Va. Tech, Michigan covet BCS win in Sugar Bowl

Associated Press

New Orleans

A couple decades ago, few in college football would have dreamed of placing Virginia Tech in the same elite class as Michigan.

As the two teams collide in tonight’s Sugar Bowl, however, the team more associated with sustained success in recent years won’t be wearing maize and blue.

Virginia Tech (11-2) has won no fewer than 10 games in eight straight seasons. The Hokies are the ones whose 19th straight bowl appearance represents one of the longest streaks in the country.

If Virginia Tech has been short on anything since the program’s landmark victory over Texas in the Sugar Bowl that capped the 1995 season, it has been victories in BCS bowls.

The Hokies have lost four of five BCS bowl appearances, including twice in the Sugar Bowl — once against national champion Florida State in the 1999 season and once against unbeaten Auburn in 2004-05.

“We’ve had some great wins and we’ve done a great job getting here,” longtime Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said Monday before posing for photos with Michigan coach Brady Hoke and the Sugar Bowl trophy. “Now we need to take that next step and get our share of the BCS wins. ... The challenge to Virginia Tech and to the ACC right now is not only get here, but get a win.”

Beamer has already shown how serious he is about players emphasizing winning over partying, having sent home place kicker Tyler Weiss for a curfew violation. That left Tech thin at the position because top kicker Cody Journell had not even made the trip after his recent arrest in an alleged home invasion.