DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711230155

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PITTSBURGH                        LENGTH:   61 lines

TECH STILL CAN BAG BOWL ALLIANCE BID NOW THE BAD NEWS: IF ALL GOES WRONG, THE HOKIES COULD BE LEFT OUT IN THE COLD.

As poorly as Virginia Tech played Saturday in a 30-23 loss to Pittsburgh, the Hokies could still end up with a share of the Big East football title and a Bowl Alliance bid.

But at game's end, Tech coach Frank Beamer hinted at another possibility that might have seemed impossible a few days ago: The Hokies could fail to garner one of the Big East's four guaranteed bowl bids.

``There's a lot of football to play yet,'' said Beamer, whose Hokies close out the regular season Saturday at Virginia. ``Five Big East teams could be eligible for bowls, and only four are going to go.''

The process for determining the champion is complicated, but simply put, Tech's only hope to gain an Alliance bid is for Syracuse to lose at Miami this weekend. It would also help if Pitt won at West Virginia.

The Hokies (7-3, 5-2 in the conference) would have claimed a share of the Big East lead with a win over Pitt. The loss knocked them into second place, behind Syracuse (8-3, 5-2) and a half-game ahead of West Virginia (7-2, 4-2).

Here are most likely scenarios for Tech's hopes for an Alliance bid:

If Syracuse beats Miami, the Orangemen claim the Big East title and the Bowl Alliance bid, probably to the Fiesta Bowl against a Big Ten team.

If Miami beats Syracuse and West Virginia beats Pitt, then Tech, Syracuse and West Virginia tie for the title. The Alliance bid would then be determined by the composite of the Associated Press and CNN/USA Today polls, with the highest-ranked team going to the Alliance. Tech almost certainly must win at U.Va. to be ranked higher than Syracuse and West Virginia.

If Syracuse and West Virginia lose this weekend, Tech and Syracuse tie for the title. Tech then garners the Alliance bid based on its 31-3 thrashing of the Orangemen earlier this season unless Syracuse is more than five places higher than the Hokies in the composite rankings.

However, there are no guarantees of what happens to Tech if the Hokies don't claim the Alliance bid.

If the Hokies beat U.Va., they likely would go to the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day in Jacksonville, Fla., to play the ACC's No. 2 team, probably North Carolina. But that's entirely up the Gator Bowl officials, who have the No. 2 Big East choice but don't have to follow the league standings. The good news for Tech is that West Virginia competed in the Gator Bowl last season against North Carolina and likely would not be invited two years in a row.

If the Gator snubs Tech, the Carquest Bowl picks No. 3 in the Big East, and it's possible, if Miami beats Syracuse, that bowl officials may take the hometown Hurricanes over the Hokies. They could also take West Virginia. The Dec. 29 contest will include the ACC's No. 4 team, possibly Virginia, Clemsom or Georgia Tech.

A snub by the Miami bowl could leave the Hokies in the St. Jude Liberty Bowl in Memphis on New Year's Eve, against Southern Mississippi. But the bowl could also choose West Virginia, if Miami claims one of the Big East's bowl bids.

If that were to happen, Tech's only hope then would be an at-large bid, and there are few available and none that are particularly attractive: the Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 20), Motor City Bowl (Dec. 26) and the Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl (Dec. 28).

``We want the best bowl bid we can get,'' Tech quarterback Al Clark said. ``The bottom line is that we've got to beat U.Va.''

And then root for Miami and Pitt.

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