Bowls, ACC put screws to Virginia
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Until there is compelling evidence to the contrary, the only thing that Virginia football fans can surmise is that the ACC is in bed with the bowls.

With every passing day comes word that a bowl has snubbed Virginia in favor of a team the Cavaliers defeated, and now there is a report that the ACC office is working feverishly to find a spot for Wake Forest.

For those who might not have checked out the ACC standings thoroughly, Wake is 6-6 overall and stands seventh in the conference at 3-5. The only reason the Deacons are even bowl-eligible is a waiver approved by the NCAA after it ratified a 12-game schedule.

Maybe the ACC can wield some influence with an outside bowl because it surely doesn't have any influence with its affiliates - the Peach, Gator, Tangerine, Continental Tire and Seattle bowls.

That assumes, however, that the ACC has had an interest in promoting a Virginia team that tied Maryland for second and has played a tougher nonconference schedule than any other ACC team next to Florida State.

This isn't the first time Virginia has gotten the shaft.

In 1995, the Cavaliers tied Florida State for first in the ACC and the Gator Bowl picked Clemson ahead of them. In 1997, the Cavaliers tied for third and the Peach Bowl went with fifth-place Clemson. In 1998, a 6-5 Clemson squad went to the Peach Bowl ahead of 7-4 UVa.

Did you hear the explanation given by Tangerine Bowl president Tom Mickle for going with a fifth-place Clemson team this year? He said his committee was impressed by Clemson's big win over archrival South Carolina.

South Carolina? That's another team UVa defeated. Clemson had to come from behind to beat a 5-7 South Carolina team at Clemson. Big deal.

Skeptics would say that the Cavaliers haven't traveled well. They haven't in three trips to the Carquest Bowl and its later incarnation, the Micronpc.com Bowl, but the Gator and Peach have been a different story.

ACC commissioner John Swofford is a decent man, but if you continue to perpetuate a crooked system, what does that say? Swofford, in the one year that the ACC was responsible for running the BCS, was the face of the bowl system.

You wonder what the NCAA would find if it scrutinized the bowls the way it has investigated some student-athletes. The NCAA has little control over the bowls, whose agreements are with the conferences.

Even when his first Virginia team went 5-7, Virginia coach A Groh made no secret of his preference for a playoff system. This year, unranked UVa (8-5) would not be a part of even the most generous, 16-team playoff system, but I doubt that would change his mind.

ACC assistant commissioner Mike Finn said Saturday that he remained partial to the bowls because players from 28 teams get to end their seasons on a happy note. For Virginia, things couldn't get much happier.

At one time, when Gene Corrigan was the ACC commissioner and Dick Schultz was president of the NCAA, Virginia had friends in high places. Now, they're in a situation where Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan is an N.C. State graduate, Continental Tire Bowl president Ken Haines has a degree from Virginia Tech and Mickle is a jilted one-time Virginia AD candidate.

For all the politics, Virginia would have been Peach Bowl bound if N.C. State had not upset Florida State. A loss to the Seminoles would have dropped the Wolfpack two games behind UVa and Maryland in the standings and left State ineligible for the Gator or Peach bowls.

Athletic director Craig Littlepage talked Saturday of not being as accommodating the next time the ACC wants the Cavaliers to play a made-for-TV intersectional game, but such scheduling timidity never hurt N.C. State with the ACC. UVa needs to make a stronger statement than that.

 

Tech, U.Va. bide time until bids
Destinations depend on Notre Dame
BY MIKE HARRIS AND JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS Dec 03, 2002

Virginia could end up in the Dec. 28 Continental Tire Bowl. So could Virginia Tech, which beat U.Va. 21-9 on Saturday in Blacksburg. The only thing certain, after a day filled with surprising developments, is that the Cavaliers and the Hokies won't play each other in the new Charlotte, N.C., bowl, which matches teams from the ACC and the Big East.

Ken Haines, the Continental Tire's executive director, said last night that his bowl almost certainly will feature one of two matchups: U.Va. vs. West Virginia or Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech.

