The Drive:  Well, Miami’s loss has certainly changed the ACC bowl projections—- It now looks like Virginia Tech should be Gator Bowl bound, with possible opponents being Notre Dame or Oklahoma.  They could even rise as high as the Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta against an SEC opponent..depending on what Clemson does to finish the year, and the outcome of the ACC title game. Likely opponents could be Georgia or Auburn. Right now that game is projected as Clemson versus Georgia, which would be a big local draw. But my gut tells me Clemson gets battered at least one more time before the title game..then gets crushed by Georgia Tech and becomes a less attractive fit for the game in Atlanta. Just a guess.

  The Fairway: Well, Virginia Tech’s hardwood happenings are underway, and so far they’ve taken care of business with Brown and UNC Greensboro. I’ve said before that the NCAA committee has probably penalized the Hokies in recent years for some slip-ups against lesser opponents early in the season. So these games, although not the all-important ACC kind, really do carry some weight. It doesn’ t really matter how you win, so long as you do. Losses to unranked opponents in lesser conferences just kill the RPI. It’s never too early to look at this stuff. Meanwhile, defending Big South Champ Radford has looked solid despite missing some key people. Amir Johnson should return the Duke game this weekend—just in time. Art is a tower of power inside—stronger and even more of a dunking machine. This could be the year Radford gets a 13 or 14 seed and rings up an NCAA first round upset. I wouldn’t want to try and play this team in a one-and-done situation. Yikes.

The Green:  Does anybody have a clue what Bill Belichick was thinking?  Let me take a stab.  He has so LITTLE confidence in his defense, he would rather roll the dice and try to close out the game, then to put the game in the hands of his defense..even if they could have punted the Colts deep in their own territory. That says alot. But the guy is unphased. He doesn’t care what anybody things, except maybe Robert Craft. Wow, are the Colts ever a very quiet undefeated.

The Jar:  The Maryland trip was interesting. Getting a peek at that multi-gazillion dollar basketball arena…then having to do football postgame interviews in what amounts to a golf sponsor tent should tell you all you need to know about what side Maryland’s bread is buttered on. The football side…is bone dry these days. Anybody have a nice peach marmalade???