Cavaliers off to blue field of Boise
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
December 1, 2004

There is only one football stadium in the United States with a blue field: Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.

On Dec. 27, the University of Virginia football team will get an up-close look at that blue Astroplay surface in the MPC Computers Bowl.

Virginia accepted an invitation on Tuesday to play in the bowl, marking the third straight year the Cavaliers have played in the postseason.

The Cavaliers’ opponent has not been announced but Gary Beck, executive director of the MPC Computers Bowl, said an offer has been made to Fresno State.

A press conference is scheduled today at Fresno State, at which it is expected they will accept the offer.

“We are tying up the loose ends right now. That is the team we want,” Beck said Tuesday. “We have extended a proposal to them and we are hoping that they would accept it.”

Beck said his bowl is excited about the potential contest.

“It would be a huge matchup,” Beck said. “You have a couple of 8-3 teams, a historical and national program in Virginia and a team that likes to play the big guys [in Fresno State]. I think it’s exciting. If we get that match up, it will be one of the better bowl games this year.”

Virginia’s agreement to play in Boise ended an odd three-day period that followed the regular season finale, a 24-10 loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday.

It was originally expected that the Cavaliers would play in the Dec. 21 Champs Sports Bowl, but a conflict with the university’s exam schedule erased those hopes.

Attempts were then made to get UVa into the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. Despite negotiations between the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East Conference and the MPC Computers Bowl, a deal could not be worked out. ACC officials had hoped that a Big East football program would take Virginia’s spot in Boise.

While the Big East was willing to work with the ACC, Fresno State refused to play Syracuse (6-5), according to one bowl official. That left Beck and the MPC Computers Bowl unable to release Virginia from its contract.

Beck said Virginia’s football program and its fans would enjoy a trip to Boise.

“Number one, Boise is not your major metropolitan area that most bowls are located in,” Beck said. “It’s still big enough to entertain, but small enough to be the center of attention, where sometimes when you go to those larger cities, [the bowl game] gets lost in the hustle-bustle of what’s going on. Here, it’s an important event. People appreciate and welcome people from out of town.”

Note. The game will kick off at 2 p.m. and be televised by ESPN. Tickets for the MPC Computers Bowl are $50 and are available starting today at 9 a.m. through the Virginia Athletic Ticket Office at (800) 542-8821 or online at www.virginiasports.com.

Cavs set to play Northwestern
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
December 1, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. - As schools, Virginia and Northwestern appear quite similar. They are both strong academic institutions with prestigious reputations. As basketball programs, however, they couldn’t be more different.

Virginia coach Pete Gillen favors an uptempo style that pushes the ball and runs at any occasion that presents itself. As for Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, well, his players can surely run too but they just don’t do so on the court that often.

Carmody coached at Princeton before coming to Northwestern and was an assistant under fame Princeton coach Pete Carrill. While Carmody has made his own modifications, Northwestern runs a system not too different from the one he ran at Princeton. That means a patient offense, lots of back-door cuts and a shot clock that comes into play quite often.

“It’s hard to prepare for. They execute so well. There are some drills that we can do but it’s a very tough game,” Gillen said. “I don’t know too much about football but I think preparing for Northwestern is like preparing for Wake Forest in football. It’s different a tough to play against. They have a great coach and show you some different things that really makes your preparation more difficult.”

While Gillen’s point is quite valid in regard to Jim Grobe’s Deacons on the gridiron, the UVa coach was reminded that Wake Forest finished 1-7 in the ACC this season.

“Like I said, I don’t know too much about football,” Gillen quipped.

The Princeton-style offense usually has a strong success rate at frustrating opponents. A team may maintain its defense for say 30 seconds of the shot clock but it is in those last five seconds when the dreaded backdoor cut comes. Thus, it is necessary to match the offensive patience with a similar “patience” on defense to sustain the effort for the full 35 seconds of a possession.

“We know that against a team like this you have to stay focused on defense. They will try to go backdoor and make those cuts to the basket and you have to be alert and ready,” said freshman guard Sean Singletary.

Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, Virginia’s starting guards, will have the charge tonight of asserting a tempo and flow more to the Cavaliers’ liking. In a game of contrasting styles, it really becomes a game for the guards. Singletary and Reynolds know that will be their task this evening.

