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At the Virginia football game last Saturday, while play-by-play announcer Dave Koehn and analyst Frank Quayle were staying dry up in the broadcast booth, Chris Slade was getting wet down on the field.

"I'm a rookie, so I've got to pay my dues," Slade said. "They stick me out in the cold weather and the rain.

"That's all right. I'm a tough guy. I can handle it."

Slade, a former Virginia defensive end and NFL linebacker, is in his first season as the sideline reporter for the UVa radio network.

"It's given me an opportunity to get closer to the program again, and work alongside Coach [Al] Groh," said Slade, 38. "I'm trying to get better and better each week. I think I still have a long way to go, but it's been fun."

Slade, who lives in suburban Atlanta, also talks college football once a week on an Atlanta cable channel and appears on an Atlanta Falcons postgame TV show. He is interested in possibly becoming a color commentator, or perhaps getting into coaching.

"I'm back in the football world. This is kind of like my niche," Slade said. "This is my passion, to stay involved in football at some level."

Slade recorded 40 sacks in his UVa career, and became the first Cavalier to be chosen a first-team All-American in multiple seasons. The former Pro Bowl pick played in the NFL from 1993-2001.

During the first four years Slade played for the New England Patriots, Groh was the team's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He also used to be a UVa teammate of Groh's son Mike.

Now it's Slade's job to be the first one to interview Al Groh after the game.

"Whenever you lose a game, if it's a player or the coach, it's difficult to ask them questions and to get their analysis," Slade said. "But Coach Groh's been great with me. He understands that this is my job. ... So win, lose or draw, he's been very respectful, very helpful."

Should Groh keep his job next season?

"I don't get into who's getting fired," Slade said. "I'm just worried about doing the best job I can on the sideline so they won't fire me."

During the game, Slade gives listeners injury updates, and lets them know about sideline discussions and how the players react after a big play. He also offers his football insight.

"I'm on the field, and I can see some things that they can't," Slade said. "I understand the game ... a little more than the average Joe even in the stands, so I think they come to me for things like maybe coverages on defense, or certain offensive things that a lot of people just don't know.

"I kind of know Coach Groh's style. I know what he looks for on both sides of the ball. So I think they look for me to get some good insider information on how that whole system works."

He gives his opinions too.

"If I see something that's not working or something that needs to be changed or something I think could be done better ... I'll say it," he said.

Bonner high on Tech men's basketball

The Virginia Tech men's basketball team was picked only eighth in the ACC's preseason media poll, but TV analyst Dan Bonner expects the Hokies to finish among the top seven teams in the standings and make the NCAA tournament.

"They have the potential to be an extremely good team," said Bonner, who will again be a color commentator for ACC games for Raycom and Fox Sports Net. "I understand they lost A.D. Vassallo, but I also understand that Malcolm Delaney is going to be one of the outstanding guards in the league.

"Jeff Allen has had some issues in terms of consistent performance, but I think if he can get those issues resolved, ... he has the potential to be one of the best big guys in the league. And I like their complementary players."

Raycom and Fox Sports Net analyst Mike Gminski said Tech "could be in that middle tier that's fighting for a bid."

Bonner said UVa made a great choice in hiring Tony Bennett to succeed Dave Leitao as coach.

"He's a guy who comes in with a system," Bonner said. "It's a system that can be successful with maybe not all the five-star recruits in the world."

Gminski used to be an NBA teammate of Bennett.

"He's one of those players that you knew was going to be a coach," Gminski said. "From a personality standpoint, Tony's much different than Dave Leitao was. Just from that standpoint alone, it could be a positive."

Bonner does not expect this to be a down year for the ACC, despite the loss of such stars as Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Gerald Henderson and Toney Douglas.

"The way the game is played in this day and age, you have to have freshmen come in and perform very well for your team to be good, for your league to be good," he said. "If they perform to expectations, I think this could be a very, very good year for the Atlantic Coast Conference."

"It's going to be a deeper league than it has been, probably a little bit more competitive," Gminski said.