Tech To Face Kansas In Orange Bowl

Virginia Tech knew that its victory over Boston College meant no worse than a trip to the FedEx Orange Bowl. Losses by no. 1 Missouri and no. 2 West Virginia Saturday opened the door for a possible appearance in the BCS National Championship game, but Ohio State and LSU filled those top spots.  The BCS announced on its selection show that the Hokies’ opponent in Miami would be the Kansas Jayhawks on Jan. 3, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium.

"I'm just excited to be in a BCS bowl game,” said Hokie senior wide receiver Eddie Royal.  “We're going to be in Miami and playing a great team like Kansas. You know they're going to put up a lot of points and that's a challenge for our defense and our offense because we have to be able to match such a talented team. I watched them on TV a couple of times. They have an explosive offense and a really good defense. We know we have to come ready to play."

The BCS uses a combination of human and computer polls to determine its standings. Tech, ranked sixth in the Harris Interactive poll, fifth in the USA Today poll and first in the computers, finished with a BCS score of .8703.  Winning the ACC championship boosted Tech’s ranking from sixth to third.

The Jayhawks’ lone loss to Missouri forced them to sit out the Big 12 Championship Game and cost them a shot at the national title.  Kansas dropped from fifth to eighth (.7589) after being idle this week. This will be the school’s third appearance in the Orange Bowl (1948 and 1969).

Tech coach Frank Beamer told the media he was pleased to get the invite to the Orange Bowl and not disappointed to be on the outside of the national title picture.

"Yesterday after we won, I didn't think we had any chance. I never dreamed that those two teams would lose (Missouri and West Virginia), but when it gets down to a lot of pressure in close games things happen. I couldn't be more proud of our football program and our team, with the way we came back and won five ball games against tough competition. We had to play hard throughout, and answer challenges during the games. I'm proud of our football team."

Beamer ended up placing SEC champion LSU first on his coach’s ballot, one spot ahead of his own team. 

“I ended up voting LSU No. 1, [Virginia Tech] No. 2, Oklahoma No. 3, Ohio State No. 4, and Southern Cal No. 5. Arguments about teams who play in conference championship game and those who don't really don't matter. LSU beat us. I don't think we're the same team that we were when we played, but the fact is that they did beat us, so that's how it is."

The matchup with Kansas pits the Jayhawks’ second-ranked scoring offense (44.3 ppg) against the Hokies’ second-ranked scoring defense (15.5 ppg).

"It'll be a challenge,” said senior free safety D.J. Parker. “[Kansas] has a high-powered offense and they're also a great defense, so it'll be good competition for us. It will be a good game. They have a lot of good players over there so it will definitely be a challenge."

This will be the first ever meeting between the schools and the 21st between current members of the ACC and Big 12.  The ACC holds a slim 11-9 lead in the series.  Nine of the previous matchups have determined the national championship.

Television coverage of the bowl starts at 8 p.m. on FOX.  ESPN Radio will also carry live coverage.  According to the Virginia Tech Athletics Ticket Office, tickets will go on sale early this week.