“I think it also very important for us to play our game. We want to run the ball and push the ball. Defensively, we have to get out on them and guard hard,” Singletary said. “We have to keep our focus and come out and be ready to play and we will.”

Added Reynolds: “It is important that we don’t get out of our gameplan. We know that we have to try and push the ball. If they want to try and slow it down, we have to speed it up.”

Regardless of the style, this will be Virginia’s first game away from home this season and its first game with its new No. 24 ranking. The Cavaliers seem aware that they must still prove themselves away from U-Hall.

“It’s still early. We have to see how we handle our road games,” said senior forward Devin Smith. “We’ve handled the early tests at home but now we go on the road and we have to see how we handle those tests.”

Cavaliers heading to Boise
After passing on a trip to Orlando, Virginia accepts a bid to the MPC Computers Bowl.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

After being rebuffed in its effort to find another team for the MPC Computers Bowl, the ACC announced Tuesday that Virginia has accepted an invitation to play in Boise, Idaho, on Dec.27 at 2 p.m.

MPC Computers Bowl executive director Gary Beck said his committee decided Tuesday morning that 18th-ranked Virginia was more attractive than any of the alternatives.

The Cavaliers (8-3) are expected to play Fresno State (8-3).

"Fresno has been hot," Beck said. "They've played their last five games like they've been on fire. It should be a great match-up."

The Bulldogs have won five games in a row, averaging 56 points in the process. They opened the season by winning on the road at Washington and Kansas State.

The MPC Computers Bowl has an agreement that gives it the sixth choice of ACC teams. That looked like Georgia Tech or Clemson until, first, Clemson reacted to a season-ending brawl by prohibiting its team from playing in a bowl, and, then, Virginia removed itelf for consideration for the Champs Sports Bowl.

The Champs Sports Bowl, previously the Tangerine Bowl, has the fourth choice of teams. Since North Carolina (6-5) already had reached agreement with the Continental Tire Bowl, which had the fifth pick, Georgia Tech (6-5) was left for the Champs Sports Bowl.

As a result, the MPC Computers Bowl got a team with two more victories than the teams who went to bowls with better ACC ties.

"There were a lot of scenarios," Beck said, "but we just felt that Virginia was the best possible one for us."

As late as Monday night, there had been talk of the MPC Computers Bowl taking a team from the Big East, which would have allowed UVa to go to the Independence Bowl.

However, that would have required cooperation between the ACC and Big East, whom haven't been on the best of terms since the ACC staged the raids that resulted in Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College leaving the Big East for the ACC.

Beck said Monday night that his committee had an interest in Boston College (8-3) and maybe the Big East would have sent the Eagles to Boise, but the Continental Tire Bowl scooped up BC.

"This decision was made prior to me seeing that," Beck said. "I kind of knew that that was happening. They were under consideration; we had some discussions with the Big East, but it just didn't fit what we were looking for.

"There was a lot of talk over the last three days. In the end, we just decided that Virginia was the kind of institution and had the kind of national program that we couldn't pass up."

Tickets to the MPC Computers Bowl, previously the Humanitarian Bowl, are available on line at wwsw.virginiasports.com or by calling the UVa ticket office at 1-800-542-8821 beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

No more roadkill? Winning big at home, Singletary, Cavs eager to take the next step
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Dec 1, 2004

After watching Sean Singletary put on a show last month at University Hall, Arizona's Lute Olson praised the play of the freshman point guard from Philadelphia. But the Hall of Fame coach also noted that the journey for most first-year players includes valleys as well as peaks.

"What we have generally found out with freshmen is that they'll play very well in the security of the home crowd," Olson said, "and, generally speaking, they don't have problems [at home] that may come up on the road."

Through four games, 24th-ranked Virginia is unbeaten, and its victims include Arizona and Richmond, NCAA tournament teams last season. But the Cavaliers have yet to play outside of Charlottesville. That'll change tonight when Singletary and Co. take on Northwestern (1-3) in an ACC-Big Ten Challenge game at Evanston, Ill.

"We've got to go in there and stick together as a team like we've been doing, and we'll be fine," sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds said.

