"It seems like every year, whether they win their bowl game or get trounced in it, whether they bring back all their starters or none of them, the Hokies get picked to finish fourth in the Big East.  Well today, the Big East had its media day, and guess where the Hokies were picked to finish?  That's right ... fourth." -- Justin Ditmore, Channel 10, Tuesday, August 4th.

Once again, during Tuesday's Big East Media Day, the BE media went out on a limb and picked the Hokies to finish fourth.  Actually, I shouldn't make fun of them, because although I pick us to finish in a different place, I can understand why we're picked fourth (unlike previous years, where it didn't make any sense).

Here's the breakdown of the voting, with first place votes in parentheses.  Don't let your jaw hit the floor here:

1. West Virginia (13)
2. Syracuse (10)
3. Miami (1) - (who's the moron here?)
4. Virginia Tech
5. Pittsburgh
6. Boston College
7. Temple
8. Rutgers

Same old, same old.  About the only thing that has changed in the entire life span of the Big East is that Temple has crawled out of the basement, and Miami isn't picked to finish first or second.

A few nits, picks, and notes:

• I think that WVU's #1 prediction is based primarily on the fact that they host Syracuse this year, and the Mountaineers may roll up some points on the Orangemen, because WVU returns 8 offensive starters, including 4 linemen, compared to just 4 defensive starters for Syracuse.

• Like I said, who's the moron who picked the Hurricanes to finish first?   The 'Canes have to travel to both Syracuse and WVU, and while both of those teams are returning their starting quarterbacks, Miami is not.

• I think that BC will finish fifth, not Pittsburgh.  No particular reason, just gut feeling.  BC returns 8 defensive starters and both kickers, while Pitt lost nearly everybody who gave the league so much trouble last year.

• Temple will definitely finish higher than Rutgers, but the Owls are probably stuck at seventh.  Temple's hope for a higher finish is subdued by the fact that they have to travel to both BC and Pittsburgh, the two teams they have the best shot of beating.

So here are my picks, and la-de-dah, they're not that much different than the "real" media:

1. WVU
2. Syracuse
3. VT
4. Miami
5. Boston College
6. Pittsburgh
7. Temple
8. Rutgers

The key games for Virginia Tech are the Miami game and the Boston College game.   To finish third in the Big East (and therefore earn the right to get bumped from the Big East's bowl games, thanks to Mike Tranghese's Notre Dame bowl deal), the Hokies will have to beat BC on the road and perhaps knock off Miami on the road.

More on my predictions for Tech later this month, when I post my football preview article.

For the Hokies, the early recruiting season has been uncomfortably quiet thus far, not producing any verbals (I refuse to use the word "commitment") ... until yesterday.

The Hokies have received a verbal from Shawn Witten of Elizabethton, TN.  Witten, who goes about 6-2, 185, appears to be quite the versatile playmaker.  He was recruited as an "athlete" by Tech, which means that at his size, he could wind up at receiver, defensive back, or perhaps even quarterback (not likely) or whip linebacker.

As a sophomore receiver, Witten was all-Class 4A at split end, where he caught 36 passes, 14 for touchdowns.  As a junior quarterback last year, he completed almost 60 percent of his passes on his way to about 1400 yards passing and 14 touchdowns.

Witten also scored on punt returns and kickoff returns last year, when he amassed more than 2,700 yards of total offense and shared the conference's offensive player of the year award

As if that's not enough evidence of his versatility, this year he has been named preseason all-state selection by Murphy Fair's 1998 Tennessee High School Football ... as a defensive back.

The only thing that was missing from the articles I read about Witten were his academic stats.  Also, it gave many message board posters pause when they read in the Bristol Herald-Courier that Witten picked Tech over, uh, Southern Methodist, East Tennessee State, Furman and Liberty.

Witten probably would have received offers from bigger and better schools if he hadn't verballed to the Hokies so early, and certainly, other big-name schools had expressed interest to this point.  They just hadn't offered him a scholarship yet.

We'll never know exactly how many offers Witten might have received as a senior, and because of that, he won't be viewed by the recruiting services as a big catch.  But it sounds like the kid can make plays, so we'll have to just wait and see.

At 185 pounds, Witten sounds like redshirt material, particularly with the talent the Hokies are stockpiling at DB and wide receiver (but don't let that bother you, Shawn - the more, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned).

The best article the message board posters were able to find on-line about Shawn Witten was Witten Makes Early Decision to be a Hokie, by the Elizabethton Star Online.

Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver made several more big moves in the athletic department on Monday, hiring two new associate athletic directors - one from his old stomping ground, UNLV, and the other from Michigan.  At the same time, Weaver hired a new tennis coach and promoted an employee into the ticket manager spot previously occupied by Tom McNeer:

• New Associate AD for Administration:  Jeff Long, from the University of Michigan.
• New Associate AD for External Affairs:  David Chambers, from UNLV.
• New Director of Ticketing Services:  Sandy Smith, previously VT assistant ticket manager.
• New Tennis Coach:  Jim Thompson, from UT-Chattanooga.

Details are in The Roanoke Times on-line article Weaver Hires Two Associate Athletic Directors.

From what I have been told, the new associate AD hirings complete Weaver's staff of associate AD's.  He now has three - one for internal affairs, one for administration, and one for external affairs.  And now that the ticket office manager job has been filled, that leaves only the position of director of media relations, which was previously held by Jack Williams.

It's possible that the media relations position won't be filled per se, but that the duties will be assumed by current Sports Information Director, Dave Smith, and the new Associate AD for External Affairs.

Change good ... Will like change.  Happy Hokie.

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