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How ACC Teams Stack Up in Bowl Bids During the Beamer Bowl Era
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

Virginia Tech is one of the top teams in the nation when it comes to getting to the postseason. The Hokies have been to 13 consecutive bowl games, winning six of them. They have also been to four BCS bowls and played for the national championship in 1999. They trail just Florida State, Florida and Michigan when it comes to consecutive bowl games.

That obviously makes Tech one of the top teams in the ACC with regards to going bowling. Let’s take a look at the rest of the conference to see how other teams have fared in bowl games since 1993.

Throughout the past 13 years, the top teams have obviously been Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech. But the rest of the ACC has held up pretty well also, including in-state rival Virginia.

The Cavaliers have been to 11 bowl games in the past 13 years, including four in a row. One of the years they didn’t go to a bowl game, 1997, they finished 7-4 and in third place in the ACC. UVA has been very consistent over the past 13 years, but they haven’t been able to get over that hump and make a BCS game. Al Groh has taken them to four bowl games in five seasons, and won three of them.

Miami would be right up there with Florida State, but probation cost them an Alliance Bowl berth in 1995 (the Orange would have taken the Canes over VT in 1995, even though Tech beat Miami and had a better record; when Miami went on probation, the Orange passed on VT and the Sugar took the Hokies with the last pick). Probation also hurt Miami's recruiting, so they didn’t make a bowl game in 1997 either. But in every other season from 1993 through 2005, they have been to a bowl game, including six BCS games.

Georgia Tech has set a very impressive mark over the past nine years. The Yellow Jackets have been to nine consecutive bowl games and look to make in 10 in 2006. They have not been to a BCS bowl during that streak, but that is still outstanding, especially considering they are limited in recruiting because of the school’s stringent academic requirements. Only Michigan, Florida State, Florida and Virginia Tech have longer consecutive bowl streaks than the Yellow Jackets, and Georgia is tied with the Jackets at nine and counting.

Let’s not overlook Boston College either. The Eagles have been to nine bowl games since 1993, including seven in a row under Tom O’Brien. More impressively, they lost just one of those nine games. O’Brien has done an excellent job at BC, and it’s somewhat surprising that a bigger school hasn’t come after him.

Clemson has also been to 10 bowls over the past 13 seasons. They did not go to a bowl in 2004, even though they went 6-5. They decided to decline any bowl bid they might receive because of a brawl in their season-ending game against South Carolina.

Besides Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech, the only other ACC team that has been to a BCS game since 1993 is Maryland. The Terps won the ACC in 2001 and went to the Orange Bowl, where they were crushed by Florida, 56-23. Ralph Friedgen took them to bowl games from 2001-2003, but those three trips were the only postseason appearances Maryland has made since 1993.

The two major schools in North Carolina, UNC and NC State, have been even over the last 13 years. Each school has appeared in eight bowl games in that span, winning five of them.

At the bottom of the barrel in the ACC are Duke and Wake Forest. Wake Forest has been to just two bowl games since 1993, while Duke has been to only one. The Blue Devils finished the 1994 regular season at 8-3. They lost the final two games of the season by one point each to UNC and NC State, so they were extremely close to a very special 10-1 season. They went on to the Hall of Fame Bowl where they lost to Wisconsin.

The Hokies are in elite company with their 13 year bowl streak. Michigan is the king of bowls, making 31 consecutive postseason appearances. Florida State has been to a bowl game 24 straight years. The Florida Gators have made 15 consecutive trips to bowl games. Besides those three elite programs, no other school in the nation has a longer bowl streak than Virginia Tech.