ACC Daily Fever: Unique Regional Rivalry Finally Takes Place in Atlanta

Posted: Dec 10, 2009

The matchup of Virginia Tech and Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl has become a very popular ticket in that part of our Swampland Footprint. The last time these two played was in the Gator Bowl on December 30, 1994, when the Vols and freshman quarterback Peyton Manning beat Antonio Freeman and the Hokies 45-23.

Over the past decade, a potential blockbuster meeting of these schools was proposed by NASCAR billionaire Bruton Smith, who would have them play at his Bristol Motor Speedway. The famed racetrack, located between Knoxville and Blacksburg , would have held approximately 120,000 fans for the one-time mega event. Obviously the game has not happened, but just the talk fired up the fan bases for a regional rivalry.

This week, Virginia Tech players discussed the upcoming game with the Vols:

"I just kinda found out about how big that is between fans this past week," (Tyrod) Taylor said. "I didn't know it was that big between Tech fans and Tennessee fans. It's kinda like a rival game even though they haven't played each other."

Said (Cody) Grimm: "You always hear the rumors about us and Tennessee playing, all the hype that would be around it if that game were to ever actually happen. Just being around Blacksburg for five years now and meeting people from Southwest Virginia, you are either a Tennessee fan or a Tech fan. Now we actually get a chance to play them."

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