Tech Sports Blog

With 7 bowls in the bag, the 2006-07 bowl season is underway. In case you missed the games, here’s a quick recap: The bowl season kicked off on Tuesday, December 19, with TCU beating Northern Illinois 37-7 in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. (Try saying that 5 times fast.) Two days later Brigham Young pummeled Oregon 38-8 in the Las Vegas Bowl and got their first bowl win in 10 years. On Friday, December 22, Troy beat Rice 41-17 for their first ever bowl victory. Also getting their first bowl victory was South Florida, who beat East Carolina 24-7 in the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl. San Jose State held on to beat New Mexico 20-12 for their first bowl win since 1961, and Utah had a 25-13 victory over Tulsa for their 6th straight bowl win. After being down 10-3 at halftime, Hawaii scored 24 unanswered points in the 2nd half in their win over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.

After Middle Tennessee State takes on Central Michigan in tonight’s Motor City Bowl, the bowl season starts to ramp up towards next week’s crescendo of BCS Bowls. I won’t talk too much about the BCS games, because I know I’m not going to say anything profound. Obviously, the print and electronic media are closely following those games, so there’s little I can contribute. However, I would like to talk about a few of the non-BCS bowls that I’m looking forward to. There are a few that I consider “must see” games.

• Holiday Bowl – #21 Texas A&M vs #20 California – Both teams are 9-3. Both teams started their seasons 8-1 before dropping 2 in a row. Both teams won their last game of the season (Cal beat Stanford, Texas A&M upset Texas). California is a 4.5 to 5.0 favorite and is the better team on paper. However, A&M is 7th in the nation in rushing (210.5 per game), and I think they will grind out the upset here.
• Chick-fil-A Bowl (aka: Peach Bowl) – Georgia vs #14 Virginia Tech – You may think I’m a homer for choosing this game as a great matchup, and you may be right. However, I truly believe this is going to be one of the better bowl games of the season. This game features two great defenses and two young quarterbacks. This should be a low scoring affair with some big hits. (More on this bowl in my next post.)
• Cotton Bowl – #10 Auburn vs #22 Nebraska – I think Nebraska is better than their #22 ranking. Their only bad loss came against Oklahoma State. The Huskers other losses were to USC, Texas, and Oklahoma. Conversely, I don’t know what to make of Auburn. Are they really the #10 team in the nation? They didn’t look like it when Georgia beat them 37-15. I think both teams have much to prove, and I think Auburn will eek out the win.
• Capital One Bowl – #12 Arkansas vs #6 Wisconsin – I wish I could tune into this game, but I will likely be driving home from Atlanta at 1pm on January 1st. I love this matchup for one simple reason: I want to find out if Wisconsin is as good at their 11-1 record. I think Arkansas is a good team, and based on Wisconsin’s schedule (no wins over ranked teams), I think Arkansas wins this game.

Bowl season is a great time to be a football fan. We get to see teams that ordinarily would never play each other go head-to-head. There are always surprises, usually with a few big underdogs pulling out the upsets. And, as New Year’s comes and goes, we get to see the highly ranked teams play each other for national bragging rights.

Below are my picks for this year’s bowl games. I am 5-2 heading into tonight’s Motor City Bowl.

2 Jan 07: Updated with recent results.

8 Jan 07: Updated again with more recent results.

24 Jan 07: Final update with national championship result.

Poinsettia: Texas Christian over Northern Illinois (correct)
Las Vegas: Brigham Young over Oregon (correct)
New Orleans: Rice over Troy (incorrect)
PapaJohns.com: South Florida over East Carolina (correct)
New Mexico: San Jose State over New Mexico (correct)
Armed Forces: Utah over Tulsa (correct)
Hawaii: Arizona State over Hawaii (incorrect)
Motor City: Middle Tennessee over Central Michigan (incorrect)
Emerald: UCLA over Florida State (incorrect)
Independence: Oklahoma State over Alabama (correct)
Holiday: Texas A&M over California (incorrect)
Texas: Rutgers over Kansas State (correct)
Music City: Clemson over Kentucky (incorrect)
Sun: Missouri over Oregon State (incorrect)
Liberty: South Carolina over Houston (correct)
Insight: Minnesota over Texas Tech (incorrect)
Champs Sports: Maryland over Purdue (correct)
Meineke Car Care: Boston College over Navy (correct)
Alamo: Texas over Iowa (correct)
Chick-fil-A (Peach): Virginia Tech over Georgia (incorrect)
MPC Computers: Miami over Nevada (correct)
Outback: Tennessee over Penn State (incorrect)
Cotton: Auburn over Nebraska (correct)
Gator: Georgia Tech over West Virginia (incorrect)
Capital One: Arkansas over Wisconsin (incorrect)
International: Cincinnati over Western Michigan (correct)
GMAC: Southern Mississippi over Ohio (correct)

Rose: Michigan over Southern Cal (incorrect)
Fiesta: Oklahoma over Boise State (incorrect)
Orange: Louisville over Wake Forest (correct)
Sugar: Louisiana State over Notre Dame (correct)
National Championship: Ohio State over Florida (incorrect)

I made these picks prior to the first bowl. If I could change them, I would pick West Virginia over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl, since Reggie Ball won’t be playing. I felt the Yellow Jackets had a shot at the upset, but I don’t see it happening now.

