When the ACC decided it needed to bulk up for football, it commandeered Miami and Virginia Tech.
Although the conference will not earn a lucrative second BCS berth for the first time in the series’ seven-year history, the ACC announced Tuesday that regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game between the Hurricanes and the Hokies, the newcomers would receive two of the conference’s top three bowl berths and the winner would play in a BCS game.
Perennial ACC power Florida State will play in the New Year’s Day Gator Bowl and Virginia, Georgia Tech and North Carolina have also accepted bowl invitations.
If Virginia Tech wins what has become a de facto conference championship game Saturday, it will win the league outright. If the higher-ranked Hurricanes prevail on their home field, however, Miami, Virginia Tech and Florida State will finish with identical 6-2 league records. The tie would leave the BCS standings to determine which team gets the bid, and Miami, which is currently 10th, would almost certainly play in either the Sugar or Fiesta Bowl.
“It is a big matchup this Saturday and a big game for both teams,” Miami quarterback Brock Berlin said. “You couldn’t really ask for more with the two Big East teams battling for the ACC title.”
The loser of Saturday’s final ACC regular-season game will play in the New Year’s Eve Peach Bowl in Atlanta against a yet-to-be-named SEC team.
Virginia (8-3) accepted an invitation to play in the MPC Computers Bowl Dec. 27 in Boise, Idaho. The Cavaliers’ opponent has not been determined.
Georgia Tech (6-5) will play in the Champs Sports Bowl, formerly called the Citrus Bowl, Dec. 21 in Orlando, Fla. North Carolina will meet Boston College in the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte.
Even before expansion, the league experienced bowl success. The ACC is the only conference in Division 1-A to post a winning record in postseason play each of the past three seasons, and its teams went 5-1 in bowls last season.
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