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Over the last week or so, there has been a lot of talk about bowl games and where the Hokies are going to be spending the Holidays. The popular choice amongst Tech fans is the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, GA. But there are a lot of other teams in the ACC vying for that spot. First, let’s take a look at the ACC bowl rules. The ACC is aligned with eight bowl games: 1. BCS Bowl (Orange Bowl) The winner of the ACC Championship Game will get the ACC’s automatic bid to the Orange Bowl. After that, the Chick-fil-A Bowl gets the second selection, but they do not have to choose the loser of the ACC Championship Game. For example, if Wake Forest loses to Georgia Tech for the ACC Championship, they won’t automatically go to Atlanta. In fact, the ACC Championship Game loser can fall as low as the Music City Bowl in Nashville. That’s a new rule that is taking effect for the first time this season. There is one other rule in place for the first time this season. A team can’t be selected for a bowl game above another team if they are not within one game of each other in the conference standings. For example, Florida State is done with their ACC schedule, finishing 3-5 in conference play. Clemson finished 5-3 in the ACC. By rule, a bowl game could not select Florida State over Clemson, because the ‘Noles trail the Tigers by two games in the ACC standings. But if FSU had won just one more ACC game and finished 4-4, they would be eligible to be selected before Clemson. That rule was put in place to protect teams who played well on the field, but whose traveling fan base caused them to continually be passed over by the better bowls. With the new rule, bowls can still select teams based on how they travel, but their choices are more limited. Here are the ACC standings:
Wake Forest has games against Virginia Tech and Maryland remaining. Maryland tangles with BC this weekend, and then Wake Forest. Georgia Tech should easily get by Duke and will play in the ACC Championship Game. There are plenty of opportunities for these three teams -- Wake, Maryland, and GT -- to drop another conference game.
The only thing we can be certain of is that the Hokies are not going to a BCS Bowl, and they aren’t heading out West to the MPC Computers Bowl (Boise) or the Emerald Bowl (San Francisco). They could conceivably land in Altanta (Chick-fil-A), Jacksonville (Gator), Orlando (Champs Sports), Nashville (Music City) or Charlotte (Meineke Car Car). Atlanta, Jacksonville or Orlando would seem to be the most desirable. Of those games, the Gator Bowl would seem the least likely. Raise your hand if you’ve been to Jacksonville? Yeah, I thought so. The Hokies have gone to the Gator Bowl after the 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2005 seasons, not to mention a trip to the ACC Championship Game last year. The Gator Bowl is probably very (and rightfully) skeptical that a huge number of Tech fans would make the trip for the second consecutive year, and third time since December 2005. The Hokies would take a good crowd, but not quite as good as in the past. The Gator Bowl knows this, so Clemson would then become a very attractive team. At 5-3, Clemson will be within one game of any 2-loss teams in the ACC, so they would be eligible to be selected. Clemson and Virginia Tech have the best traveling fan bases in the ACC, so Clemson is the logical choice of the Gator, since the Hokies have been there so many times recently. That would leave the Chick-fil-A and Champs Sports as Virginia Tech’s likeliest postseason destinations. First, let’s talk about the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
If the Hokies win out and the Yellow Jackets drop to the Chick-fil-A as a result of losing the ACC Championship Game, then Tech would go to either the Gator Bowl or Champs Sports Bowl. The Gator Bowl would face a dilemma, as the Hokies would have a better ACC record and better overall record than Clemson, but would Tech fans travel back to Jacksonville? If the Hokies finish 9-3, then the Champs Bowl, Music City Bowl or Meineke Bowl would be their likely destination. With a reputation of a traveling fan base, the Champs Bowl would likely take the Hokies. Virginia Tech would face a team from the Big 10 in a city they have never played, so the trip would be attractive to Tech fans. The Chick-fil-A Bowl would also be very attractive. The Hokies haven’t played in Atlanta since the 1986 Peach Bowl. With the game being played on December 30, Tech fans could also enjoy New Year’s Eve in Atlanta. At this point, don’t make your reservations for any city. The bowl picture is still very hazy. But Atlanta or Orlando are as solid bets as any.
TSL's Will Stewart "went to jail" on Tuesday, November 14th, as part of an MDA Lockup fundraiser. For three weeks, from October 25th to November 13th, TSL raised funds online for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and at the conclusion of the fundraising, Will spent an hour in the MDA "jail" to deliver his bail, the money donated by TSL readers. TSL was the top fundraiser
for this event! Nearly 100 readers donated a total of $4,106, an amount that the
MDA reps were thrilled to see come in. TSL wants to thank everyone for their
donations and their generosity. Good job!
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Updates From the Past Week
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The
#19 Hokies travel to Winston-Salem to play the ACC's highest ranked team,
the #14 Wake Forest Demon Deacons, currently tied for first place in the
Atlantic Division. Yes, that's right... Wake Forest is currently the top
team in the ACC. Both teams are on four game winning streaks with
post-season bowl positioning on the line, so expect a close, hard-fought
battle between the two different, but evenly matched squads.