Olson's comments notwithstanding, the prospect of playing away from U-Hall doesn't seem to faze Singletary, who's averaging 10 points, 5.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds.

"I like playing on the road," he said. "It's a bigger challenge, and I like stepping up to a challenge."

U.Va. won't play at home again until Dec. 8, against Furman. In the interim, the Cavaliers will visit Northwestern, take on Auburn at Virginia Commonwealth's Siegel Center on Friday and travel to Iowa State for a Dec. 6 game.

"We'll know a lot more about our team in the next eight, 10 days," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

Those who've followed Gillen's program know that the Cavaliers have struggled away from U-Hall. A season ago, U.Va. went 3-8 on the road, winning only at Virginia Military Institute, Loyola Marymount and Clemson.

"You've got to hold serve at home, that's very important, and then try to win some on the road," Gillen said. "We haven't won on the road lately. So we've got to show we're tough enough to beat a good Northwestern team on the road."

Neither of the Cavaliers' previous road games in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, now in its sixth year, went well. They lost at Minnesota in 1999 and at Michigan State in 2002.

Northwestern is in its fourth season under Bill Carmody, the Big Ten coach of the year in 2003-04. Before moving to Evanston, Carmody coached at Princeton, where he went 92-25 after succeeding the legendary Pete Carril. The Wildcats play the deliberate offense Carril perfected, and that figures to test Virginia's patience on defense tonight.

"They run a tough system," Gillen said. "It's kind of like, maybe, the Wake Forest football system: different, tough to play against."

The Cavs are coming off an 27-point victory over Richmond. Of Virginia's 26 field goals, 11 came from beyond the 3-point arc. Senior center Elton Brown, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, hopes to see more sharp-shooting from Virginia's perimeter players.

"When they hit shots, it's like a big load off my shoulders," Brown said. "I don't feel I have to score as much."

Cavaliers should say goodbye ACC, hello Big East
Bart Isley, Columnist

For the sake of the football program and its fan base, Virginia should immediately high tail it to the very conference the ACC raided last year -- the Big East.Believe me, I know as well as anyone that Virginia is now part of one of the nation's great super-conferences, a league that will soon be on par with the SEC and Big-12.

This newly formed conference will give the Cavaliers a chance to compete on a national level in every sport, particularly football, the sport that benefited the most from the additions of Virginia Tech and Miami to the ACC. I also don't have a problem with losing to these two schools, because we play the Hokies every year anyway, and Miami has at least three players I know of who can beat you by themselves (Roscoe Parrish, Devin Hester and Frank Gore) and probably at least five more on the bench.

In fact, I didn't have any complaints about the new ACC until I saw that by beating Boston College last Saturday, Syracuse has a chance at the Big East's Bowl Championship Series bid. That's the same Syracuse team that Virginia did not play particularly well against earlier this year and still beat handily, 31-10. The Cavaliers rolled up 427 yards of total offense against Syracuse, and now there is a chance that they could be headed to the Fiesta Bowl, going into the final week of the season.Now, Syracuse's chances are not good, because the team standing between them and the BCS is Pittsburgh, and the Panthers would have to essentially not show up in Tampa to play South Florida this weekend.Wait, the Pittsburgh Panthers? The team that Virginia knocked off in last year's Continental Tire Bowl 23-16? That's correct, Pittsburgh lost Rod Rutherford and Larry Fitzgerald to the NFL after last season, doesn't seem to want to extend head coach Walt Harris' contract and their fans are buying tickets for Phoenix as we speak.

