Only one longshot scenario keeps Hokies alive in Coastal Division; Boston College will be 12:30 p.m. kickoff
In a normal season, the Hokies would have been mathematically eliminated yesterday from representing the Coastal Division in the ACC championship game. But math doesn’t factor in an extenuating circumstance surrounding Miami this year.
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Georgia Tech’s upset of North Carolina and Virginia’s upset of Miami muddled the division race even further Saturday. The division standings now look like this:
* Miami 4-3
* Georgia Tech 4-3
* Duke 3-3
* North Carolina 3-3 (ineligible)
* Virginia 2-4
* Virginia Tech 2-4
Amazingly, Duke is the only team that controls its situation. Win twice and the Blue Devils win the division. This is because the ACC has said that North Carolina, though ineligible, will still factor into tiebreakers in the division standings, so Miami doesn’t necessarily own all tiebreakers with with Georgia Tech, despite a head-to-head victory.
Because Duke still plays both Georgia Tech and Miami, it guarantees that one of those three teams will get to five conference wins. Even if the Hokies win out, they can’t get to five conference wins.
But, there is also the matter of whether or not Miami self-imposes a postseason ban, which would take it out of the running for the Coastal Division title and a spot in the ACC championship game. The Hurricanes won’t make a decision until after they are bowl eligible, which could happen next week when they host South Florida.
If they do decide to self-impose a postseason ban, incredibly, Virginia Tech could still sneak in to the ACC title game. Here’s what would need to happen:
- Duke beats Georgia Tech next week.
- Miami beats Duke to win the division with a 5-3 record.
- Virginia Tech beats both Boston College and Virginia.
- Miami self-imposes a postseason ban, removing itself from an appearance in the ACC title game.
- Virginia Tech wins a three-way tiebreaker at 4-4 with Duke and Georgia Tech.
If anything else happens, the Hokies have no shot. So yeah, the odds aren’t great.
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This news came late last night, but Virginia Tech’s game at Boston College this Saturday will start at 12:30 p.m. and be televised on the ACC Network.
Here’s the full ACC schedule this week:
Thursday, November 15
- North Carolina at Virginia, ESPN, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 17
- Florida State at Maryland, ESPNU, Noon
- Virginia Tech at Boston College, ACC Network, 12:30 p.m.
- USF at Miami, RSN, 3 p.m.
- NC State at Clemson, ABC/ESPN2*, 3:30 p.m.
- Duke at Georgia Tech, ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.
- Wake Forest at Notre Dame, NBC, 3:30 p.m.
*Televised regionally on ABC, to other parts of the nation on ESPN2.
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The ACC still only has four bowl-eligible teams at this point: Florida State (9-1), Clemson (9-1), Duke (6-4), N.C. State (6-4).
Boston College (2-8) and North Carolina (6-4 but ineligible due to NCAA sanctions) are the only teams in the league that have not shot to make a bowl.
Everybody else has a shot to get to six wins. Here they are, with their remaining schedule and a likelihood of getting to six wins:
- Wake Forest (5-5): at Notre Dame, vs. Vanderbilt — Will come down to the smart-school battle with already bowl-eligible Vandy.
- Maryland (4-6): vs. Florida State, at North Carolina — No quarterback, no shot.
- Miami (5-5): vs. South Florida, at Duke — Should get it next weekend against a USF team that is 3-6.
- Georgia Tech (5-5) — vs. Duke, at Georgia — Suddenly-hot Yellow Jackets better take care of business against Duke, because Georgia is among the nation’s best and could be playing for something larger than bragging rights in regular season finale.
- Virginia (4-6) — vs. North Carolina, at Virginia Tech — Amazingly still alive after six-game losing streak. UNC, which gave up 68 points last week, suddenly doesn’t look as tough. Virginia Tech has been reeling all year. Cavs just might do it.
