Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 16, 1993 TAG: 9311160008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia's shrinking bowl opportunities will turn on Saturday's noon visit to Scott Stadium by Virginia Tech, but the Cavaliers' hopes are not as dire as a bowl scout made them appear Saturday.
UVa's chances appear to be down to the Peach and the Hall of Fame, based upon comments by bowl executives Monday. After the Football Bowl Coalition takes two ACC teams, most likely Florida State and North Carolina, the Peach and Hall of Fame get the next two ACC selections.
Virginia Tech's acceptance of a berth in the Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., removed Virginia from consideration for that game. Clemson or North Carolina State, who share UVa's 7-3 overall record, could be playing the Hokies on New Year's Eve afternoon.
Virginia's best shot appears to be the Hall of Fame Bowl, with an 11 a.m. New Year's Day kickoff in Tampa, Fla.
Despite comments Saturday by scout Dick Bowers, who portrayed N.C. State as the bowl's top ACC candidate, Hall of Fame official Mike Schultze said the game remains "very up in the air" about its matchup of fourth-place teams from the ACC and Big Ten.
While UVa entertains Tech, Clemson visits South Carolina and N.C. State finishes its season at second-ranked Florida State. Clemson and the Cavaliers are 5-3 in the ACC and State is 4-3, with the Tigers and Wolfpack owning victories over Virginia.
It appears the only way UVa could climb into the Peach picture is the combination of a Cavaliers victory and a Clemson loss.
"That would be a pretty good assumption," Peach Bowl executive director Robert Dale Morgan said. "We said going into last week that the Clemson-Virginia winner had the inside track as the ACC representative in our game, period.
"We also said that this weekend's games would have an effect on our team-selection process. We're not hung up on one over the other."
ACC assistant commissioner Tom Mickle said Virginia "has positioned itself with the Hall of Fame Bowl as much as our other teams have," although N.C. State athletic director Todd Turner has lobbied the Tampa game more than his UVa counterpart, Jim Copeland.
"I talked to the Hall of Fame and Peach Bowl and they're both going to let it play out," Copeland said. "It makes absolutely no sense for them to commit. The executive director says they do not know which way they're going to go.
"`You're always concerned, but I think the probability of [not going at 8-3] is slim. At 7-4 our chances are lessened."
He said he doesn't feel State and Turner, a former UVa assistant AD, has outmaneuvered Copeland with the Hall of Fame.
"I don't feel that way at all," Copeland said. "I don't think the Hall of Fame Bowl saw us as a possibility until last weekend.
"I think it would be wrong for our schools to get in a bidding war with each other on a bowl that had to take one of them, and I don't think that's happened."
Mickle said the ACC has talked to the Carquest and Alamo bowls about picking an ACC team in case those games' affiliations with other conferences cannot be fulfilled.
The Carquest will fill its SEC slot with LSU, if the Tigers (4-5) finish with victories over Tulane and Arkansas. If LSU doesn't reach six victories, the Carquest still has Clemson, N.C. State, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana on its wish list.
The Independence is strongly considering Clemson, should the Tigers slide out of the Peach-Hall of Fame picture. Mickle said the ACC has talked to the Independence Bowl about Clemson and State.
by CNB