A standard column now would rip on the BCS, take some pot shots at how the system works and make the requisite call for a playoff. I think that's a moot point by now -- most of America has made it clear that they want a playoff. Forget about it, it's not happening this season or next, and barring a fan-led boycott of the bowls, probably never. Since the system isn't changing, Virginia needs to embrace the BCS for all it's worth. The Cavaliers must now escape through the ACC's backdoor and head to a conference where mediocrity is excellence: the Big East.I think it's important to take on the big time opponents like Florida State and Miami, but at this point, it is simply a character building exercise. Sure we beat Florida State in 1995, but the Seminoles have been paying us back for that one victory for close to 10 years now. Let's play those teams, but by leaving the ACC, we can eliminate those automatic losses from our conference tally and add juggernauts Rutgers and Connecticut to our regular season slate.The Scarlet Knights aren't concerned with revenge like the Seminoles. Rutgers could care less if you come in and shell them every year because only about 500 fans will see the beating if you travel to Piscataway. Connecticut is an even better opponent to have count as a conference win. The Huskies just moved up to Division 1-A four years ago, and will likely face North Carolina in the Tire Bowl this year. The Tire Bowl bid is UConn's reward for a 3-3 record in the Big East and out of conference wins against Murray State, Army and Buffalo. If Virginia had played a normal Big East schedule this season, the Cavaliers would have likely dropped one random game to a conference opponent and had the same loss last week against Virginia Tech. That would leave Virginia at 9-2 and on the fast track to a Fiesta Bowl matchup with Utah.

Instead, the Cavaliers will make the long trip to Idaho. Who else can't wait to fly out to Boise and the Smurf Turf for just $314 on Northwest Airlines?

U.Va. accepts bowl game in Boise
The Cavaliers are expected to play Fresno State of the Western Athletic Conference on Bronco Stadium's blue surface.
BY DAVE JOHNSON
247-4649
Published December 1, 2004

The University of Virginia's reward for an 8-3 season that included a top-10 ranking but a disappointing finish will be a 2,380-mile trip to a city where the average temperature in late December is 35 degrees.

Unable to swing a deal that would have led to a more-desirable location, the Cavaliers on Tuesday accepted a bid to the MPC Computers Bowl, which is played Dec. 27 in Boise, Idaho. Virginia's opponent likely will be Fresno State of the Western Athletic Conference.

Gary Beck, the game's executive director, said Monday night he would consider allowing Virginia to shift to another bowl if the Big East would agree to send one of three teams - Boston College, Connecticut or Syracuse - to Boise. But Tuesday, the MPC Computers Bowl decided to stick with the Cavaliers as the Big East teams made other plans.

"We actually informed the Big East we were going with Virginia prior to the decisions made by their teams," Beck said Tuesday night. "We had a number of discussions with the Big East, but what it came down to was our Board of Directors reached the conclusion that we wanted Virginia here.

"They're a program of national prominence, and they have a historical university. Any time you can get a ranked team like Virginia, it's good for bowl business. We wanted the best possible matchup, and we think we're going to have it."

The MPC Computers Bowl, formerly the Humanitarian Bowl, is in its eighth year. The ACC has sent two teams to Boise: Clemson defeated Louisiana Tech 49-24 in 2001, and Georgia Tech downed Tulsa 52-10 last year.

The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. (EST) in Bronco Stadium, which is known for its blue Astroplay surface, and will be televised by ESPN. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by calling the U.Va. ticket office at 1-800-542-8821.

Going to Boise is a disappointment for a team that went into November's second weekend tied for first in the ACC. But by losing to Miami on Nov. 13 and then to Virginia Tech two weeks later, the Cavaliers blew a chance of competing in the Bowl Championship Series as well as in the Gator or Peach, which have the second and third picks among ACC teams.

Virginia, which ended up tied for fourth, would have been bound for the Champs Sports Bowl, which is played on Dec. 21. But last week, the Cavaliers notified the Orlando-based game that it would not accept a bid because the date coincides with the university's exam schedule (Dec. 13-21).

The Continental Tire Bowl, which has the ACC's fifth pick, invited North Carolina (6-5, 5-3) earlier this week.

The rest of the ACC's bowl picture is complete or close to it. The winner of Saturday's Virginia Tech-Miami game will represent the conference in the BCS, probably the Sugar Bowl.

The loser will face Florida in the Peach.

Florida State has accepted a bid to play West Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

Beamer goes bowling for dollars
Tech coach can collect upward of $280,000 for winning BCS game
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Dec 1, 2004
VA. TECH AT MIAMI
SATURDAY: 1 p.m. TV: WRIC-8 INSIDE: Tech notes. Page F6

BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech earning a spot in the Bowl Championship Series won't have much of a financial impact on the school's athletic department, thanks to the revenue sharing plan in place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But Tech coach Frank Beamer stands to gain considerably if the Hokies beat Miami on Saturday and earn the ACC's slot in the BCS.

