Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9310020108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVE CARLSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Florida?
Alabama?
Don't forget Virginia.
Don't laugh.
With Virginia (No. 21 in the Division I-A poll), Richmond (No. 15 in Division I-AA), William and Mary (No. 18 in I-AA) and Liberty (No. 24 in I-AA), the commonwealth has four teams ranked in the two divisions this week. And if Virginia Tech wins today at West Virginia, it likely will crack The Associated Press poll for the first time since 1986.
Only Florida, which accounts for five of the 50 schools in the I-A and I-AA polls, has more ranked teams this week than Virginia. Alabama and North Carolina also have four each.
Virginia and Virginia Tech are off to a combined 7-1 start. Since 1955, the commonwealth's two Division I-A schools have done that only one other time, when they were a combined 7-1 in 1983. Only once - in 1913 - have both programs won their first four games in the same season.
One other fun fact: Of the 30 states with two or more I-A programs, only two can top Virginia and Virginia Tech's combined .875 winning percentage. Alabama - with Alabama and Auburn a combined 8-0 - and Florida - with Florida, Florida State and Miami 10-0 overall - have perfect marks among their I-A programs.
Virginia's success isn't limited to Division I. Hampton is ranked fifth in Division II, and Emory & Henry is among the nation's top Division III teams.
But it's the Division I-A schools that attract most of the attention.
"I always said if Virginia and us could keep the best players in the state here, we'd both be in the Top 25 each year," said Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech's coach. "The last couple of years we've done a good job of doing that, so maybe we're starting to see the results."
Virginia, 4-0 and facing winless Ohio University today in Charlottesville, seems well on the way to its fourth bowl appearance in five years. And Virginia Tech (3-1) could position itself for its first bowl bid since 1986 with a victory in Morgantown, W.Va.
If the Hokies beat the Mountaineers, they would be favored in their next three games at home against Temple, Rutgers and East Carolina. No one would have projected Virginia Tech at 7-1 by the end of October, but if the Hokies win in Morgantown, it's feasible they could be in prime position for one of the Big East's three automatic bowl berths.
"They're in a bowl then," said Larry Ness, the host of a national radio sports-handicapping show on the Las Vegas-based Sports Entertainment Network. "If they win at West Virginia, it sets up their season. You might be looking at a solid bowl bid."
With a victory over the Mountaineers, another likely occurrence is that Virginia Tech will join Virginia in the Top 25. Virginia - which made it to No. 1 for a couple weeks in 1990 - is no stranger to the polls. But the Hokies haven't cracked the AP rankings since they were 20th in the final 1986 poll.
And if Virginia Tech makes the poll, it will make history for the state. Virginia and Virginia Tech have never been ranked at the same time in the AP poll, which has been in existence since 1936.
"I think the thing that's really helped Virginia Tech is being in the Big East," said Gene Wojciechowski, the Los Angeles Times college football writer and an AP voter who cast his ballot for Virginia and Virginia Tech this week. "It gives them some visibility and sort of puts them on the map.
"At Virginia, [coach George] Welsh has always done a good job there. When they had that big game against Georgia Tech a few years ago, that helped a lot. They lost, but the word was out. People don't forget that. They've played well enough to stay in the consciousness of the voters.
"They're playing better than I thought they would this year, and the same thing goes for Virginia Tech."
But the teams the Cavaliers and Hokies have played are suspect, which helps explain why both are prominent among national statistical leaders. The combined record of the four teams Virginia has beaten is 4-10. Welsh has a concise answer when commentators and opposing coaches gush about his team.
"They thought we were pretty good last year when we were 5-0, too," Welsh said, remembering the eventual 7-4 record and first bowl season in four years Virginia spent at home.
Virginia Tech also has looked good playing teams that aren't. The Hokies' three victims have a combined 2-8 record.
Virginia Tech actually made its biggest statement that it may be a good team in losing by 19 points at Miami. The Hurricanes scored a season-low 21 points in the victory at the Orange Bowl, where Miami hasn't lost since 1985.
"Teams with more notoriety have gone down there and struggled," said Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune, another AP voter. "That's no great shame. You'd have to say right now Virginia Tech would be a bowl-type team. You look at that conference and they have a chance to finish third, if not second, which would put them in a nice bowl."
If both Virginia and Virginia Tech gain bowl bids, it will be only the second time that has happened in the same season. In 1984 the Cavaliers beat Purdue in the Peach Bowl and the Hokies lost to Air Force in the Independence Bowl.
Sure it's early, and these teams could fall like the leaves off the trees in October. But for now, the commonwealth is a college football hotbed.
by CNB