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In their final season in Big East football, Virginia Tech captured their third attendance title in the last five seasons, with an average of 65,115 fans per game. That bested #2 Pittsburgh by about 6,000 fans per game, as the Panthers had an average of 59,197 fans. Miami, the 2002 champions, averaged 58,135 fans per game in the Orange Bowl.

The history of Big East attendance leaders is an interesting one. The Miami Hurricanes won the title from 1991-1994, with the exception of 1993, when WVU finished first.

From 1995-1998, the Mountaineers won the attendance title, with figures that ranged from 50,000 to 55,000. From 1999-2003, the Canes and Hokies have alternated winning the attendance title, with Miami tending to win it in even years, in which the Florida State Seminoles and Hokies came to town.

It's interesting to note that Pitt's average attendance of 59,197 in 2003 would have won the title ten of the thirteen years the Big East has existed, and Miami's third-best attendance 58,135 would have won it nine times. Among those three -- VT, Pitt, and Miami -- they produced some of the best attendance seasons on Big East record. The 2003 Big East attendance total of over 2.4 million is an all-time record for the league.

But that's the past. How would the Hokies have placed in the 12-team ACC? The answer is, pretty well. If you add VT, BC, and Miami to the ACC, the Hokies would have finished third in average attendance, behind only FSU and Clemson.

VT is unlikely to outdraw FSU and Clemson, who boast stadium capacities of 83,000 and 81,473, respectively, according to WorldStadiums.com.

Worth noting: of the ACC schools listed, only Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State and Virginia Tech finished at 100% capacity or greater.

This Week in Recruiting
by Chris Horne

Virginia Tech gained the 15th and 16th commitments of the 2004 recruiting class this week, when Michael Green and Andrew Bowman pledged to the Hokies.

Green, a 6-1, 230 pound prospect out of Deptford High School (NJ), fills a need at fullback. He is one of the top fullbacks in the East and was an effective linebacker as well. He chose Tech over Minnesota and Indiana.

Hermitage High School (VA) linebacker Andrew Bowman committed to the Hokies over Tennessee. Virginia and Purdue were in the running as well, however Bowman indicated his final decision came down to the Hokies and Vols. Bowman is 6-1, 230 pounds, and runs a 4.6 in the 40 yard dash. He will play outside linebacker for Tech, which is the position he played as a junior in high school. He moved to middle linebacker his senior year. Nevertheless, Bowman is one of the top prospects in the state.

Virginia Tech decided not to offer Hollywood Christian (FL) offensive line prospect Dio Herrera, who committed to Mississippi State this week (per Rivals). The Hokies are in great shape with their remaining prospects, and likely hope to land around five or six more players. There are no official visitors this weekend, and the weekends of the 23rd and the 30th will be the last two official visit weekends.

In other news, QB Cory Holt received a qualifying test score and will enroll at VT in January 2004. Running back George Bell will enroll as well, as he graduated early and earned qualifying scores.

For VT's complete list of 2004 verbal commitments, click here.

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-- Will Stewart

The State of the Program, Part 4: Special Teams
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/15/04, 2:50 pm
I have this nagging feeling that in the last few years, Virginia Tech special teams aren't what they used to be. So I decided to sit down, do a little analysis, recall the past, and crunch some stats to see if that nagging feeling was correct. What I found wasn't quite what I expected, but it was interesting and illuminating nonetheless.
in TSL Pass

Markus Sailes Hits Late Shot, Hokies Beat WVU 69-67
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/15/04, 12:20 am
Morgantown, WV -- Markus Sailes hit a short jumper with 13 seconds left to give the Virginia Tech men's team its third-ever Big East road win, a 69-67 win over West Virginia that was a well-played, hotly contested game between two old rivals. When WVU's J.D. Collins missed a short jumper of his own with four seconds to go, and Tech's Bryan Randall recovered the loose ball after a scrap on the floor, the win was sealed.
in Men's Hoops

Hokie Women Bounce Back, Throttle Villanova 63-50
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/14/04, 11:10 pm
Blacksburg, VA -- Virginia Tech's 19th-ranked women's team snapped out of their recent road doldrums with a big home win over 24th-ranked Villanova, beating the Wildcats 63-50 in a game that wasn't that close. VT had balanced scoring, placing four players in double figures, led by Kerri Gardin with 14.
in Women's Hoops

The End of a Wild Ride
by Jim Alderson, 1/14/04, 3:35 am
The Virginia Tech coaching staff is now engaged in wrapping up this year’s recruiting class. This year Tech coaches are pitching something new to prospective new Hokies, membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It will remain to be seen how much Tech benefits from ACC membership, although it says here a lot.
in TSL Pass

A Gym Rat's Notebook #2: Subtraction and Addition
by Elijah Kyle, 1/13/04, 11:10 pm
As the Virginia Tech basketball team heads into the conference part of its schedule Wednesday night (at WVU, 7 pm, no TV), finding a new team personality and adjusting to the loss of freshman guard Jamon Gordon will be foremost on the agenda.
in TSL Pass

Hokie Hotline Notes for January 12, 2004
by Phil Noftsinger, 1/13/04, 4:30 pm
The Hokie Hotline was live from Beamers restaurant in Christiansburg, Virginia. Roth started the show by re-capping some of the Hokie Headlines of the week. Today the NCAA Management Council voted down by a 17-7 margin the proposal to allow conferences with 11 teams to hold a conference championship game. The ACC is currently slated to field 11 teams next year, with the inclusion date of Boston College still yet undecided.
in Hokie Hotline Notes

BC to Wait Until 2005 to Join ACC
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/13/04, 9:55 am
The issues of when Boston College is going to join the ACC and whether or not the ACC is going to have a football title game in 2004 were settled Monday, and the answers are "2005" and "no."
in News and Notes

12 Aspirations for Hokie Football 2004
by Jeff Ouellet, 1/12/04, 3:40 pm
Many of us make resolutions at the beginning of each new year in an effort to fix some aspect of our personal or professional life. Obviously, the VT program needs some fixing of its own, and here are twelve things I’d like to see in 2004. I just hope the Hokies can fulfill these aspirations better than I keep my own resolutions.
in TSL Pass

Irish Thrash Tech Women, 53-40
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/10/04, 4:00 pm
South Bend, IN -- For the second game in a row, the 15th-ranked Virginia Tech women scored in the 40's, and for the second game in a row, they lost by 13 points. Notre Dame finished the game strong, outscoring Tech 24-11 down the stretch to leave the punchless Hokies wondering how they can get things back on track.
in Women's Hoops