf was empty, but in the last four months, we have filled it with twelve volumes. Some stories were dramatic, some were uplifting, some were tragedies, but overall, the story they told was pretty good. I've read better, but I've read a lot worse. 1999 was more entertaining reading, but 1992 was complete garbage, and I'll never read it again.

Sheesh, I hate cutesie-pie analogies in sportswriting, but I couldn't help myself. I promise not to do it again.

I feel as if I've written this column before. Back on August 31st, I penned a Monday Thoughts, pre-Alabama game, titled Why This Game is Important. I found myself thinking of the reasons this game against Tennessee is important, so ... here we are.

As I said, we're treading over familiar ground: SEC opponent, Georgia Dome, etc., etc., blah-blah-blah. And it's not just familiar because of this season's Alabama game, it's also familiar because of the 2006 CFA Bowl against Georgia. When the game is over, however, the entire Hokie Nation would like to be treading over unfamiliar ground: victory.

As familiar as "victory" is to this Tech program, "victory over an SEC team in the Georgia Dome" eludes us. Lately, victory in Atlanta has eluded the Hokies. I'll say this for games in Atlanta: they're never boring.

• In the 1986 Peach Bowl, the Hokies grabbed their first-ever bowl victory in a thrilling, last second win over NC State, 25-24.
• In 1990, VT lost a tight 6-3 game against eventual co-national champion Georgia Tech.
• In 2004, Virginia Tech kicked off a run to the ACC Championship with a thrilling come-from behind 34-20 win over the Yellow Jackets.
• In the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl, the Hokies built a huge 21-3 half time lead, then melted down in the second half and lost the game 31-24 to the Georgia Bulldogs.
• In 2007, several Hokie players, including Sean Glennon, had their jerseys stolen and had to borrow marked up GT practice jerseys. The Hokies again jumpstarted a run to the ACC Championship by blowing up on the Jackets and beating them 27-3.
• In 2009, Tech went up against a powerful Alabama team that will play for the national championship, held a lead going into the fourth quarter, but fell 34-24.

I don't think Atlanta bills itself as the City of Excitement, but it has been that for Hokie football, some good, some bad. The least likely outcome here is a 31-3 yawner of a blowout. Atlanta is dramatic for the Hokies. Only one VT game in Atlanta in the last 20+ years was decided before the fourth quarter, and that one had the bizarre stolen-jersey twist.

Back to the game at hand: The trappings of this game are similar to the Alabama game, right down to it having national championship implications, though in a completely different way from the 'Bama game. We'll get to that in a second.

In much the same way we did with the Alabama game, let's go over the reasons why this one against Tennessee is important.

This is one of the more bizarre stats of the Frank Beamer era at Virginia Tech. The Hokies have gone to 16 straight bowls, are 7-9 in those games, and have never won two bowl games in a row under Beamer. Six times Tech has had a chance to win consecutive bowls under Beamer, and six times they have failed.

The last time the Hokies won two bowls in a row was the only time they won two in a row: the 1986 Peach Bowl and the 1993 Independence Bowl. But of course, one of those bowls featured Bill Dooley as the head coach.

So here's a seventh chance for Frank Beamer to put back-to-back bowl wins together. You'd think you could win two in a row just falling off the turnip truck for 16 consecutive years, but nope.

Why is this "important"? Because program perception and momentum isn't built by winning a game, then losing a game, then winning a game, then ... you get the idea. And bowl games shine brighter than regular season games. The perception of your program ticks up a notch if you win your bowl games. WVU has won four bowl games in a row. Regardless of what you think about the 'Eers regular-season efforts, winning four bowls in a row gives you the impression that when the lights go on, they step it up. Georgia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, and UNC, their last four victims, will attest to that.

Who cares about perception? Human poll voters. And like it or not, bowl wins have always greatly affected where a team is ranked in the preseason the following year. Which segues into the next point...

Talking about the national championship picture and the Hokies is getting to be a sore spot for Tech fans and readers of TSL. That boy has cried wolf way too many times. But I bring it up because it's important to Frank Beamer, and if it's important to Frank, you're going to get his best effort.

Back when Tech was recruiting Tyrod Taylor, the information from insiders to the VT program was that if the Hokies signed Tyrod, that would keep Frank Beamer around for four more years, because signing Tyrod would be Tech's next good shot at a national championship. He could bring the Michael Vick magic back to the program.

Not so much. Michael's a one-shot deal. But regardless of how you feel about that sentiment, 2010 is Tyrod's last year in a Hokie uniform, barring something disastrous, like a season-ending injury that forces him to take that redshirt he never got.

