My guess: Orlando for the Champs Bowl. Here’s a good take from Jay (written before the VT game, if you can handle it). I’ll cut and past here in an updated (with tears a-flowin’) manner:

A 9-win season in the worst-case scenario should leave Virginia in a promising game for pay, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Virginia fans merely know this much: the Cavaliers should go to a better bowl game than Florida State ([4]-4 ACC), Georgia Tech ([4]-4), [Wake (5-5)] … and … [Maryland] (3-[5]) … the ACC enforces a two-game rule – any team that’s two games better in league play (typically) is not to be skipped over in the bowl-selection process. In theory, that leaves Virginia’s worst-case scenario as the fifth team selected..… The order, in case you are in doubt, is as follows for the top four spots: 1. Orange Bowl (ACC title game winner …); 2. Peach, err, Chick-fil-A Bowl (likely the ACC title game loser, but the bowl can reach outside depending on league and BCS standings and/or a desired contest); 3. Gator Bowl (common logic says [as have the Gator Bowl officials] this game would prefer a team that did not play in the ACC title game since it would be a repeat trip to Jacksonville, Fla., for the team’s fans); 4. Champs Sports Bowl. … The bowl games in Nashville, Charlotte and San Francisco then take the remaining teams and submit bids on their top three choices. The ACC office then tries to match things up accordingly. Should the ACC title game loser be on the board, Nashville’s Music City Bowl must take that team. … The MPC Computers Bowl on Boise’s blue field is left to collect the scraps, and will likely take [Maryland]… What does it all mean? Well, [since] Virginia [lost] to Virginia Tech, expect a trip to see Mickey Mouse at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. Sure, the Gator Bowl could scoop up Al Groh’s boys in this scenario, but … Clemson … would likely be more appealing. Clemson [alumni base] travels in really big bunches. In case you care, the Champs Sports Bowl is played Dec. 28 on at 5 p.m. at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Possible Big-Ten opponents? Penn State and Purdue come to mind and Iowa and Michigan State are long shots….

I’d peg the chances of spending the holidays at Epcot at about 80%. So, I agree with that part of Jay’s prediction. In fact, my prediction overall:

Orange – Virginia Tech (winner of ACC title)
Peach – Boston College (SEC team brings in the ticket sales, Matt Ryan brings in the TV viewers)
Gator – Clemson (tickets, tickets, tickets)
Champs – Virginia (good traveling fans and viewership, at least better than Wake, the only other choice)
Music City — FSU (Wake gets passed for tickets and name, FSU wants the SEC opponent, later bowl date, and cooler city for its alumni to show up)
Charlotte– Wake Forest (Charlotte would like the local alumni base if FSU chooses Music City, though I could see FSU opting for this bowl because it’s several hours closer for fans — yes, the bowl system is unfair and sucks when a school can pick its bowl while a team that beat them and is higher in the standings waits for its fate … the bowl could pass Wake over for GT — better name — but I can’t see it foresaking the local ticket sales)
Boise – Georgia Tech (a fine place for the Gailey era to end in a whimper)
Nut– Maryland (bottom of the barrel)

Some think that the Peach might pass over BC for Clemson (ticket sales from closer alumni, hot match-up of southern schools), leaving the Gator to pick Virginia over BC to avoid a repeat visit by the Eagles. I’d peg that possibility at 19%. Could happen, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I think that, for a bowl that will sell out regardless given the SEC invitee’s rabid fan base (likely Auburn), the shot of having former Heisman hopeful Matt Ryan’s hype in the stadium is too much to pass up in favor of a no-name Clemson team. Ticket sales and tourism taxes matter — but so does advertising revenue, especially for a bowl that’s competing with New Year’s Eve festivities.

That last 1%? ACC changes the rules midstream to somehow send us to Boise again. Hey, Rule 2b works in mysterious ways.

p.s. Of course, if BC wins, Virginia is a 100% lock for Disney World. I think the Peach gobbles up the Hokies and the Gator gladly takes Clemson. Thus, Virginia fans are in an odd situation: root for a better bowl (and hence their hated rivals to win the ACC again) or root against the Hokies (and cutting off the nose to spite the face as Virginia would be locked into the less respected bowl.) I kinda like my nose attached to my face (a New Year’s Day bowl and all its trappings would be nice validation for this season) … so let’s go Hokies (ugh).

(UPDATE: I forgot Georgia Tech in a previous version of this post. They’ll be on the blue turf this year.)

