Virginia v. Virginia Tech

It's always exciting when the UCFC is decided in a rivalry game, even if this is one of the nation's less compelling rivalries. For most of the 20th Century, UVA's biggest rival was probably North Carolina, while Virginia Tech usually ended their season with a Thanksgiving-day clash against their neighbors at the Virginia Military Institute. But by the 1980's, Virginia Tech and UVA were the last two major football programs in the Commonwealth -- as football at VMI, William and Mary, and Washington and Lee had fallen prey to the Commonwealth's general lack of interest in big-time college sports. And so they became rivals by default.

On paper, at least, it looks like other intrastate rivals -- UVA is the snooty liberal arts school, and Tech is the gritty engineering school. But UVA actually has its own engineering school, and to be honest, I have lived in Northern Virginia for almost 20 years, and I have never heard of anyone who was admitted to UVA but chose to attend Virginia Tech. So in a very real sense, this is a showdown between the A students and the B students. As a result of this dynamic, Tech really wants to beat UVA, while the Wahoos (as the Cavaliers are also known) can always console themselves for any football defeat by pulling out their acceptance letters.

As you might expect, such a dynamic is very much in Tech's favor. The Hokies lead the all-time series 50-37-5 -- but even these figures are misleading, because Tech was not in a major conference for most of their history. Once Frank Beamer built the Hokies into a powerhouse, and started taking all of the talent from Hampton Roads, Tech was in a dominant position. The Hokies have won 14 of the last 18 meetings, 11 of the last 12, and the last seven in a row.

But the times may be changing. UVA has hired an African-American coach from the Hampton Roads area, and the Wahoos are showing new signs of life. Unlike the usual UVA/Tech game -- where the Hokies are rolling toward a major bowl and the Wahoos are happy to be in any bowl -- this year the Wahoos are breathing down Tech's neck. Here are the standings in the Coastal Division of the ACC (conference games only):

Virginia Tech: 6-1

Virginia: 5-2

Georgia Tech: 5-3

Miami (Fla.): 3-4

N. Carolina: 2-5

Duke: 1-6

So whoever wins this game will capture the Coastal Division and a bid to the ACC title game against Clemson. They also get the Commonwealth Cup, a trophy that has been awarded to the winner of this game every year since 1996. And, of course, they get the UCFC.

According to the AP, Virginia Tech is number 6 and UVA is number 24. Vegas has made Tech a 5-point favorite, which sounds about right to me.