"We think either one of those games would do very well in Charlotte," Haines said.

That said, the Charlotte bowl doesn't plan to extend bids until the Bowl Championship Series field is set Sunday. "We're in a holding pattern," Haines said.

Notre Dame will decide the postseason fates of this state's Division I-A programs. Should the Fighting Irish earn an at-large bid to the BCS, West Virginia would represent the Big East in the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl, and Virginia Tech would fill the Big East's slot in the Continental Tire, against Georgia Tech.

That would send U.Va. to the Dec. 30 Seattle Bowl to face a Mountain West Conference team.

Pittsburgh would represent the Big East in the Dec. 26 Insight Bowl in Phoenix, and Boston College would go to the new San Francisco Bowl on New Year's Eve.

If Notre Dame is left out of the BCS, it would drop to the Gator, sending WVU to the Continental Tire to meet U.Va. In that case, Tech almost certainly would go to San Francisco to face New Mexico, though the Insight Bowl remains a possibility. If Tech somehow ends up in Phoenix, its opponent would be UCLA, Washington or Oregon State of the Pac 10.

A Washington State win over UCLA on Saturday would seriously damage Notre Dame's hopes of landing one of the BCS' two at-large berths.

Tech (3-3, 9-3) plays top-ranked Miami (6-0, 11-0) in a Big East showdown Saturday at the Orange Bowl. Virginia's regular season is over. Sunday night, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said he was confident that the Cavaliers (8-5) would get invited yesterday to the Continental Tire. Given that neither U.Va. nor Tech is interested in playing the other in Charlotte, however, bowl officials de- cided to wait.

Had the Continental Tire gone ahead and invited the Wahoos, it might have been forced to pair them with Pittsburgh. That matchup, Haines said, is "certainly not near as attractive" to the Charlotte bowl as U.Va.-WVU or Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech.

After beating U.Va. on Saturday, the Hokies appeared destined for Phoenix. Insight Bowl representative Evan Paoletti went into Tech's locker room after the game and issued an unofficial invitation.

According to numerous sources, however, things changed during negotiations with bowl officials and conference officials yesterday. The Continental Tire wanted either Virginia Tech or West Virginia from the Big East. Unlike Pitt, those schools are known for having fans that travel in large numbers to bowls. So two scenarios were worked out, each favorable to the Charlotte bowl.

Hokies coach Frank Beamer said yesterday the Miami game is his team's biggest concern right now.

"All the scenarios have us going to a great bowl, so we're in a good situation. We know we'll be somewhere," Beamer said before moving his practice indoors because of heavy winds.

For Virginia, yesterday's developments represented yet another setback. The ACC has six bowl tie-ins, including the BCS, and the Cavaliers - despite tying for second in the conference with Maryland - could well end up in the one it considers least desirable, the Seattle.

For a variety of reasons, including Virginia fans' reputation for not turning out in force for bowls, one bowl after another has turned down second-year Al Groh's club. The Gator grabbed N.C. State, a team U.Va. beat. The Peach picked Maryland, a team U.Va. hammered 48-13 last month. The Tangerine chose Clemson, a team U.Va. beat in October.

"Nothing that these [bowl] people do surprises me," Groh said Sunday night.

 

Mines chooses U.Va. over Tech
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 03, 2002

Hermitage High football standout Fontel Mines, who spent the weekend in Blacksburg, said last night that he plans to spend his college years in Charlottesville.

Mines, a 6-5, 210-pound senior, chose the University of Virginia over Virginia Tech. He visited Tech over the weekend and watched the Hokies beat the Cavaliers 21-9 at Lane Stadium.

"Obviously, they're both good schools," Mines said. "I just felt right at U.Va."

Mines has been compared to Virginia's all-ACC wideout, senior Billy McMullen, a graduate of Henrico High. The 6-4, 210-pound McMullen has thrived in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave's system, catching 83 passes in 2001 and 68 this season, and Mines sees himself filling that same role.

"I like to catch the ball a lot," Mines said, "and that's the place I think I can do that."

