TechSideline.com Announces the Hiring of Chris Coleman

TechSideline.com is pleased to announce the hiring of
Chris Coleman to a full-time position on the web site. A recent graduate of
Virginia Tech, Chris will be writing for the web site as well as providing admin
support and customer service. We’re excited to have Chris on board, because it
means we’ll be able to continue to improve the web site, making it your best
source of Hokie sports information on the Internet.

Chris is from Chatham, VA and is a 2005 graduate of
Virginia Tech with a B.A. in History. Chris has a strong background in covering
Virginia Tech sports on the Internet, including stints with VTInsider.com (part
of the Scout.com network), where he wrote game previews and other articles from
2002-2004.

Chris is the first full-time hire in the history of
TechSideline.com, and his addition to the staff will enable us to tighten up
editorial schedules and add consistency to our content and editorial schedules.
Immediate plans are for Chris to take over duties on game recaps, game previews,
News and Notes, Hokie News, season previews, and other content as assigned.
Previously, these duties were spread out amongst contract writers (such as Jeff
Ouellet) and interns Stefan Adams and Chris James.

Chris has posted as "Techstudent" on the TSL
message boards for the last four years but will retire that name and post as
"Chris Coleman" on the boards from this point on. Look for Chris’
posts with the "TSL Host" icon next to them.

According to a proposal that is close to being approved,
the Big East, the Big 12 and Notre Dame will all have access to the Sun Bowl and
Gator Bowl. The four-year agreement is awaiting approval from the Big 12 to be
finalized and would begin with the 2007 Gator Bowl at the end of the 2006
season.

Under the new arrangement, the Gator Bowl will select the
#2 ACC team (or #3, if the ACC receives two BCS bids) and will select their
second team from the Big East, Big 12 or Notre Dame. The Gator will pick their
second team before the Sun Bowl, which has a Big 12 tie-in. After the Gator Bowl
selects its second team, the Sun Bowl would take a team from whichever
conference was not invited by the Gator.

Note that the ACC will place a team in the Gator Bowl
every season; only the opposing conference (Big East or Big 12 or Notre Dame)
will change.

In a four-year span, the Gator Bowl must select two Big
East teams and two Big 12 teams. The Gator Bowl can select teams from the same
conference in two consecutive years, but they must then invite teams from the
other conference for the remaining two years.

During that same four-year span, the Gator Bowl can bypass
a Big East team once to select Notre Dame, if the Irish are not in a Bowl
Championship Series game and are bowl-eligible. Notre Dame also must have a
record no worse than one game behind any eligible Big East team. Neither the
Gator Bowl nor the Sun Bowl will be allowed to select Notre Dame over a Big 12
team.

It’s possible that over a four year span, the Big East
would only get one team in the Gator Bowl. Notre Dame would bring in much better
television ratings and exposure than would say, Pittsburgh, and the Gator Bowl
wouldn’t hesitate to select ND over a Big East team. Historically, the Gator
has opted for Notre Dame over a Big East entrant whenever possible.

Part of the reasoning for the new agreement is to create
new and more appealing bowl matchups. The Gator Bowl recently hosted West
Virginia for two consecutive years and had Virginia Tech as a participant four
times from 1994 through 2001. The Big 12 and ACC rarely meet in bowl games, and
the Gator Bowl could turn into a very attractive matchup if a Texas or Oklahoma
ever slipped to third in the Big 12 and were matched up against Miami, Florida
State or Virginia Tech.

In 2004, the Sun Bowl was played on December 31st in El
Paso, Texas and had a payout of $1.5 million. The Gator Bowl was played on
January 1st and had a payout of $1.6 million.

Virginia Tech and Stanford will meet in men’s basketball
December 17th in Las Vegas as part of the Las Vegas Showdown, according to
Scout.com. This is a
made-for-television game that will be shown nationally by ESPN.

Stanford finished the 2004-05 season 18-13, and 11-7 in
Pac-10 play. Stanford’s season was highlighted by victories over Arizona and
Washington, as well as a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal lost to the
Mississippi State Bulldogs 93-70 in the first round.

Stanford looks to have another good team in 2005-06. They
lose two starters, Nick Robinson and Rob Little, but return their top three
scorers and leading rebounder.

Stanford was originally scheduled to play Alabama in their
out-of-conference slate, but the Crimson Tide backed out of the game. It was
difficult for Stanford to find another opponent. The Pac-10 schedule tips off in
December instead of January, and Stanford takes two weeks off for exams, so
finding another out-of-conference opponent was difficult.

However, Stanford managed to slide into the Las Vegas
Showdown and will play the Hokies. This will be the second meeting between the
Hokies and the Cardinal. The last meeting came in the Old Dominion Classic
during the 1972-73 season. The Hokies, who went 22-5 and won the NIT that year,
beat Stanford 77-71 in Lynchburg, VA.