- Virginia Tech (4-6) — at Boston College, vs. Virginia — It’s laid out pretty clear for the Hokies. The Eagles are a struggling team that will probably axe their coach sometime soon. The Cavaliers are a team they’ve beaten eight straight times and 12 of the last 13. And they get them at home. Falling short of bowl eligibility with this remaining schedule might be the biggest disappointment of the season.
November 11, 2012 - 11:05 AM
“Dumb and Dumber”, loved it! As a VT fan I’m looking towards next year and the hope of change.
It says quite a bit about the weakness of the ACC this year when you consider that the best hope for the Coastal division will be a 7-5 team, possibly 6-6, that competes for the ACC title. It also says a lot about VaTech that even when we’re talking about a 7-5/6-6 team winning the division, VT’s shot at that is about one in a million.
This is not a one year problem, despite the claims of some. It’s more than obvious what is needed. New blood, fresh air, different mindsets. That will not happen until Frank Beamer decides to retire. He can cut Newsome loose, and let O’Cain retire, as has been rumored that O’Cain wants to do for 2-3 years now. Those are not fundamental changes. Not when Frank replaces them with someone else with the same stunted mindset from ‘within the family’.
It’s funny how the newest OC to draw attention by some Hokie fans is Tony Franklin. Of course, if Tony Franklin hadn’t attended Murray State the same time as Bud Foster, nobody in the apologist club would ever even look at him. Just like if Shane Beamer had any other last name, he wouldn’t be considered a recruiting genius & future head coach by any Hokie fans. It’s just more of the same ‘family’ mindset, where nothing from outside the bubble is ever considered.
Like I said – new blood, fresh air, different mindsets. That’s the only hope to get out of this ever contracting bubble. That won’t happen until Frank Beamer retires, and maybe not for more than five years after that. Get used to the ride, folks. It’s going to be around for a long, long time.
Road why don’t apply to be the next head coach. You seem to know everything.
1. Love the pic!
2. At this point, all I have to say is: “Just beat UVa.”
3. Not only did Chip Kelly succeed with three star recruit Marcus Mariota, a barely 19 year old RS freshman with an unusually high football IQ who can both throw and run, Chip Kelly was also VERY high on a three star prospect named Johnny Manziel and for a time had his commitment to Oregon. If they made a movie about Billy Beane, why not make a movie about Chip Kelly?
Re Cole: if one has every been in an MRAP, Stryker, etc. they will hit there head on the inside ceiling of the vehicle all of the time, while wearing a helmet. I know of quite a few guys who had similar injuries- the neck locks up and the muscles do not allow the guy to move his head after a hard impact- has happened to me. Sucks, and could include serious injury, but often goes away with muscle relaxers (meds).
Miami has said if they become champion of the coastal they will play in the game in Charlotte. If they get to that game they will surely go to a bowl game unless the NCAA says otherwise.
How does this say anything about the “weakness of the ACC” ? This is ACC beating ACC ! ! Is a conference stronger if one team is undefeated, and three others are winless? Where’s the logic.
I do not want Tech going to the ACC champs game, except as fans to think about next year. I do not want VT going to a bowl but the players deserve a trip to Disney World or -land. Or better Miami Beach. They deserve a lot if Beamer can walk about with million$$ and turn his back on his destruction of a great team. I want a new coach for Christmas !!
Agree, Shane Beamer without that last name is just another face in the crowd, and maybe a lost ball in high weeds.
One missed bowl in the last 19 years! The possibility of one loss to UVa in the last 9 years? Ten win seasons and a BCS bowl? Without Frank – fugedaboudit! How spoiled we have become! I can recall when a Southern Conference championship (and oh, BTY, only 1 of those – 1963) and a bid to the Liberty bowl was the height of ambition. Anybody here want to go back to that? Only if this season goes on for 3 – 4 more years do we contemplate a change.
I have never wanted us to lose before but I am almost to the point of wishing we lose the next two games then maybe someone will fire our bad offensive coaches. If we make a bowl maybe we could play Virginia Western Community College. No they don’t have a team but there coaches are better then ours.
