THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512020709
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
When Frank Beamer criss-crossed the state to eat rubber chicken and glad-hand alumni the past few summers, he had one message for Virginia Tech faithful.
``I've been telling them the day we go to the Orange or Sugar bowl, that will be a new day for Virginia Tech,'' Beamer said. ``I think that day is here.''
The Hokies' bid to either the Orange or Sugar bowls was confirmed Friday by the announcement of Miami's penalty for multiple NCAA violations, including a postseason ban this year. That clears the way for Big East co-champion Tech to represent the league in the Bowl Alliance, which includes the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls.
After the Miami penalties were announced, the Big East officially declared Tech the sole league champ.
Nothing could douse the euphoria in Blacksburg Friday, but the Hokies do have one regret. Some may view Tech as having backed into a bowl spot that perennial national power Miami was destined to fill until the NCAA posse rode into town.
No one will ever know now, but officials at Tech believe the Bowl Alliance members would have picked the Hokies over the Hurricanes anyway.
``This week I had a lot of indications of that,'' Tech athletic director Dave Braine said.
Beamer, who hit the recruiting road Friday shortly after learning Tech's fate, said he thought Virginia Tech would be the Big East representative all along.
``In some ways that perception (Miami would be the pick) is frustrating, but the important thing is we're going to an Alliance bowl and we're taking another step,'' Beamer said.
The first step is to find out who the 13th-ranked Hokies (9-2) play. They will do that Sunday when the team gathers to watch the pairings announcement at 5:30 p.m. on CBS.
The Alliance pool is almost set with teams from the Big East (Tech), Big Eight (Nebraska) ACC (Florida State) and Notre Dame already in. The winner of tonight's Florida-Arkansas Southeastern Conference championship game is in, as is today's Texas-Texas A&M winner as Southwest Conference champ.
The Fiesta picks the first two teams, which will be top-ranked Nebraska and No. 2 Florida, assuming it beats Arkansas. After that, all indications are the Orange Bowl will select Notre Dame.
``I don't know what we'll do with the fourth pick yet,'' Sugar Bowl executive director Troy Mathieu said Friday. ``It's very unclear. And our fourth pick dictates what happens at five and six.''
Braine has spent much of the last couple weeks talking with bowl officials, so he has some feel for how things might shake down. Assuming Florida wins today, Braine expects one of two scenarios:
If Texas represents the Southwest - the Orange picks Notre Dame third, the Sugar takes Florida State fourth, the Orange selects the Hokies fifth and the Sugar gets Texas.
If Texas A&M represents the Southwest - Orange picks Notre Dame, Sugar takes Texas A&M, Orange chooses Florida State and Sugar gets Virginia Tech.
``I'm not confident at all in any of this because I've heard too many scenarios,'' Braine said.
Mathieu said the 20-member Sugar Bowl executive committee won't meet to map out its game plan until Sunday afternoon, after the final regular season polls are released. The selection process has to be complete by 30 minutes before the CBS show airs.
Orange Bowl executive director Keith Tribble did not return phone calls Friday.
Mathieu said Miami's sanctions make the selection a ``cleaner process,'' but not necessarily a better one for the bowls.
``From a public relations standpoint, it's better for the bowls,'' Mathieu said. ``But when you try to put together great matchups, you want more options rather than less.''
Braine said he received a call at 8:40 Friday morning from Miami athletic director Paul Dee confirming the Hurricanes' multiple NCAA penalties included a ban from this postseason.
David Swank, the chairman of the NCAA Committee on Infractions, said Friday during a conference call announcing Miami's penalties that the committee endeavored to get its report done quickly.
The result was the day for Virginia Tech that Beamer had been talking about for years. by CNB