The Terps politicked that they would travel better to Atlanta than Virginia and so far, they're having to eat their words. Maryland was required to take 17,500 tickets and asked for 2,500 more. But as of late Thursday, only about 8,000 had been sold.

"It seems like all the bowls are a little behind," said Terps coach Ralph Friedgen, stumbling to find an excuse as to why Maryland fans haven't stepped to the plate. "I don't know if it's the economy or the fact that we've been to the Orange Bowl, the Kickoff Classic and the national championship basketball game all in the last year. The same people are attending those games."

Well, Big Ralph was partially correct. Some bowls are experiencing problems with ticket sales. The inaugural Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte isn't one of them.

When Ken Haines, the bowl's executive director, checked his up-to-the-minute ticket counter late Thursday, he must have tipped over in his chair with glee. The counter read: 62,360 and counting.

Off the hook

Both Virginia fans and West Virginia fans were ringing the phones off the hook. In fact, if the bowl sells its remaining 10,000 tickets, the Continental Tire Bowl could boast the largest crowd of all the non-BCS games (Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta).

"It's beginning to look like we're going to rank in the top five or six in attendance of all the bowls," said Haines, who also serves as vice president of Raycom Sports, the network that televises many ACC football and basketball games. "This has gone beyond our wildest expectations."

Virginia fans have bought approximately 14,000 and could be selling more, which has to make Athletics Director Craig Littlepage and Coach Al Groh feel better about the whole bowl mess. When the Gator, Peach and Tangerine all bypassed the Cavaliers to select teams that finished behind UVa in the standings, the travel issue was one of the factors.

Littlepage was hoping that a great turnout of Virginia fans at the Charlotte box office would dispel that theory once and for all. It certainly wouldn't hurt UVa's bowl future if Wahoo fans topped the 20,000 mark for the Dec. 28 bowl.

Get to Charlotte

If you're a Virginia fan and you don't go to Charlotte, then don't gripe next year if a bowl decides to skip over the Hoos in favor of say, an N.C. State program, which has proven it travels well. More than 25,000 Wolfpack fans are expected to make their way to the Gator Bowl for State's matchup against Notre Dame.

Meanwhile, the Tangerine Bowl, which obviously chose Clemson over Virginia because of the belief Tiger fans would flood Orlando for the two-year-old bowl, must be greatly disappointed. Clemson had sold less than 5,000 tickets for its matchup against Texas Tech.

In fact, the Tigers' ticket office is so desperate to sell bowl tickets that it is sweetening the pot by offering an accompanying free ticket to one of next season's games with the purchase of a Tangerine Bowl ticket.

Not many schools are going to travel well to a Florida bowl unless their team is on a roll. Many of the bowl sites in the Sunshine State are expensive to fly to on short notice, too far a drive for most fans, and sometimes conflict with Christmas holidays. That's why the old Micron-Carquest-Sunshine-Blockbuster Bowl went under and was moved to Charlotte.

Clemson fans have gained a reputation for traveling well because they fill up the Peach Bowl. Big deal. Who wouldn't fill up the Peach Bowl if the game was only a two-hour drive?

How about Maryland? The Terps sold 22,000 tickets for last year's Orange Bowl, took 18,000 to the Kickoff Classic game against Notre Dame and traveled well to the Final Four. Well, what school wouldn't travel well to any of those events?

The bottom line to Virginia fans is that you have a golden opportunity to make a statement about your football program and how it is perceived throughout the southeast. Groh and his team have done their part. Now it's your turn.

Catching heat. How would you like to be in Chan Gailey's shoes? Georgia Tech fans are firing shots at their first-year head coach even though Gailey is taking them to a bowl game.

A lopsided loss to hated rival Georgia, a game in which the Yellow Jackets appeared ill prepared, has drawn the ire of Tech fans. Some are even calling for Gailey's head. And he thought being head coach of the Dallas Cowboys was tough.

Gailey admitted during an ACC coaches teleconference call late in the season that the transition year of a program can be difficult, which is the case with most schools.

"Ralph [Friedgen] spoiled it for the rest of us last year," said Gailey, referring to Friedgen guiding Maryland to a 10-win season in his first year. But that is extremely rare in college football.

Short yardage … Sort of ironic that the first guy on former UVa AD Terry Holland's list to replace the retired George Welsh a couple of years ago was Rich Rodriguez, who took the West Virginia job and now meets the Cavs in the bowl game. Holland was looking seriously at Rodriguez and current Georgia coach Mark Richt before UVa realized that Groh might be a possibility.

… Apparently the Cavaliers have lost the recruiting battle for the No. 1 ranked defensive tackle in the country, big Nate Robinson of Irvington, N.J. Robinson canceled his visit to UVa this weekend and instead will take a trip to Syracuse. Robinson's coach said it was a mutual decision between the tackle and UVa coaches because the Cavaliers' grants list is filling up and Robinson wasn't crazy about the 3-4 defense and will probably end up in Miami anyway. There is some question as to whether the star tackle would meet UVa's academic requirements as well.

