For those who have seen the actual 2011 Virginia Tech Football Schedule and really examined the actual games at length, you will find that there is a bit of a shift in scheduling philosophy within Blacksburg this season.
The actual 2011 Virginia Tech College Football Schedule has been released and for those who have examined this intently, particularly as to the actual way it compares to the past few years, it clearly includes a distinct look. This is primarily when it comes to the actual out-of-conference part of the schedule the spot that the athletic director as well as head coach get more control (as opposed to the ACC conference schedule that’s more pre-determined).
Recently, Virginia Tech has highlighted a large name opponent in an out of conference match up. This particular game has often been at the outset of the season, perhaps the very first game of the entire year. This had been true in 2010 when the Hokies played Boise State at FedEx Field in Washington DC. In 2009, Virginia Tech did something similar by playing Alabama, the actual eventual BCS National Champ in the Chik-fil-a Classic in Atlanta. The actual Hokies have experienced comparable games recently with LSU and USC.
This season, the actual Hokies open the season with Appalachian State, at East Carolina, Arkansas State, and Marshall. While East Carolina is a decent program in Conference USA and should worry Hokie followers some, none of those opponents are ‘featured match ups’ similar to the types discussed from prior years and give the Virginia Tech 2011 Football Schedule a completely different feel. Virginia Tech vs Appalachian State tickets will be easier to find than the Boise State or Alabama tickets were in previous year.
As the out-of-conference games with massive showcased foes have given excellent pre-season build-up as well as drama with regard to both fan bases, the Hokies came out on the actual losing end of virtually each of them. This has placed the Hokies behind when it comes to group goals for the season immediately (usually banging them out of the National title picture) really prior to the season can even begin.
Now that doesn’t mean these were nevertheless bad ideas. The teams as well as coaching staffs will most likely tell you that those earlier premier match-ups provide benefits when it comes to pre-season as well as off-season determination. They also give the school incredible publicity in that the actual games are generally made for Television events that can only help the program. As a premier program, Virginia Tech likely really wants to play in these types of games to be on that stage.
However being beaten in a number of these games in consecutive years, this year will be different regardless of whether deliberate or not. The beginning of this year, with 4 out-of-conference games against non-BCS conference colleges will allow the actual Hokies to build into the season more progressively. In a year where they are breaking in brand new qb Logan Thomas, that may be not necessarily a bad thing. It will play a part when it comes to strength of schedule if the Hokies wind up watching the actual BCS rankings at some point.
Whether this can be a permanent switch to scheduling philosophy or not remains to be seen. The fact that Virginia Tech lately announced that they plan to play in an additional Chik-fil-a Classic against Alabama in 2013 obviously means they are not really abandoning these types of games entirely. But the 2011 schedule definitely will possess a different feel to it than prior years.
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