Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech in Chick-Fil-A Bowl
by Will on Dec 1, 2009 4:20 PM EST
in Tennessee Volunteer Football
54 comments
The Knoxville News-Sentinel is reporting that the Vols will face the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Dave Hooker says the official announcement could come later today, which would be somewhat surprising; the Chick-Fil-A moving on VT locks out the loser of the ACC Championship Game, and it'll be interesting to see if the Gator Bowl and others with ACC tie-ins follow suit.
The Vols and Hokies last met 15 years ago in the Gator Bowl following the 1994 season, a 45-23 Tennessee win in Peyton Manning's freshman year. The two schools are only 230 miles apart and talked several years ago about playing a "Bristol Bowl" at the motor speedway, but nothing ever materialized.
I live outside Blacksburg. Believe me when I tell you that Virginia Tech wants to beat the Vols very, very badly.
The Outback Bowl may be a more prestigious destination, but #11 Virginia Tech is a much more prestigious opponent than Wisconsin or Northwestern. New Year's Eve in Atlanta, in our personal house of horrors, the Georgia Dome? This is a very, very big opportunity for this team to get what would be its biggest win of the season, and make a statement with the nation watching. Be excited.
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Yeah, I like this matchup
Should be a good game.
Trivia note: that 1994 Gator Bowl is my answer to everyone who says Peyton Manning couldn’t win in the Swamp.
Lou Brock loves Lamp.
how concerned should we be about
the Virginia Tech offense?
I’m thinking VERY concerned.
You should be extremely concerned about Ryan Williams
I said it somewhere on here last week that I think Tyrod Taylor is more perception than reality, he’ll only throw if he has to. Williams reminds me of, no joke, Montario Hardesty.
how concerned should we be
every time we punt, or kick or every time they punt or kick
BeamerBall is BeamerBall for a reason
I like it
Plus, it has that southern Appalachians feel to it…
Great matchup.
We’ll need all of December to rest and prepare, though.
Great matchup
I like the sounds of this and if we beat #11 on national T.V. it would be great for recruting
I love this game. It will be a great opponent
What is scary is that UT (with Perhaps the worst Special Teams-due to injuries or whatnot- in the SEC, if not all the BCS conferences) will be playing the most storied Special Teams team in recent history. UT will have to be at the top of our game.
Frankly, this is better than the Outback Bowl
Forget New Year’s Day. This is a far more prestigious matchup than against Wisconsin or Northwestern, and a far more prestigious bowl than the Outback. The only thing that makes the Outback more prestigious in our eyes is that it’s a slightly higher bowl slot for an SEC team, but frankly the matchup against the No. 2 ACC team is almost always better than the matchup against the No. 3 or 4 Big Ten team. New Year’s Day doesn’t really mean anything anymore, anyway. All kinds of crappy bowl games have bled over into January now, most of the traditional bowls aren’t even on New Year’s Day anymore, and even if it did mean something still, 11 am on New Year’s Day is far inferior to primetime on New Year’s Eve. We automatically think New Year’s Day because it’s been drilled into our minds since we were little, but look around.
I guess what I’m saying is that this is the best possible situation for us other than maybe going to the Cotton Bowl, and frankly this may be better. Get excited about this and don’t be upset that we’re not playing on New Year’s Day. Be thankful the Outback Bowl passed us over.
Full Disclosure
I live in Atlanta so this will allow me to go to the game when I wouldn’t have otherwise, but still…I’m pretty sure that I would feel the same way if I lived anywhere else.
Logistically, you're absolutely correct.
The only thing the Outback has is an extra $100k payout, but that’s not enough to get worked up over.
But it will always be irritating to know that the Outback Bowl intentionally passed over UT for a less defensible selection. And I have a very hard time thinking of a reason for it, especially since they just guaranteed that the CFA Bowl will be a clearly superior matchup on paper.
The only thing I can think of – and this is in tinfoil-hat land – is that the ‘wigs in Tampa don’t want a Tennessee team showing up and helping their recruiting out. UT has always placed a heavy emphasis on the area, and is a direct rival to UF (as well as the team who beat FSU in the ‘98 season’s end). Conspiracy theory would suggest some blowback. And that’s really the only reason I can think of for the Outback to skip over UT.
That, or they’re still bitter over the Bucs old orange uniforms.
Thank you...
for saying what I was thinking better than I could actually say it. As I mentioned in another post, I’ve watched UT get passed over by bowls way too many times in the past and quite frankly I’m glad that this didn’t create a domino effect where we ended up at the Music City Bowl.
