Georgia Tech v. Virginia Tech

When the ACC went to two divisions for the 2005 season, it was widely expected that the ACC Championship Game in football would be dominated by the two Florida schools: FSU (national champs in 1993 and 1999) and Miami of Florida (national champs in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 2001). In fact, the ACC's whole divisional format -- with FSU in the Atlantic Division and Miami (Fla.) in the Coastal Division -- was designed with this possibility in mind.

It hasn't worked out that way. Instead, here is a complete list of the Coastal Division champions up to this point (teams that won the ACC title are in bold):

2005: Virginia Tech
2006: Georgia Tech
2007: Virginia Tech
2008: Virginia Tech
2009: Georgia Tech
2010: Virginia Tech

In other words, in recent years the dominant teams in the ACC have not been FSU, Miami (Fla.), or even Clemson. Instead, the league has been dominated by the two teams playing for the UCFC tonight: the Jackets and the Hokies.

Once again, it appears that the Coastal Title will be decided in this game. Here are the current ACC standings (conference games only):

ATLANTIC DIVISION
Clemson: 5-1
Wake Forest: 4-2
Florida St: 4-2
N. Carolina St: 2-3
Boston Coll: 1-5
Maryland: 1-5

COASTAL DIVISION
Virginia Tech: 4-1
Georgia Tech: 4-2
Virginia: 3-2
Miami (Fla.): 3-3
N. Carolina: 2-4
Duke: 1-4

Virginia Tech is 8-1, and ranked number 10 by the AP. The Hokies' only loss all year came in their UCFC matchup with Clemson. Georgia Tech is 7-2, and ranked number 20 by AP. The Jackets have lost only to UVA and Miami (Fla.)

Remarkably, this is only the ninth time these two engineering schools have ever played each other. For most of their histories, Georgia Tech was a traditional power, while Virginia Tech was a backwater. But that has all changed now, and they have met every year since 2004. Virginia Tech leads the all-time series, 5-3.

Virginia Tech is a one-point favorite to win the game and take their first UCFC back to Blacksburg. We'll see if they can do better tonight than they did against Clemson.