DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710280433

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: HARRY MINIUM

LENGTH: 79 lines

BIG EAST REPORT

Alliance bowl bid

now West Virginia's

to win, or fumble

The good news for Virginia Tech's football team: If the Hokies win their final two Big East games, against Miami on Nov. 8 and Pitt on Nov. 22, they'll finish no worse than tied for first place in the Big East standings.

The bad news: Even if they run the table and finish 9-2, they won't necessarily win the Big East title and the accompanying alliance bowl bid.

Tech (5-2 overall) leads the Big East with a 4-1 league record after last week's 30-17 loss at West Virginia. But three other teams - West Virginia (6-1, 3-1), Syracuse (5-3, 2-1) and Pitt (4-3, 2-1) - are tied in the loss column. Miami (3-4, 2-2) has won two in a row and remains in the running for a bowl bid, if not the Big East title.

It's possible as many as four teams could tie for the Big East lead, each with 5-2 records.

The rules are complicated regarding who advances to an alliance bowl (Sugar, Orange or Fiesta) in case of a tie. But here are some likely scenarios for the Hokies:

If Tech finishes tied with West Virginia, the Mountaineers win based on their victory over the Hokies. The only exception is if Tech is ranked five places higher than West Virginia in the composite rankings (AP and USA Today/ESPN polls combined), but that's unlikely.

If Tech finishes tied with Syracuse for first, the Hokies go based on their win over the Orangemen earlier this season. That is, unless Orangemen are ranked five places higher than the Hokies, which is possible.

If there is a three-way or four-way title for the title, the rules get very complicated. But basically, the team with the best record against the other teams tied for the lead likely will go.

The Big East's biggest game this week is West Virginia at Syracuse, one in which the Hokies surely are rooting for Syracuse. A win virtually guarantees West Virginia will finish no worse than tied with Tech, which means the Hokies likely would be out of the running for an alliance bowl bid.

Tech's options are still attractive even if it is shut out of the bowl alliance. The Big East's No. 2 team goes to the Gator Bowl (against the ACC's No. 2), the No. 3 tea goes to the Carquest Bowl (against the ACC's No. 4), and the No. 4 team goes to the Liberty Bowl (against the Conference USA champion).

Clark's mobility hindered

by knee injury early on

Wonder why Tech quarterback Al Clark didn't run the option or try more sprint-out passes against West Virginia? It's because he sprained a knee on the first series, Tech coach Frank Beamer says.

``He wasn't able to run full speed,'' Beamer said. ``Not only were we shorthanded in receivers, but we were shorthanded at quarterback.

``It limited us quite a bit. That and the way the game was going. When they get you second-and-long and they know you've got to throw, you'd like to be able to move your quarterback around a bit.''

Tests Monday showed that Clark's knee is not seriously injured, and he's expected to play Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham in Blacksburg.

Wide receiver Shawn Scales undergoes surgery today on the peroneal tendon in his left foot and has been lost for the season. Wide receivers Angelo Harrison (turf toe) and Michael Stuewe (ankle injury) are listed as questionable for UAB.

Don't look now, but Pitt

is in the thick of things

Pitt coach Walt Harris was not upset to hear West Virginia coach Don Nehlen say Monday on the Big East's telephone conference call that ``three teams in our league have one loss.'' Nehlen then added: ``You'd better not overlook someone because they just might beat you.''

Nehlen overlooked Pitt, which also has been overlooked in most newspaper stories about the Big East race.

``If they (are discounting Pitt), I understand why they do,'' Harris said of the media and other coaches. ``We've been an up-and-down football team. They've been winning, going to bowl games and nationally ranked. We're still working ourselves up the ladder.''

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