…and keep that tinfoil hat within arms-reach.
So Sayth King Zach I
by kingofzachland on Dec 1, 2009 5:59 PM EST up reply actions
Seriously?
You can’t come up with a reason?
As I posted elsewhere earlier:
Can we really blame the Outback for trying to maximize its income? Look at this from their perspective: despite the renewed sense of excitement about UT football this year thanks to CLK and his staff, they see us as a team who has already played in their bowl two of the last three years. We haven’t sold out a single game this year and despite a good fanbase and storied tradition (and the fact we missed bowling last year) may not be as enticing as an Auburn team that hasn’t played there since 1995.
As unfair as it may seem (and even actually be) to Vol fans, if Auburn promises them they will sell more tickets, the Outback Bowl would be stupid not to take the offer. And all of this talk about boycotting their restaurants and their bowl in the future is BS. This bowl screwed us a lot worse in 2003. If any of us were serious about this stuff, there wouldn’t be anyone left to boycott them this year when they screw us again.
Lou Brock loves Lamp.
Between Auburn and Tennessee, I can't imagine either fanbase buying up their entire allotment.
Even if we ignore the ‘no sales guarantees allowed’ rule, it seems a wash to me.
Ok, that couple with this would make more sense:
Take the source fwiw, but there’s at least some logic behind it.
Word in Bham is that AU AD Jay Jacobs guaranteed an absurd number of ticket sales to Outback (with AU eating the inevitable difference) so that there would be no chance that Chizik could end up facing his old school in the Indy Bowl.
I could definitely see not wanting to bring up Iowa State again. It’d be a total lose-lose for Auburn: win, and they beat Chizik’s players with Tub’s players; lose, and they lose to Iowa State.
Not to rain on the parade or anything
But isn’t it likely that actively boycotting Outback will just make it so it’s less likely we get picked there (less likely than even currently)? And while this year it turned out for the best, we have had it suck really badly before when they did (Clemson game). Do we want to actively encourage that to happen?
Also, we have dual conspiracy theories going on here. One says that it’s a Florida conspiracy, the other that it’s a Kentucky conspiracy. Perhaps it’s a joint Florida-Kentucky conspiracy? Why do they not let Alabama in on it, too? I’m sure Alabama would want to be in on any conspiracy against us.
And finally, I like Outback Steakhouse (relatively speaking, anyway). Do we have to boycott them?
Yeah, I know
I’m just amused by these conspiracy theories and boycott threats.
I agree that Texas Roadhouse is better, but I haven’t seen many of them around in Atlanta. When I’m in Knoxville, I do go there quite often.
You can always stop
in Chattanooga if you can’t make it to Knoxville. There’s one here.
....WHICH ARE AWESOME.
The Bucs’ only win this season is in the old creamsicles.
Cannons... fire them.
www.BucEm.com - SBNation's home for discussion of all things regarding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Coming from a Virginia Tech fan who lives in Tennessee...
This should be a great match up. It will be important for both teams to try and stop the run to force the pass. Ryan Williams is the real deal, the best freshman i have seen in years. This is a much different team than we all saw vs Alabama in the opener, Williams has matured and the Hokies have straightened out their defense, now #13 in the country.
Congrats guys
This is a pretty sweet bowl to find yourself in. Definitely one I’ll be watching. Who the heck wants to play Wisconsin anyway?
by HarveyBirdmanAAL on Dec 1, 2009 5:39 PM EST reply actions
Love the match-up...
…hate the bowl. Playing on New Year’s Day is still an accomplishment and still means something. However, I’m guessing Kiffin wanted in this game for recruiting purposes—both playing in Georgia and against Va Tech will help us out headed into the offseason (oh, and winning would help as well).
Here’s to ending our 5 game losing streak in the Georgia Dome!
So Sayth King Zach I
Rest of the SEC shakedown:
The Rivals Georgia site is reporting the Dawgs are headed to Shreveport for the final SEC installment of the Independence Bowl. That should put Kentucky in the Music City, Arkansas in the Liberty (location, location, location), and South Carolina uses all its might from the upset over Clemson…to land the SEC’s final bowl bid, in the papajohns.com
I’m happy.
YEAHHHHH BUDDY
this is exciting.
go vols. eff da friggin hokies. the vols will avenge my beloved bearcats for their loss in the orange bowl last year
go vols!!!
If I remember correctly...