Virginia's receivers coach, Mike Groh, recruited Mines, who helped the Panthers to an unbeaten regular season. Hermitage lost to Thomas Dale in the Central Region, Division 6 semifinals. Mines was named to the all-Colonial District team. The all-Central Region team has yet to been announced.

Another Hermitage senior, tight end Duane Brown, also is expected to choose between Virginia and Tech.

"If it's U.Va., then we'll play together," Mines said. "If it's Tech, we'll enjoy the competition."
 

U.VA. NOTES
Dec 03, 2002

SHORT-HANDED: The Virginia men's basketball team enters tomorrow night's ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Michigan State with a 3-1 record and a deep, talented frontcourt led by 6-8 senior Travis Watson (16 ppg, 11.5 rpg) and 6-9 sophomore Elton Brown (11.5 ppg).

For the Cavaliers to contend in the ACC, however, they'll need more consistent production from their backcourt. Sophomore Keith Jenifer has been up and down, and junior Todd Billet, who sat out last season as a transfer, is getting reacquainted to the pace of Division I hoops. Derrick Byars, a gifted freshman, can play shooting guard, but for now, at least, seems more comfortable at small forward.

Unfortunately for U.Va. coach Pete Gillen, he won't have a full complement of guards any time soon. Sophomore shooting guard Jermaine Harper remains suspended, and junior point guard Majestic Mapp won't play until next month at the earliest, Gillen said yesterday.

Harper was charged Nov. 12 with driving under the influence and hasn't played or practiced with the team since. "He's a great kid, but he made a very bad decision," Gillen said.

No date has been set for Harper's return, Gillen said. "We've got to see if he's doing what he's supposed to be doing, academically and other things."

Mapp hasn't played since the 1999-2000 season because of problems with his right knee. He's been examined by two prominent doctors recently, including New York Knicks physician Norman Scott, and "both said the same thing: The knee's fine, he just needs to strengthen the muscles around it," Gillen said. "They both feel confident he can get back."

CHANGE OF HEART? Defensive lineman Robert Armstrong, one of Virginia's commitments for 2003, dropped out of Fork Union Military Academy last month, and his plans are uncertain. John Shuman, who coaches FUMA's postgraduate team, said yesterday that Armstrong might end up at Maryland or Ohio State after this semester ends.

Armstrong, who failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements as a high school senior, decided he'd had enough of military life after raising his standardized-test score at Fork Union.

"He said, 'I'm eligible, and I'm not going to stay here any more,'"Shuman said.

Armstrong, who's from Arlington, couldn't be reached for comment. But Shuman said the agreement Virginia reached with linebacker Ahmad Brooks in August didn't sit well with Armstrong. In a break from tradition, U.Va. said it would admit Brooks, who failed to qualify academically as a Hylton High senior, in January if he achieved the necessary standardized-test score.

Both players signed with the Cavaliers last winter. Armstrong wanted to enter U.Va. at midyear, too, Shuman said, but apparently won't be allowed to do so.

Brooks, who's enrolled in Hargrave Military Academy's postgraduate program, has raised his test score enough to meet NCAA standards, sources said yesterday.

BIG LOSS: Virginia lost 21-9 to Virginia Tech on Saturday. Having to play all but 26 seconds of the second half without defensive end Chris Canty, a second-team all-ACC pick, didn't help the Cavaliers' chances in Blacksburg.

The 6-7, 290-pound sophomore left Lane Stadium with his left arm in a sling. Asked Sunday night if Canty's injury were similar to dislocated left elbow Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Koy Detmer sustained Nov. 25, Virginia coach Al Groh said, "I think that's pretty accurate."

It's unclear whether Canty will be available for U.Va.'s bowl game.

AGONY OF DEFEAT: Like U.Va.'s other seniors, linebacker Merrill Robertson will graduate without having beaten the Hokies. To say he was disappointed Saturday would be an understatement.