The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team started the season with a very shaky record of 4-3. Two of those losses came in the Old Spice Classic, where Tech finished a disappointing 6th place. After beating Iowa 69-65 as apart of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Hokies had a tough 1-point loss to George Washington in the BB&T Classic. With a 62-61 lead and less than 20 ticks of the clock left in the game, Coleman Collins missed a slam dunk that would have put the Hokies in a great position for the win. Hampered by a preseason injury and the loss of his father earlier in the year, Collins’ senior season has been a disappointment thus far.

Since the GW loss, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team has rattled off 4 straight wins: beating ODU by 17, Appalachian State by 32, Wake Forest by 3, and Seton Hall by 19.

While those wins weren’t necessarily against premier opponents, they were each good, solid victories in their own right. ODU managed to close within 7 a few times in the second half, but the Hokie late-in-the-game meltdown that plagued the team so much last season never materialized. App State was held to 37 points, which was the second fewest point total by an opponent in Cassell Coliseum. Somehow the Hokies made enough free throws to beat Wake Forest. Wake lead at the half 31-27, but Tech had a pivotal 13-2 run in the second half that gave them control of the game. Tech also survived a 3-point attempt at the buzzer by Wake Forest that would have sent the game into overtime. This game marked the first time the Hokies won their conference opener since the 1996-97 season. Against Seton Hall, a solid team from a great basketball conference, the Hokies played their best basketball of the season during a 20-0 run in the 2nd half.

According to the Washington Post recap of the Seton Hall game, written by Adam Kilgore, Hokies head coach Seth Greenburg analyzed the tape from the team’s first 5 games after Thanksgiving weekend to figure out why Tech was 3-2. Coach Greenburg’s conclusion was that the defense he installed in the preseason wasn’t working, so he implemented a new defense that came into its own against Seton Hall. Tech held Seton Hall (who were averaging 81 points coming into the game) to 61 points, forced 21 turnovers, and had 16 steals & 12 blocks. The Pirates shot just 27.7% from the floor and were held scoreless for nearly 8 minutes in the 2nd half.

The Hokie defense really shined against Seton Hall, and this is a good time to hit their stride, too. After taking on Campbell (Dec 23) and Marshall (Dec 30) during the Holiday Season, the Hokies play Richmond at home (Jan 3), at Duke (Jan 6), at UNC-Greensboro (Jan 10), and North Carolina at home (Jan 13). From Richmond to UNC, that’s 5 games in 15 days. I don’t care who you’re playing, that’s a tough stretch.

Another positive note from the win over Seton Hall was Coleman Collins’ game. While he only finished with 5 points, he played 19 minutes off the bench and had 6 rebounds. He played with energy and hustled on defense. I think he’ll use this game as a springboard to get his season turned around.

Doubters will look at the last four games and say that while the Hokies have rolled, they really haven’t played anyone. However, the three out of conference wins are going to be solid RPI boosters (according to RealTimeRPI.com VT is 34th at the time of this writing), and any conference win is a good win in the ACC. They’re on a roll, and if they can maintain this momentum, Virginia Tech should be 11-3 going into the meat & potatoes of their schedule and playing with the kind of confidence with which tournament-quality teams play.

The subject says it all. This is just the obligatory “first-post”. I have quotes around first-post because it is the first new post. I have imported all of my content from my original site, which was active in 2005.

I hope to make at least one post a week during basketball season. It’ll probably drop off a bit after March Madness, and then pick back up as football season draws near.

It is unbelievable how fast this summer flew by. It feel likes it was only yesterday that I started my new job. That was 2 months ago. While the end of summer is upon us, and that is bad news to some, the good news is that there are only 4 weeks until the Hokies take the field at North Carolina State.

Four weeks!!! I can hardly wait. I can practically smell the peanut oil for the turkey fryer, taste the goodness of a stiff Jim Beam & coke, and hear Lane Stadium rocking.

So, what happened over summer vacation?

• Boston College officially joined the ACC in July.
• The ACC added two bowl tie-ins for 2006. (The Emerald Bowl in San Fransisco and the Music City Bowl in Nashville will host ACC teams starting in 2006.)
• The ACC media picked Virginia Tech and Florida State to win their respective divisions.
• Virginia Tech is ranked #7 in the first USA Today Coaches Poll of the year, ahead of our ACC brethren (#8 Miami, #12 FSU, #22 BC, #23 UVA).

