ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Strip
WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI out of the way, the alliance door would swing wide open for the 13th-ranked Hokies.
Virginia Tech's road to its first major bowl game now appears to be paved in gold.
``All I can say is we're prepared to go,'' Dave Braine, the Hokies' athletic director, said Thursday.
``All the rest of the bowls have been calling us and saying, `congratulations.' They must know something.''
Tech moved into the acceleration lane toward a $3.5 million Bowl Alliance jackpot Thursday when the NCAA announced that it would inform the University of Miami today of its sanctions against the Hurricanes' football program.
If a bowl-ban sanction is part of Miami's punishment - a given because of the seriousness of the school's football program's crime, said one well-placed Big East source - the Hurricanes will opt to begin serving their penalty now rather than waiting a year.
Miami and NCAA officials declined to comment Thursday, other than to confirm today's announcement of penalties passed down by the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. The school pleaded guilty Nov. 10 to six of 10 charges of misuse of federal scholarship money and failure to follow its own drug-testing policy.
Edward T. Foote, Miami's president, had indicated Wednesday that the school would like to serve any bowl sanction as soon as possible.
``We want to take our medicine this year instead of next year,'' Foote said.
Earlier in the week, an NCAA spokesman said, ``It's not unprecedented, so there should be no problem'' with Miami serving any possible bowl ban immediately.
By taking its penalty now, Miami benefits, because it will lighten any possible negative impact on recruiting.
If truth be known, Miami may have been squeezed out of this year's bowl picture on Wednesday, when the Carquest Bowl privately committed one of its berths to the Southeastern Conference.
Tired of waiting to fill the pairing for its Dec. 30 game, the Carquest invited North Carolina (6-5), then gave its spot originally reserved for a third Big East team to the SEC.
Should Miami remain eligible, the Big East would have a problem - three teams with only two available bowl spots, the alliance and Gator.
In that scenario, a league source said the Big East likely would ask Miami to step aside, permitting Tech and Syracuse (8-3) to fill the alliance and Gator spots, respectively.
With Miami, which tied Tech for the Big East title, out of the way, the alliance door would swing wide open for Tech. The 13th-ranked Hokies (9-2) would land in either the Dec. 31 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans or the Jan. 1 Orange Bowl in Miami.
Of the two bowls, the Sugar appears to be the most likely destination for Tech. The Hokies, a Big East source said, are likely to be paired with the Southwest Conference champion, either ninth-ranked Texas (9-1-1) or No.16 Texas A&M (8-2). The Longhorns and Aggies meet Saturday in College Station, Texas, for the SWC title.
If the Sugar pairs Tech against the SWC champion, the Orange Bowl will come away with a Notre Dame-Florida State matchup.
The Bowl Alliance, which includes the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange bowls, will announce its selections on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
Until Thursday, it appeared that Tech, despite its higher ranking and better record than 22nd-ranked Miami (8-3), might get snubbed by the alliance in favor of the more nationally known Hurricanes.
If it didn't get the Big East alliance spot, Tech would have been relegated to the less-lucrative Jan. 1 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., against Clemson (8-3).
A Gator berth would have been worth $2 million less to Tech than an alliance bid.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB