The Orange Bowl managed to avoid the dreaded Virginia Tech Hokies-Connecticut Huskies matchup, wisely pairing the Hokies with the Stanford Cardinal and leaving UConn for the Fiesta. Stanford has never been to the Orange Bowl, but Virginia Tech goes LIKE EVERY YEAR. The Hokies have been twice in the past three years and three times overall, beating the Cincinnati Bearcats in 2008.
The bowl will take place on Jan. 3 at 8:30 in Miami.
ACC champion Virginia Tech finished 11-2 after an 0-2 start that included losses to the Boise St. Broncos and James Madison Dukes. Stanford stormed through the Pac-10, going 11-1, with its only loss to the BCS National Championship Game participant Oregon Ducks.
If you like old-school football, this might be the BCS game for you. Both teams have top-20 defenses and running games. Believe it or not, they’ve played a common opponent: the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Stanford beat Wake 68-24 at home, while VPI handled them 52-21 in Blacksburg.