Here’s something to keep an eye on (hat-tip VAGentleman05*):

The District of Columbia Bowl Commission is continuing its work to bring a bowl game either to RFK Stadium or the new Nationals Park. It hopes to have the inaugural bowl in mid- to late-December 2008, and it is aiming for one of the participants to be a service academy team, starting with Navy in 2008 and Army in 2009.

The commission will submit a proposal for the game — to be called the Congressional Bowl — to the NCAA on April 1. An answer likely will come a month later….

The commission’s business model is reliant on having Army, Navy or Air Force play in the game, which would be held before Christmas in a time slot influenced by television interests.

I’ve blogged (briefly) about this before, and I’d love to see a local bowl. However, before Christmas and requiring a service academy? Sounds a bit second shelf, if you ask me. I understand that there are a ton of military in the DC area (so that’s a lot of ticket sales), and if Army and Navy aren’t bowl eligible, their slot would open up. But locking in these underperforming football teams? Scheduling the bowl so far ahead of New Years and potentially during exams? (remember the whole Champs debacle?) What school is going to want to play in this thing? This whole idea is starting to sound sketchy to me.

This bowl has a chance to move ahead of those like Boise and the Nut Bowl given the metro area and proximity to so many football powers (and their alumni bases), so why are the organizers coming to a gun fight with an allen wrench? Why gun for third tier status right out of the gate? I was joking about the whole “Eastern Motors” thing, but I guess I may not have been too far off.

My advise: Schedule this thing after Christmas. Seek commitments from the ACC and the Big East that includes some flexibility to opt for service academies occasionally. And get Biz Markie to do the first halftime show .

*message board post that will expire, subscription required

An intriguing idea from DD. Given the log-jam at cornerback, the lack of playmakers at wide receiver, and the problem behind Sewell if Lalich redshirts, it might also be a damn good idea. In fact, given the recent history with Hagans, it’s almost an obvious idea, no? And it would be a way for Hall to avoid Gorham’s eventual fate — who was transitioned from the defensive backfield to offense his senior year and was largely irrelevant this season. (Hat-tip zeropointzero*).

*message board post that will expire

Via ACC Nation, Tom Santi just got some impressive hardward:

Virginia senior tight end Tom Santi has been named recipient of the 2007 James E. Tatum Award, ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced today. The Tatum Award is given annually in memory of the late Jim Tatum to the top senior student-athlete among the league’s football players….

A member of the 2006 ACC All-Academic Football Team, he currently has a career 3.35 GPA in his major of Sociology. In addition to his academic achievements, Santi is the co-founder of a community service program called “Athletes Committed to Community and Education,” which is designed to promote academic success, support character education and develop leadership qualities.

Congrats to Santi! And this is coming from Virginia’s top tight end, and the ACC’s third ranked tight end behind BC’s Ryan Purvis and NCSU’s Marcus Stone (in terms of receptions and yards). And that’s even with Santi missing the entire Maryland game after the first offensive play due to injury. Impressive that he won this award while maintaining a high level of achivement on the field.

In response to JHoo’s superb “10 Things” article this week (Edge sub. req.), MikeySurf had this superb reaction himself about the program* on the Edge board (again, sub. req.) I’ve threaded in some of my own thoughts in italics:

A few observations… on the state of the program and moving forward. For starters, I thought the two most impressive aspects of this year’s team had to do with the incredible strong resolve and the solid “belief” system that has been rebuilt among the players with each other and toward the coaching staff.

JHoo hit it right on the nail when he suggested many past UVa teams would have crumbled going down 23-14 to the Hokies. The ’07 team did not and it epitomized the attitude and character the players have shown all year long. There have been numerous Wahoo teams with greater talent. Heck, if the ’95 team had the same resolve as this year’s unit, they may have finished that year among the top 5 teams in the country!

For a number of years during the Groh era, I wasn’t convinced his teams had everyone paddling in the same direction…among both the players and the coaching staff. There were issues between some players, varying levels of commitment among certain players, and a number of guys who simply didn’t buy into some of the coaches. Not to suggest everything is perfect today, but the dynamic leadership of certain upperclass players muffled any potential issues this year, they achieved the full buy-in from all of the key players, and helped to “will” this team to a successful year. I will be eager to see how much of this can convey into next year and the future. If this baseline belief system survives, the legacy of this players leadership group will be felt for years to come.

