8 home games in 02
roanoke.com
Friday, March 01, 2002
Arkansas State game gives Tech 8 at Lane
Hokies finalize preseason matchup
Tech's football season opens Aug. 25 in the Hispanic Classic, leaving a BCA game in 2004 in doubt.
By RANDY KING
THE ROANOKE TIMES
In a development that has been widely speculated for weeks, Virginia Tech has added a 13th game to this year's football schedule.
The Hokies announced Thursday they have finalized plans to open the season against Arkansas State in the Hispanic College Fund Football Classic on Sunday, Aug.25, in Blacksburg. Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said the first game in remodeled, 63,000-seat Lane Stadium will be an afternoon kickoff unless a television contract is reached that requires the game to be played at night.
The added date ensures Tech of its longest season in the school's 108 years of football, not to mention a program-record eight home games. The Hokies have played seven home games before, most recently in 1996.
Like other NCAA-approved preseason games, the Hispanic Classic doesn't count against a school's regular-season allotment. The Hokies already had scheduled 12 regular-season games instead of the customary 11 because the NCAA permits schools to play a dozen games in years that have 14 weekends from Labor Day weekend through the end of November.
Tech and Arkansas State will receive a guaranteed minimum of $600,000 or 30 percent of the gate, whichever amount is greater. The event is being run by Northern Virginia-based promoter Russ Potts.
Another huge benefit for Tech, which must replace 12 starters off last season's 8-4 club, is that the game will give coach Frank Beamer's team a much-wanted warm-up heading into its toughest schedule in years. Tech meets Louisiana State in Blacksburg on Sunday, Sept.1, in an ABC national telecast, and Beamer desperately wanted a game to prepare his club for the defending Southeastern Conference champion's first visit to Lane.
"Frank and I both thought it would be positive because of the situation," Weaver said.
Moreover, by playing a 13th game, the Hokies could go 7-6 and be eligible for a 10th consecutive bowl game.
Arkansas State, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, was 2-9 last season. The Indians have visited Blacksburg twice, losing 34-7 in 1994 and 50-0 in 1997.
Tech's participation in the game, however, puts in jeopardy its scheduled 12th game for 2004, the Black Coaches Association preseason game against East Carolina in Blacksburg.
On Jan.12, the NCAA's Management Council amended its policy that limits schools to one preseason game every four years, saying it would no longer grant exceptions to the rule as it has routinely done in the past.
Tech recently petitioned to the NCAA to play in both games. Tech's argument was that its 2000 BCA Classic game with Georgia Tech in Blacksburg was canceled because of a lightning storm, costing it $600,000 in guaranteed revenue. Plus, Tech incurred $160,000 in game expenses as a result of the cancellation. Also, Tech said the majority of its negotiations for this season's extra game had taken place before the NCAA policy was changed.
The NCAA denied Tech's request, saying the Hokies could play in one game or the other. Tech's athletic administration opted to go ahead and take this year's game, with hopes of pursuing an exception to the policy before the 2004 season.
"We're going to do everything we can to work through NCAA processes, through appeals, through legal dialogue to get relief, because we feel we're being dealt with unfairly and it's not just," Weaver said. "And I say that because the NCAA has already recognized that the charity, in this case the BCA, and its promoter get a second shot this year.
"How can they say that both of those entities can have a second shot and we can't? And that's our point. We think there's precedent been set. So we're going to work towards that goal the next two years."
The Hispanic Classic preseason game will be part of Tech's season-ticket plan. Cost of the eight-game package will be $252. Season-ticket order forms will be mailed out this month.
Besides Arkansas State and LSU, the rest of Tech's 2002 schedule includes home games with Marshall (Sept.12), Rutgers (Oct.19), Temple (Oct.26), Pittsburgh (Nov.2), West Virginia (Nov.20) and Virginia (Nov.30), plus games at Texas A&M (Sept.21), Western Michigan (Sept.28), Boston College (Oct.10), Syracuse (Nov.9) and defending national champion Miami (Dec.7). |