Beamer gets a bonus of $143,227 for taking the Hokies to their 12th straight bowl (they go to the Peach Bowl if they lose to Miami). He gets $10,000 more for winning.

That bonus jumps to $264,840 if the Hokies play in a BCS bowl. Beamer pockets another $15,000 for winning.

Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring and defensive coordinator Bud Foster receive $30,000 bonuses for a regular bowl and $35,000 for a BCS bowl. The other seven full-time assistants get $10,000 for a regular bowl and $20,000 for a BCS bowl. The assistants also get additional money for a victory.

The athletic department gets additional expense money depending on what BCS bowl Tech goes to, but the bowl destination does not affect Tech's revenue share.

The ACC offers an expense guarantee of $1 million.

It jumps to $1.6 million for the Orange and Sugar bowls, $1.85 million for the Fiesta and $2 million for the Rose.

Above that, Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver said the school will receive about $6.25 million each of its first two years in the league (this year and next) and then will start receiving a full share of approximately $9.5 million each year.

"I have no problem with the way the ACC does it at all," Weaver said. "We're going to get more money in our first year than we've ever gotten from the Big East, and that's not a full share [this year].

Last year, the school's final one in the Big East, it got $5.1 million plus $1.1 million to go to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, Weaver said.

The ACC will pay in full for whatever portion of the school's ticket allotment goes unsold beyond the first 8,000 tickets. The school is responsible for the sale of the first 6,000 tickets. The league pays for 50 percent of the cost of tickets 6,001-7,000 and 75 percent of the cost of tickets 7,001-8,000.

Weaver said the Big East did not pick up any cost for a school's bowl ticket obligation. Tech paid about $390,000 in unsold ticket fees last year when it fell about 7,500 short of its obligation to sell 10,500 tickets to the Insight Bowl.

Cavs' date: Fresno State . . . in Boise
Trip to Louisiana won't work, so U.Va. is set for Dec. 27 game
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Dec 1, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Forget Louisiana, Virginia fans. Think Idaho.

After passing on a postseason trip to Orlando, Fla., because of a conflict with final exams, U.Va.'s football team hoped to play in the Dec. 28 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.

Instead, the 18th-ranked Cavaliers are headed to Boise to play in the Dec. 27 MPC Computers Bowl.

Virginia (8-3), which tied for fourth in the ACC, is expected to face Fresno State (8-3) of the Western Athletic Conference. ESPN will televise the game at 2 p.m. U.Va. will be the highest-ranked team to play in the Boise bowl.

For U.Va. to have ended up in the Independence Bowl, with which the ACC isn't affiliated, cooperation would have been required from several parties. The MPC Computers Bowl, to which the ACC has a tie-in, would have had to release the Cavaliers, and the Big East would have had to send one of its teams, probably Syracuse, to take Virginia's place in Boise.

Bowl officials in Boise said Monday night that they'd be willing to make such a switch. Yesterday morning, however, they changed their minds.

"We actually got up and had some phone calls this morning," Gary Beck, the bowl's executive director, said last night, "and our board of directors decided Virginia was the way we wanted to go. So we withdrew from Big East consideration."

Beck said U.Va. was too attractive to let get away.

"It's got a great national appeal, it's got a great fan base and we look forward to hosting [the Cavs] here in Boise," he said. "We just decided that Virginia was the right team."

Sources also said that Syracuse, which was spurned by the ACC during the conference's expansion process last year, might have been reluctant to help U.Va.

Fresno State coach Pat Hill publicly has expressed interest in a matchup with Virginia. When he learned Monday that U.Va. might be headed to the Independence Bowl, Hill told The Fresno Bee that if the Cavs ended up in Shreveport, he'd take his team to the Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose, Calif.

Asked yesterday about facing Virginia, Hill told the newspaper, "That'd be great."

This will be the third consecutive bowl appearance for the Cavaliers, who are in their fourth season under coach Al Groh. Virginia beat West Virginia in the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl in 2002. A year ago, U.Va. beat Pittsburgh in the second Tire Bowl at Charlotte, N.C.