[Mahini: I agree wholeheartedly -- and I am fairly confident that this new "attitude foundation" has been permanently laid and set in stone. Why? Because we saw it all season beginning with the trip back from Laramie. In every game, we've seen clear and building evidence that this team had a will of steel and a great overall attitude. I think the #1 task of the coaching staff is to build on this new development in the next couple weeks and in the offseason. Ending on a positive note in the bowl game will be very helpful in this regard, but not an essential requirement. Whatever happens between now and Jan. 2nd, I'd make "hungriness" and "commitment" important continuing themes this summer. Okay, back to 'Surf...]

Some areas to keep an eye on …

(more…)

Congrats to Long — he was the obvious choice here. Here’s his stat line:

75 tackles, 19 for loss (132 yards)
14 sacks
21 QB hurries
7 breakups
1 interception
2 forced fumbles
1 safety

And he positively took over games on defense. In fact, I’m a little surprised he wasn’t the unanimous choice (he got 66 of 71 votes).

On top of that, I think he deserved the Player of the Year award (or at least to be a lot closer than distant second place). That award went to BC quarterback Matt Ryan. Long dominated offenses like no other, and Ryan — who had a fine season himself — was probably propped a bit by some offensive bias (the sort that afflicts the Heisman process). But, I guess you can’t go wrong with 28 touchdowns and 3,953 yards plus an Atlantic Division title. Nope, tough to argue with that.

Anyway, back to Long: Congrats again for one of the finest years in UVa, and ACC, history. Unanimous All-ACC, Defensive Player of the Year, got his jersey retired. That’s quite a haul. And it’s likely not over yet.

Ian Cohen thinks it’ll be Chris Long. I agree — he was the only unanimous All-ACC pick. Given the way he dominated offenses and games, I think any other pick would be based on two-month old hype (no offense, Matt Ryan).

Now, whether Long gets the Dudley award for the state’s best player? That’s a whole different ball of bullchips.

“When a coach is cited in this way, it’s always when his team has had an outstanding season so this is our team trophy this year…. I’d say probably seldom has the coach who was cited been elevated as high by the players and the staff as I have been.” – Al Groh, commenting on his the team’s ACC Coach of the Year award.

So, ESPN dared to air an article that questions the Great K. And so D*ke Nation is — get this — threatening to … well, just read it yourself. I can’t bring myself to even explain it:

As you know, the Duke-Wisconsin game is on ESPN Tuesday night. ESPN will come in and do their usual thing – if Vitale is there, he’ll play along with the Crazies. The cameras will pan along the sidewalks and then along the bleachers, trying to get shots of you guys, all happy and energetic and waving, because that crowd shot is worth millions to ESPN, frankly….

Well, here it is: Duke fans, and specifically the Crazies, have a chance to hold ESPN accountable. It would be great to deny them that money shot of Crazies in full splendor. It would be classic if, rather than that, whenever the camera panned over them, the Crazies just crossed their arms en masse and stared at the camera until it went away. It would be a mild but effective protest. It probably wouldn’t be as hard to explain as signs and cheers against the Bullies from Bristol, but hey – you guys are creative. We’re sure if you want to let ESPN know you object to their recent maltreatment of one of their major moneymakers, you can come up with something.

And, that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up the whole D*ke entitlement syndrome pretty perfectly, doesn’t it? Not only do they expect perfect treatment, they think that not smiling for the camera will bring Disney to its knees.

It wasn’t a contest. And I’m pretty annoyed about it. The Hoos weren’t that sharp on either offense or defense (Leitao was screaming at his players for a reason), and Virginia still won by 42 points. 42 points! Sure, the Cats were missing their best player, but I don’t think Kevin Coble would’ve accounted for 22 points, let alone 42 points, do you? I love Andy Burns and all, but when the walk-on plays three full minutes at the end of the game, you know you’ve got a blow out on your hands.

Anyway, my annoyance isn’t with the Hoos and their performance. A young team that’s still trying to figure out its roster won by six touchdowns — how can I be annoyed with them? Some work is still needed, but I liked the hot shooting (51% FGP) and the growing connection between Sean Singletary and the post players. No, what I’m annoyed with is the ridiculous decision to pair these teams in the first place. I blasted the move at the time, and now the Hoos have vindicated that criticism. No offense to Northwestern, but they didn’t belong on the same court as a team that shared the top ranking in the ACC last year and is manned by the conference coach of the year.

This was a perfect opportunity for the ACC to highlight an up-and-coming program. D*ke gets plenty of air time and will bring in their ratings regardless. Why not give a better (and more deserved) match-up to Virginia to give them exposure that would help the conference overall? No, doing that would be fair, equitable, and out of character for the All Carolina Conference. We don’t want Coach K to get upset!