Bowls: 3-5 Season: 118-52
To come, I hope: Recap of UVa's shutout victory over South Carolina in the Belk Bowl plus a look back at this season and a peek ahead to 2019.
Military Bowl in Annapolis
Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. Cincinnati (10-2), Noon ESPN
The Hokies' journey to this game is well-documented. Things were looking desperate after four straight losses by at least 10 points. They needed to beat two bowl-bound teams, Virginia and Marshall, to get to the postseason for the 26th straight time, the active NCAA streak. Tech's other wins came against North Carolina, Duke, William & Mary, and Florida State. The Bearcats had an excellent regular season but a pretty soft schedule. They lost to Temple by seven and UCF in a blowout. Cincy's only victories over winning teams came against Ohio and USF, which was sinking quickly after a 7-0 start. Cincy running back Michael Warren II has rushed for 1,163 yards (5.2 ypc) and 17 TDs. But Tech has been playing well on offense the past two games and will still take pride in not only getting to a bowl, but finishing with a winning record, which they'll try to do also for the 26th straight season.
Virginia Tech 31, Cincinnati 28
Sun Bowl in El Paso
Pittsburgh (7-6) vs. Stanford (8-4), 2 p.m. CBS
The Panthers went on a nice little run in the second half of the season to win the ACC Coastal, with blowouts of Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, a fairly easy win over UVa, and a shootout victory over Duke. But they lost their last two games to Miami and Clemson (in the ACC championship) by an average score of 33-6.5. The Cardinal started 4-0, stumbled in the middle of the season, but finished with three straight W's over Oregon State, UCLA, and Cal. Running back Bryce Love, a Heisman contender a season ago, took a step back this year but is still a great back and is sitting out the game to prepare for the NFL draft. But quarterback KJ Costello has completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,435 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Pitt's pair of 1,000-yard rushers -- Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall -- will need to have good games for the Panthers. Stanford's rush defense is good but not great, ranking 41st in the country.
Stanford 31, Pittsburgh 30
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville
N.C. State (9-3) vs. No. 19 Texas A&M (8-4), 7:30 p.m. ESPN
The Wolfpack is 9-3 but not ranked, perhaps somewhat underrated after getting blown out by Clemson, losing to Syracuse (before it was viewed as a very good team), and getting upset by Wake Forest. But State finished up 3-0 with easy wins over terrible Louisville and East Carolina teams and
a rivalry victory over UNC, which was a close game against a not-great team, but that happens in heated series. Every other Wolfpack win was by double digits except one, 28-23 over Boston College. With that said, the Aggies are coming in on a strong note in their first season under former Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, winning their last three games over UAB, Ole Miss, and then-No. 7 LSU, 74-72 in seven overtimes. Yes, you read that right. Running back Trayveon Williams has more than 1,500 yards and 15 scores. Plus, A&M was not completely embarrassed by Alabama (45-23) and gave Clemson fits in a 28-26 loss. The Aggies' other losses came to bowl teams Auburn and Mississippi State. N.C. State QB Ryan Finley is playing and will probably need a big game to pull out the win.
Texas A&M 36, N.C. State 28
To come, I hope: Recap of UVa's shutout victory over South Carolina in the Belk Bowl plus a look back at this season and a peek ahead to 2019.
Military Bowl in Annapolis
Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. Cincinnati (10-2), Noon ESPN
The Hokies' journey to this game is well-documented. Things were looking desperate after four straight losses by at least 10 points. They needed to beat two bowl-bound teams, Virginia and Marshall, to get to the postseason for the 26th straight time, the active NCAA streak. Tech's other wins came against North Carolina, Duke, William & Mary, and Florida State. The Bearcats had an excellent regular season but a pretty soft schedule. They lost to Temple by seven and UCF in a blowout. Cincy's only victories over winning teams came against Ohio and USF, which was sinking quickly after a 7-0 start. Cincy running back Michael Warren II has rushed for 1,163 yards (5.2 ypc) and 17 TDs. But Tech has been playing well on offense the past two games and will still take pride in not only getting to a bowl, but finishing with a winning record, which they'll try to do also for the 26th straight season.
Virginia Tech 31, Cincinnati 28
Sun Bowl in El Paso
Pittsburgh (7-6) vs. Stanford (8-4), 2 p.m. CBS
The Panthers went on a nice little run in the second half of the season to win the ACC Coastal, with blowouts of Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, a fairly easy win over UVa, and a shootout victory over Duke. But they lost their last two games to Miami and Clemson (in the ACC championship) by an average score of 33-6.5. The Cardinal started 4-0, stumbled in the middle of the season, but finished with three straight W's over Oregon State, UCLA, and Cal. Running back Bryce Love, a Heisman contender a season ago, took a step back this year but is still a great back and is sitting out the game to prepare for the NFL draft. But quarterback KJ Costello has completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,435 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Pitt's pair of 1,000-yard rushers -- Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall -- will need to have good games for the Panthers. Stanford's rush defense is good but not great, ranking 41st in the country.
Stanford 31, Pittsburgh 30
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville
N.C. State (9-3) vs. No. 19 Texas A&M (8-4), 7:30 p.m. ESPN
The Wolfpack is 9-3 but not ranked, perhaps somewhat underrated after getting blown out by Clemson, losing to Syracuse (before it was viewed as a very good team), and getting upset by Wake Forest. But State finished up 3-0 with easy wins over terrible Louisville and East Carolina teams and
Texas A&M 36, N.C. State 28
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