There is definitely a sense that this season could be something special. But along with this hope there is a dose of reality – everyone remembers 2002 and 2003. Talent plus Hype does not necessarily equal BCS. What will make the 2005 Hokies any different? They have arguably one of the most talented teams in Tech football history. However, this talented team will hopefully remember what it took to win an ACC championship. Team United is what they were called last year. If Team United shows up on September 4th, this season will be more memorable than 2004 and possibly more memorable than 1999.

But, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. The season has yet to begin, so I’m going to try and keep Rose Bowl talk to a minimum. I wouldn’t want to get too excited only to show up in Blacksburg for a game and see the cHokies take the field.

EDIT: I wanted to leave you with links to two articles – an excellent read at TailGateFever.com and Terry Bowden’s ACC Preview at Yahoo! Sports.

I came across this post on the mighty mjd sports blog from about one year ago, just after the USC game.

The mighty mjd referred to this column by Matt Hayes that Virginia Tech hit the ceiling in 1999 and was in decline. While mjd’s reasons were rediculous, I love this prediction: I can’t envision Tech winning a conference championship or playing in a big-time bowl anytime soon. With that, recruiting takes a hit. With that, everything goes down hill. But other than that, I’m sure the ACC will be a lot of fun for them.

It gives me warm fuzzies to read these opinions knowing that we are now the defending champions of the ACC.

David Teel, of the Hampton Roads Daily Press, talks about the amazing year Virginia Tech athletics has enjoyed in his latest column. Yes, we all remember the Hokies winning the ACC football championship outright. We also remember the men’s basketball team overachieving. But David reminds us of the success the other sports have enjoyed. (eg: The softball team getting a NCAA tournament bid.) Hokies everywhere have much to be proud of, including, but certainly not limited to, our football team.

According to ESPN, the Big East and ACC have settled their differences out of court. After Virginia Tech and Miami’s defections to the ACC, members of the Big East conference sued Miami and Boston College, accusing them of conspiring with the ACC to destroy the Big East. Tech was never involved in this lawsuit because we were essentially an afterthought when ACC expansion began. It appears that they have settled out of court for the tune of $5 million.

So, BC should join up with the ACC in July without much fanfare, and life will go on. As a parting shot, I’ll leave you with this article, titled Beamer says ACC is the place for Hokies.

TechSideLine.com has posted a number of historical photos of Lane Stadium. With the expansion of the West stands expected to be completed at the beginning the upcoming football season, now is a good a time as any to remember the days of Lane Stadium when there were less seats and less people filling those seats.

The 1999 and 2000 photos really bring back memories. Well, who could forget the ’99 season? But the Thunder Bowl is one I’d rather forget. Most people remember it as the night Lee Corso’s rental car got struck by lightening. I remember being in the stands when skies opened up and thinking, “It’s only a thunderstorm. It’ll pass, and the game will get started.” The rain never stopped, and the game was never played. I had to walk back from Lane Stadium to my apartment at Pack Place (Prices Fork Road, across from Turner Street). Instead of walking, I jogged back, because I was quite uncomfortable due to being completely soaked through.

However, of all the old photos, this one from 1972 has got to be my favorite. Check out the gobbler head on top of the scoreboard. That is one pissed off turkey!

Yup, it’s that time of year – pollen is flying through the air and there’s very little going on in the world of sports. Ok, so maybe I don’t really have “the blues”, but my sinuses are fully congested and football news has sharply dropped off in the wake of the draft. I’m sorry, I’m just not much of a fan of MLB. After the strike, my interest waned, and the
controversy surrounding the steroids issues has completely pushed me away. The NFL really is America’s number one pro sport. They have the right idea with revenue sharing, and they have the strongest drug policy of the Big 3. I know
the NFL isn’t perfect, but it is the most well-run professional sporting league of in the US. But I digress …

Getting back to the topic of Virginia Tech athletics, as reported earlier this week, Marquie Cooke was dismissed from the men’s basketball team. While I am sad to see such a talented recruit leave the team, I am happy to see that Coach Greenburg has that team first attitude that brought so much success to the football and basketball teams. While the men’s basketball team didn’t have a super year by ACC standards, they had one hell of a year by VT standards. A number of the games they won were earned by not giving up late, and that helped to galvanize them as a team. According to TechSideLine.com, as well as this Daily Press article, Cooke wasn’t exactly the ideal team player. His dismismal was the culmination of a poor attitude during the entire season. For Greenburg to dismiss him under that pretext tells me much about the kind of program Greenburg is building. What was that catch phrase of the 2004 football team? Team United.