Looking at it from Beamer's perspective, things are lining up for the 2010 season. Tyrod will be a senior, the wide receivers will be juniors, the Hokies will have two or three great running backs, the schedule is easier than 2009, and Bud Foster has just been sewn up tight with a five-year annuity deal. Find a kicker and a punter, add water, and voila!

The key missing ingredient is a high preseason ranking for 2010. Hidden in the wreckage of the 2009 season is the fact that Tech's #7 preseason ranking meant that it took two losses to knock the Hokies completely out of the national championship picture, and it took three losses to derail Tech's chances to make a BCS bowl. All season long, the Hokies were the highest-ranked one-loss team, then the highest-ranked two-loss team, and now they're the highest-ranked three-loss team.

That rare distinction was fueled in part by a high preseason ranking. And the way to get that ranking for 2011 is to win against Tennessee in Atlanta. Beat the Vols, and the Hokies will be top ten material again next year in the preseason. Lose, and the voters won't be so inclined.

Thanks to the USC Trojans taking a tumble this year, the Hokies are now just one of two teams with a chance to win 10 games for the sixth season in a row. Texas is already there. They're waiting to see if the Hokies will join them.

Like many things, this stat annoys some Hokie fans. They feel that Frank Beamer carts it out as a shield of success, to deflect criticism of the shortcomings his program has. There's some merit to that, but if you put aside your bias, you've got to admit, that's a hell of a stat. Any time you're one of just two teams out of 120 to do something good, you should brag on it. It is a great accomplishment.

Like the high preseason ranking, another ten-win season is something Frank Beamer really wants. And what Frank wants, he makes his team and his coaches want. So the motivation is there. The Hokies aren't mailing this one in as a "reward" game.

I don't need to tell you this. The Hokies have lost four straight to the SEC now, and if you're like me, you're developing a complex.

Remember how the Hokies used to play FSU and Clemson all the time in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and Tech always lost? From 1976 to 1991, Tech lost 18 of 19 games against Clemson and FSU. Throw in a 1-7 record against WVU from 1981-1988, and there was a long stretch there where as much as you loved the Hokies, you knew those three teams were better than Tech.

Back then, watching Tech play the big boys on their schedule was a peek-between-the-fingers horror movie affair. You hoped something good would happen, but it rarely did.

I'm starting to feel that way about playing SEC teams. On the plus side, three of Tech's last four losses to SEC schools were against three of the biggest, baddest teams in college football in the last few years. Auburn in 2004 was national championship caliber, 2007 LSU was the national champion, and 2009 Alabama looks like the national champion.

The loss to Georgia in the 2006 CFA Bowl doesn't fit the profile, though, and it contributes to SEC fear as much as the other three games, perhaps more.

The ACC is struggling to beat SEC teams this season, so it's not just a VT problem. But it's a nagging problem, and I would like it to go away.

Here's a shout-out to the Hokie fans who live in far Southwest Virginia, or who work with, hang with, or live near obnoxious Tennessee fans. I don't encounter many Tennessee fans in Radford, nor did I when I lived in Charlottesville years ago, so I don't have an aversion to fans of the Big Orange.

But I've heard those of you who do. And I feel for you. The Hokies have played Tennessee once in the last 62 years, and that was a loss. A humbling loss, 45-23 in the 1994 Gator Bowl.

You Hokie fans who live down near Tennessee have had to swallow that lump for 15 years now, and smile when Vol fans talk smack, because you can't throw anything back in their faces. Here's to hoping that the Hokies beat the Volunteers and don't play them again for 50 years.

If Tech wins, buy yourself a T-shirt commemorating the Hokie win, and wear that thing out. Wear it everywhere. Enjoy it. Then get it framed and hang it where Volunteer fans can see it.

There are other reasons why beating the Volunteers would be sweet. Sticking it to Lane Kiffin seems like a good thing. He's been pretty gracious to the Hokies in the pre-game quotes, but still, sticking it to Lane Kiffin seems like a good thing, doesn't it?

(The repetition is intentional.)

Tennessee is no Alabama, but the Hokies will have to bring their best to win. I'm making the trek down to Atlanta with more than a little fear and trepidation that my journey will be ruined by the game. In that respect, it's much like the 1994 Gator Bowl. That was a long drive, and I was scared of the Volunteers the whole time.

I remember how I felt in the aftermath of that game -- not good. The stakes are higher this time than they were back then, but just like back in 1994, there are a lot of good reasons to want to win this game.