Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 4, 1995 TAG: 9511060102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
What already was Virginia Tech's biggest game in the Big East's short football history has become larger than a visit by league-leading Syracuse. Already assured of a bowl of possibilities, the Hokies now have a very familiar rival for holiday cheer.
Virginia's stunning 33-28 knuckle-cracker over Florida State on Thursday night not only chopped down the Seminoles' 29-game ACC winning streak and surely altered the national championship picture. It turned the bowl picture into a true fiesta.
Before the Cavaliers' historical triumph, the bowl puzzle appeared a piece or two from completion. Then, UVa won its way back into more than ACC title contention. There were whispers that the Gator Bowl had its focus on a Virginia Tech-Clemson game New Year's afternoon in Jacksonville.
Put a hold on that. Representatives from the Sugar, Gator and Carquest bowls will scout today's game. They know who they want. Or, do they?
``In this business, you learn there's a lot left to play in November,'' said Gator Bowl executive director Rick Catlett on Friday. ``You have to write about it. We have to wait.''
Prior to kickoff Thursday night at Scott Stadium, the ACC's four-bowl pecking order was Florida State, Clemson, Virginia and North Carolina for slots in the alliance, Gator, Peach and Carquest bowls. A league official agreed as much.
In the Big East, it figured the Nov.25 Syracuse-Miami winner would go alliance, with the loser to the Carquest and the Hokies - with a win needed today - playing a second straight Gator Bowl, which matches the second choices from the ACC and Big East.
However, there may not be a choice in the Big East, which by Thanksgiving might be down to today's Blacksburg foes as bowl eligibles. Miami faces an NCAA infractions hearing next weekend. The Hurricanes could get bowl sanctions immediately. If that occurs, the alliance will take the Big East champion or eligible co-champ, and the Gator will get the leftover Hokies or Orangemen.
The Big East and ACC also are mates in the Carquest arrangement this year, meaning that since the start of the season, Tech and UVa have known each could impact the other's bowl destination. The Cavaliers' upset of FSU surely brings more than emotion into the Nov.18 Tech-UVa date at Scott Stadium.
Neither the Big East nor ACC has a tiebreaker for co-champions. That only muddies the picture more. With a Tech win over Syracuse, the Hokies and 'Hoos both will be playing for shares of their league titles in Beltway battles next week, with Tech against Temple at RFK Stadium and UVa at Maryland.
On the Gator's wish list, North Carolina's visit to Clemson today is Death Valley-sized. So, probably, is the Tech-UVa game. If the Hokies beat Syracuse, they still can't count on an alliance berth in the Sugar or Orange Bowl because in a tie with Miami and or Syracuse, the marquee team probably prevails.
If the Orangemen win today, Tech is going to the Gator or Carquest bowl. If the Hokies win at Virginia, no matter what happens today, they're probably still Gator-bound. If the Cavaliers win the state battle in the century-old rivalry, then the Gator will have a difficult time turning their back on an ACC co-champion.
But what if the Seminoles play the same leaky defense at Florida in two weeks that they played at Scott Stadium on Thursday night? If FSU loses badly at the Swamp, who's to say it won't sink toward double-digits in the ratings? Would the alliance like a 9-3 Virginia team with a win over 9-2 Seminoles? Perhaps.
With a 7-5 or 8-4 team, UVa would have been happy with a Peach Bowl trip. The Cavaliers' fans haven't traveled much to several other bowls since George Welsh took his 1984 Cavaliers to Atlanta. If Virginia finishes as a co-champ and 9-3 and then gets only the ACC's third bowl option, however, it would be the third straight year the Cavaliers played in the postseason below their standing.
And what if the alliance takes Virginia, although that isn't likely? Then the Gator would grab Florida State to play the Hokies or Syracuse. And if the 20th-ranked but underdog Orangemen win today at Tech and stay unbeaten in the Big East, they've taken a giant leap toward the league's alliance bowl berth.
The bottom line on all of this?
This explains why bowls write those wish lists in pencil.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB