Virginia Tech announced two future football matchups against former Big East opponent Syracuse. The two games will be played in 2010 and 2011. The first game of the series will be played in the Orange’s Carrier Dome on September 25, 2010 with the rematch nearly a year later on September 16, 2011 in Lane Stadium.

The two schools have played each other 17 times dating back to 1964. The Orange lead the series 9-8 with their last win coming in 2002. The Hokes lost 50-42 in three overtimes despite Bryan Randall’s 504 yards passing and six total touchdowns.

The Hokies are 2-7 at the Carrier Dome in games versus Syracuse. Many fans believe in the curse of the dome, but these Hokies will have to wait at least six years to find out if that curse is true.

*Not all of the years through 2016 are complete.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced the names of the divisions that will divide up the twelve-member football conference beginning July 1, 2005, with the addition of Boston College.

The two divisions have been aptly named “Atlantic” and “Coast.” The ACC spared no expense in coming up with creative division names. As one TSL message board poster said: “I think I liked ‘A’ and ‘B’ better than that.”

“The seal and divisional names adopted by our schools really embrace the geography of the ACC while maintaining its heritage,” said Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford in a press release. “The new look of our seal projects the fact that our conference truly encompasses the ‘Atlantic Coast’.”

The logo was created by Steve Luquire, who works for Luquire-George-Andrews, an advertising agency in Charlotte.

The two divisions are to be divided as follows:

Each team will play eight conference games a year: all five opponents in their own division, plus one primary crossover opponent (listed directly across from them in the table above), plus two rotating opponents in the opposite division.

This means the Hokies will play Virginia, GT, UNC, Duke, Miami and Boston College each season, plus two from the group of Maryland, Clemson, NC State, Wake, and FSU.

With the new setup, the Hokies and rival Virginia Cavaliers cannot meet in the conference championship but are guaranteed to continue facing each other on a yearly basis. The Hokies will still be able to face conference members in the other division.

What people seemed to be talking about most was the placement of the University of Miami at No. 2, considering Oklahoma is ahead of the Hurricanes in both the USA Today/ESPN poll and the Associated Press poll.

While Tech stands No. 23 in one poll and No. 22 in the other, they are yet to be ranked by the computer system, which has put a damper in its overall score. Wins in the next several weeks could potentially boost the Hokies' ranking in all of the polls, including the BCS.

Other Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the top 25 besides Tech and Miami are: Florida State at No. 5 and Virginia at No. 15.

The West Virginia Mountaineers are ranked No. 20 in the poll, where they are the lone representative from the Big East.

According to Ken Denlinger of the Washington Post, redshirt freshman linebacker Xavier Adibi has been cleared to return for Virginia Tech's game against Georgia Tech on October 28.

"We'll see how rusty he is," head coach Frank Beamer told the Post during a conference call, "and we'll take it from there."

This leaves the role that Adibi will have in his return uncertain. The 6-3, 229-pound linebacker suffered a detached bicep muscle in Tech's season opener against No. 1 Southern California. He was only in the game the first quarter and a half. In that amount of time, Adibi had two tackles and a hurry on quarterback Matt Leinart.

Adibi has been able to work out with the team due to a speedy rehabilitation process following the surgery. Adibi's tear was different than most bicep tears, in that the bicep tendon detached from the shoulder. Considering this was the circumstance, it has allowed for a quicker timetable of return to the field than a typical torn muscle.

In his absence, the coaching staff moved senior Mikal Baaqee over to Adibi's Backer linebacker slot and have started redshirt freshman Vince Hall in the middle Mike linebacker slot. The two are the team's leading tacklers -- Baaqee has 41 tackles, while Hall has 36.

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