"Same thing happened to me against Thomas Dale," said Robertson, an All-Metro performer at L.C. Bird High, Dale's archrival. "Never beat them." - Jeff White


 

NCAA extends olive branch to two wobbling bowls
By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com

Two college bowl games were temporarily saved on Monday after the NCAA once again extended its deadline for the bowls to show their financial solvency.

The Seattle Bowl and the Silicon Valley Football Classic did not file sufficient letters of credit by Monday's deadline -- which was extended for the two bowls when they missed the Nov. 1 target date. But sources close to the games indicated the NCAA would extend the deadline into Tuesday afternoon to produce some evidence that their respective banks will be able to support a $1.5 million letter of credit.

The NCAA requests documentation in advance of the game to guarantee that payouts of $750,000 per participating school will be made. If complete information regarding the bowls' credit was not received by the NCAA on Friday, sources indicated the bowls could be decertified.

Both bowl games are without a title sponsor and need to find a way to fund losses in the event their bowl does not meet revenue projections. On Friday, officials at a San Jose bank notified Silicon Valley Football Classic bowl officials that the San Jose Visitor's and Convention Bureau -- which claimed last year's bowl resulted in $8.2 million in local economic impact -- could not be the sole underwriter since its annual budget was only $6 million.

On Monday, the Western Athletic Conference, which has already agreed to pay a bowl sponsorship fee of $300,000 to maintain the bowl's financial health, became the co-signer, said bowl spokesperson Karin Mast. Terry Daw, owner of the privately-funded Seattle Bowl, said he expects to make Tuesday's deadline, after he came up with the funds to make up the difference between money he will make from the school ticket promises and the payouts.

"The reality is that most bowl games are run as non-profits," Daw said. "The local bank or the chamber of commerce takes on the financial responsibility based on goodwill. Each bowl has their own unique problems and the hardest thing for us to do has been to get that letter."

For some conferences, the letter of credit is merely a formality, but others wouldn't even think of sending their schools to bowls without a letter, even if the NCAA would allow it.

"We're already a stakeholder in (the Silicon Valley Football Classic) so we don't mind, but the opposing school and conference (the sixth choice from the Pac-10 or an at-large bid) want to make sure that they'll get paid," said WAC commissioner Karl Benson.

"The most meaningful criteria that the NCAA has for its bowl certification is that a sponsoring organization can come up the letter of credit," Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen said. "If they don't have that, that's a pretty good sign that the bowl isn't financially viable."

Hansen said it would be hard for a conference to allow a school to travel to a bowl -- spending between $400,000 and $700,000 -- without the guarantee that it would at least make up the money through a guaranteed payout.

"(Monday's) already extended deadline was a very generous goal," Hansen said. "You can't give them that much more time because you have to book your charters, hotel reservations and start selling tickets in good faith to the fans."

Tickets for the Seattle Bowl went on sale on Oct. 1, while Silicon Valley Football Classic tickets went on sale at 1 p.m. on Monday.

Although the extension might seem too close to bowl time, sources told ESPN.com that the Silicon Valley Football Classic filed their letter of credit with the NCAA last year on Dec. 18 -- just 12 days before the bowl was played. The Seattle Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET, while the Silicon Valley Football Classic kicks off a day later at 3:30 p.m. ET.

"It's a no-brainer to get $1 million worth of ticket sales," said Chuck Shelton, executive director of the Silicon Valley Football Classic, which will require the Pac-10 school to purchase 10,000 tickets to the game. "Last year we did $1.2 (million)," Shelton said.

But sales could be slow for both games this year. On Nov. 23, Fresno State knocked off San Jose State and accepted its third consecutive bid to the Silicon Valley Classic. That's a three-hour drive for a David Carr-less team that endured a disappointing season. Had San Jose State won the game, they would have played the Silicon Valley Football Classic in their home stadium, much like the WAC champion Boise State team will play in Bronco Stadium for the Humanitarian Bowl.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Bowl could suffer from inviting the same school back for the second straight game. Georgia Tech, which beat Stanford 24-14 in the inaugural bowl last season, is predicted to make the 2,700-mile trek back to the West Coast for the game once again this year. Daw said that Seattle houses an "unusually large" fan base of Yellow Jackets fans thanks to the location of nearby Microsoft.