I’ve said it before and will keep saying it because I believe it is the only path for Tech to move forward. Frank Beamer and his staff need to retire (hopefully) or be fired. Frank and his staff are nice enough guys, but they have seen their best days as far as coaching. The present has passed them by and they continue to envision things of yesteryear.
Beamer is not a great coach. His record does not confirm greatness. Yes, there are 10 win seasons and a streak of bowl games, but his wins are mainly against weaker level teams and his bowl record is not outstanding. His wins against the better teams is very weak. The record does not place him in the Hall of Fame of great coaches.
Now changing coaches does not bring a guarantee, but it will bring hope, which is something we do not have currently. We can continue to have the same old, same old and muddle around, or we can hope for something better in the future. I for one am willing to take that chance. With a good search team in place, I’m sure Tech can come up with a list of very qualified candidates that would love to have the job.
I first started watching Tech football in Miles Stadium, so I have seen lots of chances. I’m ready for another change in the current football coaching staff. Hopefully, a new staff could win some quality games against the better teams. It just WILL NOT happen with what we have.
That’s a lot of things that have to go VT’s way. If I was a VT fan I would just hope they show up for the next two games and win them and then hope to go to a decent bowl because if another choke job shows up the only place VT will be bowling is to the nearest bowling alley!!
I see some of starting to come around the truth of the matter; it’s time for Beamer to step aside. Not because he cannot coach, but because his loyalty is quickly destroying the program he worked so hard to build. Loyalty is a good thing when it’s applied and used in the proper manner. However, continuing to allow coaches to coach that have no business doing so at the D-1 just because they’re your buddy is not using loyalty in the way it should be used. Loyalty helped Frank Beamer keep his job during the early struggles and build a program. Loyalty is now destroying Frank Beamer and the legacy he established in Blacksburg.
Agree 100%, Beamer is over rated as hell he isn’t a great coach he loses every big game he coaches. He’s old and it’s starting to show he needs to hire better coaches and let them coach and stop getting involved with the offense he has no clue about offense.
proof reader, Miami has not said anything like that. It won’t make an announcement until after the team becomes bowl eligible and hasn’t tipped its h and either way.
#14 “Agree 100%, Beamer is over rated as hell he isn’t a great coach he loses every big game he coaches.”
That is so much BS. He has won a bunch of big games. If you want to make a point, do it with facts. the last 2 years have not been great and clearly this year has been horrible but to say he loses every big game is just not smart.
VT stands a better chance of going to a bowl than getting into the conference championship game. Physically they are better than either BC or UVA but I don’t know where they are mentally. This has been a rough season on everyone, do they hunker down or do they fold?
Interesting comments from Dabo Swenney this week. I don’t know what led up to what he said but I have noticed that coaches like to come to the defense of other coaches whose jobs are on the line.
Wow. Lets be real here. Some of you I hope are saying this in jest but, you people are ridiculous if you think Beamer is going to step aside for one mediocre (or less than mediocre)year in the last 20. If you folks are waiting around for him to have a retirement speech ready to roll following the UVA or bowl game, you are going to be disappointed in a major way. Be prepared for Beamer for several more years. He will make changes as needed. Some coach(es) will be the sacrificial lamb (likely at least Newsome). If you peeps can’t deal with him being HC for the next 5 years, you may wanna start following another team.
Say what you think about Shane, but look at last year’s 4 star recruits and this year’s 4 star Commits and see who did the recruiting – Rivals.com good place to look!
Only an Idiot would think that Frank Beamer is going to name his replacement! Shane is there form his recruiting ability – Check out what he did at South Carolina.
They made a movie about Stinespring and O’Cain. It was called Dumb and Dumber
Shane was recruiting coordinator at South Carolina, which meant he did not go into the field to recruit players. he did what Jim Cavanaugh is now doing. So if you want to give Shane credit for recruiting stars to South Carolina, you have to turn around and give Jim Cavanaugh all the credit for the recruits that you want to falsely assign to Shane. You don’t get to play it both ways, though that’s exactly what the apologists are doing.