… One of the players who is visiting this weekend, big-time offensive lineman Ian-Yates Cunningham, has been invited to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio later this month. The 6-5, 300-pound standout is also one of five finalists for the Texas 4A Player of the Year award, an honor that linemen are rarely nominated for in the Lone Star state.

… N.C. State quarterback Philip Rivers said he is 99.9 percent sure that he'll return to the Wolfpack next season but does plan to consult the NFL underclassman advisory board to check his 2003 draft status. By the way, his coach, Chuck Amato, said that Rivers is not yet ready for the NFL. Virginia's defense would agree.

… Remember the problems at QB that South Carolina had in Scott Stadium this year? Well, Lou Holtz has gone out and recruited a junior college drop-back passer, Michael Rathe of San Diego Mesa Junior College. Rathe passed for 2,874 yards and 30 TDs last season, throwing more than 300 passes.

Harper was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules on Nov. 12. That was a day after Harper was arrested on a driving under the influence charge in Albemarle County. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 27 to face those charges.

"He's been reinstated. He did what he was supposed to do," said Gillen, who added that Harper was going to be off limits to the media until January.

Harper did release a statement through Virginia's athletic media relations office late Friday.

"I'm happy to be back with the team. I made a bad decision that I regret. I apologize for letting down my family, teammates, coaches, friends and Virginia basketball fans," Harper said. "I appreciate the support I've received, and plan to concentrate on my studies and helping the basketball team be successful."

Gillen said that Harper is cleared to play Tuesday when Virginia returns from a 13-day exam break to host East Tennessee State.

Harper had not be allowed to practice with the team during the suspension but Gillen said that he was not showing any physical effects of being away from the court for over a month.

"He is in decent shape and has practiced well. He still has to get his wind back but he was in decent shape. He must have done some things on his own," Gillen said.

Harper's return will add depth to Virginia's backcourt. Sophomore Keith Jenifer and junior Todd Billet have seen the most time at the guard spots with Devin Smith and Derrick Byars playing their occasionally.

Virginia is still without the services of junior guard Majestic Mapp. Mapp's return to the court has been stalled by soreness in his injured right knee. Recently, however, Mapp has been practicing with the team on a close to full-time basis. Gillen still is cautious on putting a date on his return to action.

"He's getting a little stronger and his spirits are up. He's doing a little more in practice. Structurally, the knee is fine and it's just a matter of the muscles in the knee getting a little stronger," Gillen said. "He's making progress. We don't want to put any date on it because that's more pressure on him."

Point guard woes? Mapp's return would aid Virginia's play at the point, which has lacked consistency according to Gillen.

Jenifer has played the bulk of the time there with Billet playing the point for stretches as well.

"We have to get better with our guard play. We're not thrilled so far with our guard play overall. I'd give it a C grade. It's not bad but we have to get better," Gillen said. "We haven't been real consistent with our guard play from half to half and game to game."

Jenifer has 32 assists this season compared to 12 turnovers but other than a 13-point game against Kentucky, his offense has been almost non-existent. He has made just nine of his 34 shots from the field and is 0 for 5 from beyond the arc. Conversely, Billet has 11 assists compared to 15 turnovers but is Virginia's leading scorer at 15.6 points per game.

"Keith had a good game against Kentucky and we got a big win. Other games, Keith and our other guards have not played particularly well and we haven't played exceptionally well," Gillen said. "I'd say right now he has to be more consistent. We need him to score more than two points in 31 minutes or whatever it was against Michigan State."

Billet has been inconsistent in another way. In a couple of games this season, Billet hasn't been able to find his shooting touch until the second half. His 26 second-half points against Michigan State are an example to that.

"We need for him to start off games a little bit better. He usually picks it up better in the second half," Gillen said. "We'd like him to handle the ball a little better. He's made some turnovers, which is not typical of him. He can play the two and the point. Right now, he's not as comfortable doing things with the ball which I know he can do."

Free throws. The starting times for two of UVa's upcoming games have been changed. Virginia's game at Rutgers on Dec. 21 will start at 8:00 p.m. It was originally scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. UVa's game at Virginia Tech on Jan. 21 will start at 7:30 p.m. That game was originally scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. The Rutgers game will not be televised, while the Virginia Tech game will be televised by ESPN2. … Gillen said he watched some of the LeBron James-led St. Vincent's-St. Mary's victory over Oak Hill Academy on ESPN2 on Thursday night. Virginia signee J.R. Reynolds had 10 points in the game but he and his teammates fell 65-45 as James, the likely No. 1 pick in next June's NBA draft, had 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. "I thought J.R. played well but that other guy is off the charts," Gillen said.