On Thursday night, #2 Boston College rolls into Blacksburg, VA to take on #8 Virginia Tech. This will be Virginia Tech's second meeting with a Top-2 team this season. Of course the first one didn't turn out so hot for Frank Beamer's Hokies, but there is reason to be more optimistic about this go-round.
For starters, Boston College isn't your typical #2 team. Frankly, they've been the beneficiary of a lot of teams in front of them stumbling and falling down in the rankings. If you look at BC's schedule, you'll see that they have yet to be tested against a quality opponent, at least not one with the quality of defense they will face in Lane Stadium on Thursday. BC has done its job, to be sure, by not falling victim to a let-down game against a lesser opponent, but they will also be facing their toughest test of the season against an opponent that will be eager to prove they are now legit after the afore-mentioned early-season beatdown.
Of course, being the political junkie that I am, thinking about this game got me to thinking about who might be labeled the "Boston College" of Virginia politics. In other words, who is the individual who has risen to the top of the field largely due to their ability to avoid career-crippling mistakes and thanks to the providence of watching those ahead of them self-destruct. Reading that sentence, it should be obvious that the answer is Mark Warner.
Now I am by no means predicting the outcome of either Thursday night's football game or the 2008 Senate elections, nor am I saying that the outcome of the former will have any bearing on the outcome of the latter. What I am saying, is that while know-it-all pundits like ESPN's Jessie Palmer are going around saying that VT doesn't even belong on the same field with BC, the truth of the matter is that the upcoming contest will probably tell us more about BC than any other on their schedule and the outcome could inform the viewers whether BC is headed for postseason glory or whether they'll be sent spiraling into obscurity.
I could say the same for Warner and 2008.
The ACC has certainly been interesting this year.
After an unlikely season last year with Wake Forest topping Georgia Tech, now the race features Boston College (with Wake nipping at their heels) and the ACC's Virginia schools (Old Zach, you told me a few months ago that you expected UVa to be pretty good this year, but I bet even you were not expecting to see a UVa-VT game potentially have this much meaning). And FSU and Miami are nowhere to be seen. If Virginia politics follows ACC football, things are about to get very hectic.
Hectic is Right
You're right, even I didn't forsee the shift of ACC power to the Old Dominion like this. We have the potential to see the most meaningful VT-UVA game in history this year and that could take the rivalry to a whole other level, which would be awesome. Frankly I'm tempted to root for both teams to keep winning for that very reason, even if it does cost me that bet with Harry. Can you imagine a VT-UVA game with both teams ranked in the Top 10 and an ACC Championship berth on the line? Madness!
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