You also might want to check Rivals and see that Shane didn’t recruit all the 4-star recruits. Other recruiters, other territories. See, that’s what I mean when I refer to the anointing of Shane based solely on his last name. The apologists try to give him ALL the credit for every good recruits at South Carolina, though he wasn’t out recruiting them, other coaches were. The apologists try to give him ALL the credit for every good recruit since his arrival, even though he wasn’t out recruiting all of them (some, yes), other coaches were. Let’s also look at the 4-star & better recruits we lost out on to schools from outside the state, and assign those to Shane, if we’re going to pretend he is the sole reason for every positive. Again, the apologists trying to play both sides of the coin to anoint Shane as the answer, solely because of his last name.
The circle just keeps tightening and getting more inbred. We need new blood, fresh air, and a different mindset. ALL of it from ‘outside the family’. None of that will happen until well after Frank Beamer retires. Enjoy the ride, folks, it’s going to be a long one.
Crooked Road- Cut and paste; cut and paste
As a Hokie, I went to the UVA-Miami game Saturday. If the UVA shows up that played Miami and if Rocco is on like he was Saturday, Tech is going to have a long day. I would favor UVA if the game was in Charlottesville. I will say I was also impressed with the play calling by UVA. They did not telegraph any play and they tore Miami up accross the middle. Now to be fair UVA did let Miami score 40 that day but Tech’s offense hasn’t shown many 40 point days this year. Also, UVA will have 10 days to prepare. The only saving grace is you know Tech will be up for the game and it is in Lane.
Frank Beamer is one of the best head coaches in the country. His offensive staff is among the average. His unwillingness to make changes will be his fall from grace. All the talk has been about the offense, the defensive backfield deserves ALL the credit for losses to Cincy and FSU. BC can throw the football, can Tech defend it? If Stiney is any kind of man at all he will resign and allow Beamer to rebuild.
Crooked Road – Once again you proved just what an idiot you are! Shane did indeed personally recruit players to USC. In fact (a word you know nothing about), he was the personal recruiter for such players as Ashlon Jeffery and Conner Shaw!! Funny how those that think they know so much, in reality, know so little!!
Crooked who is your source for your nonsense? Shane Beamer was on the road recruiting at every school he has been employed. He is on the road all the time now. He did not come to VT to be the head coach. He was hired becasue he has a great reputation as a recruiter and we needed new blood and youth. Read the articles that have been written about him at the SEC schools and other schools in the ACC where he has been. His resume was not made at VT.
You live in some alternate universe where facts are not relevant. You embarrass yourself.
Shane Beamer recruited on the road his first two seasons at South Carolina, his last two seasons he did not recruit on the road, as he was recruiting coordinator. The number of 4-star recruits he signed at South Carolina did not match the number of 4-star recruits that Ron Cooper & Bob Gillespie signed in the same time frame. I saw no hue & cry to add either of them to our coaching staff. Go back and see how many 4-star recruits South Carolina got out of Va. at the time, and realize that Shane got none of them.
Forever, you say that Shane’s resume was not made at VT, as though that makes him somehow disconnected from his daddy, Frank Beamer, when it comes to hiring preferences. He was hired to coach RBs, despite not having played as one in college, nor having spent more than a limited time (one season, IIRC) several years ago as a RB coach.
Shane’s hiring as a RB coach at VT ‘because he’s a great recruiter’ made as much sense as Curt Newsome’s ‘because he’s a great recruiter’ & Stinespring’s retention ‘because he’s a great recruiter’. How are those working out for us? Who’s supposed to ‘coach up’ all these great recruits that we really haven’t been getting so many of? How are our RBs doing this season, under Shane’s coaching?
Crooked, trying to educate you is spitting in the wind. I know what I am talking about and you don’t. When someone is the coordinator that does not mean he is not recruiting on the road. Cavennaugh went on the road to recruit and stay in contact with the high school coaches. To coordinate is to coordinate all the pieces so there is no duplication and the process is more efficient.
Don’t hide your expertise. Please call the VT football office and offer to help them.