After falling to UVA last Friday, Virginia Tech will sit home this week instead of going to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. Still, the 2019 season is not over for the Hokies.
For the 27th straight season, Virginia Tech will play in a bowl game. Here are the latest projections for the 8-4 Hokies:
- Kyle Bonagura (ESPN): Music City Bowl vs. Kentucky
- Mark Schlabach (ESPN): Pinstripe Bowl vs. Michigan State
- CBS Sports: Citrus Bowl vs. Alabama
- Bleacher Report: Music City Bowl vs. Kentucky
- 247 Sports: Belk Bowl vs. Mississippi State
- Banner Society: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Michigan State
- Sporting News: Belk Bowl vs. Kentucky
According to these projections, the three most likely destinations for the Hokies are New York, Nashville, or Charlotte. Each of those bowls is considered a “Tier One” ACC bowl, which is the expected category for Virginia Tech to fall in.
Most experts predict Clemson to make the College Football Playoff and Virginia to take the ACC slot in the Orange Bowl. After that, things get a bit interesting.
If the Orange Bowl selects a Big Ten team, the Citrus Bowl opens up for an ACC team. That would most likely go to Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, or Notre Dame, who may be eligible for that bid according to NBC Sports.
Should Notre Dame or Wake Forest take that spot, it is possible that Virginia Tech could find themselves in the Camping World Bowl.
However, most are still predicting an SEC team to make the Orange Bowl, meaning the Citrus Bowl cannot take an ACC school. That would move Notre Dame down to the Camping World Bowl and Virginia Tech to a Tier One bowl.
Virginia Tech has played in both the Belk Bowl and the Music City Bowl during the current bowl streak. In 1998, the Hokies defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 38-7 in Nashville. That huge win arguably sparked Virginia Tech’s historic 1999 season.
The Hokies’ lone appearance in the Belk Bowl was much more recent. In Justin Fuente’s first bowl game as head coach in 2016, Virginia Tech found themselves trailing 24-0 to Arkansas at halftime.
As many Tech fans likely remember, the story does not end there. Jerod Evans led Virginia Tech to 35 unanswered second half points in a historic comeback that earned them the title of 2016 Belk Bowl Champions.
The Pinstripe Bowl only came into existence in 2010, and the Hokies have not yet appeared in that game. Should Virginia Tech find themselves in Yankee Stadium, it would be their first ever bowl appearance in the state of New York.
With a full weekend slate of championship games still to come, a lot could change in the outlook of ACC bowls. In any case, Virginia Tech has extended the nation’s longest active bowl streak and will eagerly await their destination.