This
week, TSL's Chris Coleman substituted for Chris Horne, and Chris and Mike
talked about a little bit of everything: football recruiting, basketball
recruiting, football, and hoops. (MP3 format, compatible with Windows
Media Player and MP3 players, 3.1 MB, 21:05)
Last
weekend, there was a lot of action in college football, with some major
upsets in the top 10. Did that change Bstreet's BCS Outlook? And what will
happen in this weekend's Michigan-Ohio State game? Find out inside.
Gerald
Jones, a 6-0, 190-pound athlete recruit out of Millwood (OK), was
scheduled to take an official visit to Virginia Tech back in September. He
didn’t make the trip and has not rescheduled an official visit at this
time. Are the Hokies still recruiting the talented prospect?
Ever
since Jim Grobe arrived in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest has been regarded as
one of the ACC's most dangerous teams. Not that they were expected to win
a lot of games and challenge for the ACC title, but that they were the
team that could pull the upset on any given day, and maybe even knock a
team out of bowl eligibility, such as they did to NC State in 2004. But
this year the Demon Deacons are the team sitting at the top of the
conference standings, and they expect to beat Virginia Tech on Saturday
night.
The
Virginia Tech men's basketball team knocked off their second cupcake of
the season on Tuesday night, defeating West Florida 95-47 in Cassell
Coliseum. The Hokies improved to 2-0 on the season, and now look forward
to playing in the Old Spice Classic over Thanksgiving weekend.
Well,
that didn't exactly go as planned did it? For Virginia Tech, this was a
game where the starters were expected to get some extra rest and the
backups were expected to get extended work. Kent State was reeling a bit
after an embarrassing loss to Buffalo, so it figured the Hokies would make
short work of them and get some quality snaps for the subs. It didn't
quite work out that way. The offense came out sluggish and uninspired,
leaving the Hokies in a 6-0 dogfight at halftime. But thanks to another
dominating performance by the defense, the Hokies finally were able to
pull away in the second half for a 23-0 victory.
Monday
night's show featured defensive coordinator Bud Foster, athletic director
Jim Weaver, and head football coach Frank Beamer. They discussed a variety
of topics, including the Kent State game, and the huge game this weekend
against Wake Forest.
Kellam's
(Virginia Beach, VA) season may have come to an end with a loss last week
to Salem. While Greg Nosal is certainly not happy that the season
is over, the 6-7, 265-pound Virginia Tech recruit is happy with the way
his team – a young team – played this season and is proud of their 7-3
record.
The
ACC Coastal crown now rests comfortably upon Georgia Tech's head, but the
Atlantic Division still has some shaking out to do. Wake will host our
Hokies, then the Demon-Deacs travel to play Maryland, who has a tough game
up on Chestnut Hill this weekend vs. a still improving Boston College. My
Atlantic pick? I'm taking an intentional Delay Of Game penalty, as I need
more room to punt. Why? Because it is my prognostication that both Wake
and Maryland will be beaten this weekend.
Sloppy.
Unfocused. Unmotivated. Not taking the opponent seriously. Playing around
instead of concentrating. Taking plays off. Not paying attention. Knowing
that a half-hearted effort would mean victory anyway. That pretty much
describes how I was at the Virginia Tech-Kent State game Saturday. Oh, and
it appears that the VT players and coaches weren't very focused, either,
as Tech struggled with the Golden Flashes in the first half and then
pulled away.
The
Virginia Tech men's basketball team got good news late Monday afternoon
when they received a letter of intent from the fifth member of their 2007
recruiting class, center Augustus (Gus) Gilchrist. Gilchrist's signing
means that the Hokies have received LOIs from all five of their 2007
commitments, a class that collectively is ranked higher than any Virginia
Tech recruiting class in history.
In
2005, Virginia Tech finished the season with the #1 defense in the
country. In the offseason they lost Darryl Tapp, Justin Hamilton, Jimmy
Williams, James Anderson, Jonathan Lewis and Tim Sandidge to the NFL.
Despite those losses, the Hokies find themselves #1 in the nation in total
defense following the Kent State game.
Virginia
Tech faces the classic MAC trap game as Kent State comes to Blacksburg
with nothing to lose. The coaching staff has preached about Ball State
giving Michigan a scare last week and Akron knocking off N.C. State, but
the test will be the players' focus coming out of the tunnel on Saturday.
On paper Virginia Tech should win this game easily, but the Hokies could
experience a let down after the big win against Miami last weekend in the
Orange Bowl. Hopefully, Tech will be able to maintain the momentum gained
in the last three weeks.
Virginia
Tech will begin its 2006-07 basketball season on Friday night at 7:30 when
they host visiting Coppin State in Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies have high
hopes for the upcoming season, but if they want to reach their goal of an
NCAA tournament berth, they’ll need to fare well out of conference, and
that begins on Friday night.