Virginia Tech has agreed to play their season opener in 2009 at the Georgia Dome in a made-for-TV football game, likely against an SEC opponent. The matchup is being arranged by the Atlanta Sports Council, and the game will be played on either ESPN or ABC. To accommodate the game, the Hokies moved their September 5th, 2009 opener at Cincinnati to 2012.

Virginia Tech announced their participation in the game on hokiesports.com, the official web site of VT athletics, during the day on Wednesday. At that point, multiple media sources started reporting the story, and Alabama was given as the team most likely to play against the Hokies, in a rematch of the 1998 Music City Bowl. Tech broke an 0-10 losing streak to the Tide with a 38-7 win in that game.

Early in the evening, however, the Birmingham News reported that it is "unlikely" that Alabama will play the game against the Hokies. Atlanta Sports Council President Gary Stokan has said that he is talking to several SEC teams to go up against Tech, but that changing schedules just one year away from the game is challenging.

The 2009 game, which the Sports Council is trying to schedule for August 29th,  is the second in a series of season-opening games in Atlanta sponsored by Chick-fil-A, a huge sponsor of both ACC and SEC sports. This year's matchup is Alabama vs. Clemson, to be played the night of August 30th.

TechSideline.com's Future Football Schedules Page has been updated with the new scheduling information, with the game date listed as 8/29/09.