Although companies located in Silicon Valley, such as Cisco and Hewlett-Packard, reportedly have been interested in title sponsorship, the bowl game has never had a title sponsor in its three years of existence.

"A title sponsor would certainly help us get better cash flow," said Shelton, who is still searching for one with a month left before the game is played.

The Seattle Bowl signed video game company 989 Sports as the title sponsor less than five days before last year's game, but does not have one this year.

"It wouldn't help us get our letter of credit any faster," Daw said. "Most sponsors don't pay out any money until the game is played anyway."

 

Efforts Rank Up There
But for No. 22 Virginia, There's Room to Improve
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, December 3, 2002; Page D05


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Dec. 2 -- Virginia moved into the top 25 today after a win over then-No. 15 Kentucky and a strong showing against then-No. 19 Indiana in the Maui Invitational last week, but Coach Pete Gillen said the Cavaliers still have plenty of work to do.

"We got some answers, but we still have a lot of different questions about our players," Gillen said. "We're still trying to find ourselves. We're nowhere near where we have to be to play in a great league like the ACC or where we want to be. I think we have potential to be very good, but we're not there yet."

No. 22 Virginia (3-1) features four double-digit scorers, but Gillen is still trying to settle a rotation that features four newcomers and three returning sophomores in addition to senior all-American candidate Travis Watson.

Gillen's task -- figuring out who can do what -- has been complicated by several players' inconsistencies. Sophomore small forward Devin Smith, for instance, had 16 points in Virginia's 86-72 win against Chaminade last Monday and scored 15 in the 75-61 win over the Wildcats. But the junior college transfer, still rounding into form after September knee surgery, made only 1 of 9 shots and scored two points as the Cavaliers lost to the Hoosiers in Wednesday's tournament final, 70-63.

"His knee got a little sore and he didn't have as much explosion as far as strength in the knee for the last game against Indiana," Gillen said. "But I thought he did a great job. He did more than we expected at this stage, coming off the surgery."

Sophomore point guard Keith Jenifer had perhaps the best game of his college career against Kentucky. In 32 minutes, he had six assists and no turnovers while scoring a career-high 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. For the season, he has 3.4 assists for every turnover. Yet he is shooting 29 percent overall, thanks to a combined 2 for 18 in Virginia's other three games.

"When your point guard plays well, you play well," Gillen said. "Against Kentucky, he played tremendous and helped us upset the Wildcats. Other games, he's been up and down."

Smith, Jenifer and their teammates will get another opportunity to measure themselves when they travel to No. 21 Michigan State (2-2) on Wednesday night. The Cavaliers have not played three consecutive ranked teams away from home in 16 years and haven't ever played three consecutive ranked teams from outside the ACC.

Virginia hosted the Spartans last season for the first time since 1949, but five minutes into the second half the game was canceled. Condensation formed on the court from the ice underneath, making it too slippery to play. The teams will try again at MSU's Breslin Center, where the Spartans are 79-7 against nonconference teams.

"Playing up there in East Lansing will be a very, very big hurdle for us, because they're almost invincible up there," Gillen said. "It's very comparable to [Duke's] Cameron Indoor Stadium."

Like Gillen, Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo sees plenty of room for improvement after four games. After the Spartans lost to Villanova and Oklahoma State in their last two games at the Great Alaska Shootout this weekend, Izzo said the team's defense and ballhandling have to improve. Michigan State averages 17.8 assists and 16.8 turnovers per game.

Cavaliers Note: Gillen said he does not know when the team will reinstate sophomore guard Jermaine Harper, who was suspended indefinitely after being charged with driving under the influence on Nov. 12.

"We would like to have him back, but it's up to Jermaine," Gillen said. "We're going to follow up to see if he's doing what he's supposed to be doing in class, off the court . . . before we determine whether we'll invite him back."

Harper is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 27.