…I believe they were talking about a capacity of over 200,000. As is, Bristol holds 160,000. It would be a sight to see.
So Sayth King Zach I
by kingofzachland on Dec 1, 2009 7:53 PM EST up reply actions
And how much of a pain would it be to get there?
Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.
Sounds like a fun game to watch
I like Tyrod Talor a lot. But I am sure Monte will shut him down.
"Why does bottled water have an expiration date?"
I timed things badly.
Just booked flights that’d put me cross-country over New Year’s. Otherwise, I’d try hard to make this.
Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.
I agree with will
you cant go wrong when you pick texas roadhouse
Please let this be true. I could actually attend this game. Any insights into student tickets for bowl games? Is there a special process (like a lottery)? Are they any cheaper?
Neyland Stadium-It goes to eleven.
I would assume that they're going to handle them like away game tickets.
Lottery through the ticket website. I’m sure we’ll get a UT spam-mail about it when they have the details.
That's what I figured
I was just wondering, I’ve never gone to a bowl as a student through the school
Neyland Stadium-It goes to eleven.
When I was in school
There was a lottery and they doled out the extras in the upstairs of the UC.
I went to two SEC championships and got tickets to the LSU-UT game in 2005 but didnt go due to Hurricane Rita nailing Baton Rouge shortly after Katrina did in New Orleans.
I never won a lottery.
If they still do it this way, and you really want to go, I would definitely plan on attending the alternate ticket distribution in the upstairs of the UC, the Alumni Room or something like that. Usually there will be information in the Beacon on how to get tickets and when you register for the lottery and it will give the date and time of the alternate distribution.
by Prometheus1185 on Dec 1, 2009 11:00 PM EST up reply actions
They've switched to an online ticket distribution system this year.
You log in an request a ticket by a certain time. Then they hold a weighted lottery where you get more chances based on quality points. (You get quality points by attending games, sometimes showing up early. This year, they front-loaded us by class standing too.)
If the tickets aren’t all distributed after the lottery, then it’s first-come first-serve, but still online. Tickets are no longer distributed in the UC.
Game I've been dreaming about
Living in East TN as a Hokie, I have lots of Hokie and Vols fans, can’t wait to watch the game together, but I know as a Hokie fan, this is a MUST win!
I am scared
There is no joy in the Georgia Dome.
by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 2, 2009 9:45 AM EST reply actions
bah! egads! no!
i like the match up. the Ga Dome? ugh. i’m 0-3 there (2 peaches, 1 SECCG). jeez, in ’07, all i did was DRIVE BY the stadium (only about 4 miles from the hoose).
i hereby solemnly swear to steer completely clear of the Dome and all chik-fil-a restaurants on NYE.
...and we shall eat only the red skittles...
by thetennesseethumper on Dec 2, 2009 9:46 AM EST reply actions
I'm 0-2...
‘01 SEC and ’03 Chick-fil-a. I did exorcise my post-season demons with the ’07 Outback (and did so over my dad’s alma mater. Two words: Bragging rights). All the same, I’m going to try and make it down for this one. GO VOLS!
So Sayth King Zach I
by kingofzachland on Dec 2, 2009 5:46 PM EST up reply actions
Wonder when there going to make this official?
I mean it pretty much is already but it’d be nice to hear it.
At this point, probably not until Sunday night
While the SEC knows the loser of its championship game is still going to the BCS, that isn’t the case in the ACC…and which team loses will make a difference for the bowls below the Chick-Fil-A, so everything is on hold. The ACC title game is Saturday night, but the BCS selection show isn’t until Sunday at 8 PM…so you’ll probably hear official word sometime late Sunday night.
Yes
All the non-BCS bowl eligible SEC schools are believed to have informal agreements with the bowls that are going to select them:
- LSU/Capital One
- Ole Miss/Cotton
- Auburn/Outback
- Tennessee/Chick-Fil-A
- Kentucky/Music City
- Arkansas/Liberty
- Georgia/Independence
- South Carolina/PapaJohns.com
Most, if not all of these have been reported by sources within each program. It won’t be official until Sunday night, but I see no reason it’s not solid.
For what it's worth
Chris Low said today in his blog that there was still a small chance that the Peach might take Georgia-Clemson if Clemson loses. He did characterize the Tennessee-Virginia Tech matchup as “very likely,” though.
Better take this opportunity while you can get it
Yes, it’s their opportunity to make a statement. I’m not sure how much of a statement it will be though after this year cuz next year TN’s gonna kick a** . ACC too, go figure.
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