Friday, May 22, 2009
UVa or Virginia Tech: Who has the better athletic program?
Tech and UVa face different challenges
Doug Doughty
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Far be it from me to describe The Roanoke Times’ sports Timescast as thought-provoking – “inane” might be a better adjective – but something that Randy King and I were discussing the other day has gotten me to thinking.
If you are a Virginia Tech fan, would you trade your athletic program for Virginia’s?
If you are a Virginia fan, would you trade your athletic program for Virginia Tech’s?
I’m guessing the answer for both demographics would be a resounding “no.”
(Of course, you’ve got to figure in the pride factor).
The thought came to mind when King and I were discussing the various UVa teams that are still involved in NCAA postseason play – men’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s golf, women’s golf, baseball and track and field).
Virginia was ranked 19th in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings after the winter season and should make a big jump in the spring, which already includes a trip to the men’s tennis quarterfinals (the equivalent of a fifth-place tie).
UVa almost certainly will improve on last year’s 17th-place showing in the Directors’ Cup and could approach the top 10. The Cavaliers’ best finish ever was in 1999, when they were eighth.
If you rank in the top 10 in all-around athletic competition, does that make you an elite program?
I told King that I wouldn’t consider UVa to be an elite athletic program unless it played in a college football bowl game or made the NCAA men’s basketball tournament – most years, if not every year.
Maybe football and men’s basketball performance could be measured by Top 25 rankings, but this year Virginia didn’t have postseason bids or Top 25 rankings in either of the two marquee sports.
THE HOKIES ARE 48TH in the most recent Directors’ Cup calculations (as of April 23) after finishing 37th last year. It is unlikely that Tech will approach last year’s 38th-place finish, fueled by a bid to the softball final four.
The Hokies were 45th in 2006 and 48th in 2007. A top 50 finish would seem to be a reasonable goal.
As long as the Hokies are winning ACC football championships and going to BCS bowls and performing respectably in the other sports, the fans will be happy.
No way the Hokies would trade their 2008-2009 athletic year for Virginia’s.
In recent years, Tech also has had a more successful men’s basketball program than Virginia, although UVa’s hiring of Tony Bennett as its new head coach presents a different dynamic.
The reason Virginia fans wouldn’t trade their athletic program for Tech’s is the hope for better times to come, both for men’s basketball and football.
That could come under football coach Al Groh, who turns 65 in July, or it could under his successor, whenever that transition takes place.
Virginia has a lot of things going for it, including $128-million John Paul Jones Arena, but the Cavaliers can’t consider themselves superior to their in-state rival until they beat the Hokies on the football field, and not just once every 10 years.
Tech has won the last five games in that series and nine of the last 10.
The Hokies have drawn big crowds and enlarged their stadium and increased their athletic fundraising, to go along with heretofore lucrative TV payouts. Maybe that could last forever but, in the meantime, Tech needs to continue to push for improvement in its other sports.
Aside from football, Tech has not another ACC championship this year. In 2007-2008, the Hokies collected titles in football, women’s indoor track, softball and women’s outdoor track. The year before that, Tech won the ACC men’s golf championship.
Virginia this year has won titles in men’s cross country, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s tennis and men’s outdoor track and field, but no men’s basketball since 1976 and no football since 1995 (the second of two shared titles).
There is room for two elite athletic programs in the state but they’re not there yet.
If you are a Virginia Tech fan, would you trade your athletic program for Virginia’s?
If you are a Virginia fan, would you trade your athletic program for Virginia Tech’s?
I’m guessing the answer for both demographics would be a resounding “no.”
(Of course, you’ve got to figure in the pride factor).
The thought came to mind when King and I were discussing the various UVa teams that are still involved in NCAA postseason play – men’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s golf, women’s golf, baseball and track and field).
Virginia was ranked 19th in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings after the winter season and should make a big jump in the spring, which already includes a trip to the men’s tennis quarterfinals (the equivalent of a fifth-place tie).
UVa almost certainly will improve on last year’s 17th-place showing in the Directors’ Cup and could approach the top 10. The Cavaliers’ best finish ever was in 1999, when they were eighth.
If you rank in the top 10 in all-around athletic competition, does that make you an elite program?
I told King that I wouldn’t consider UVa to be an elite athletic program unless it played in a college football bowl game or made the NCAA men’s basketball tournament – most years, if not every year.
Maybe football and men’s basketball performance could be measured by Top 25 rankings, but this year Virginia didn’t have postseason bids or Top 25 rankings in either of the two marquee sports.
THE HOKIES ARE 48TH in the most recent Directors’ Cup calculations (as of April 23) after finishing 37th last year. It is unlikely that Tech will approach last year’s 38th-place finish, fueled by a bid to the softball final four.
The Hokies were 45th in 2006 and 48th in 2007. A top 50 finish would seem to be a reasonable goal.
As long as the Hokies are winning ACC football championships and going to BCS bowls and performing respectably in the other sports, the fans will be happy.
No way the Hokies would trade their 2008-2009 athletic year for Virginia’s.
In recent years, Tech also has had a more successful men’s basketball program than Virginia, although UVa’s hiring of Tony Bennett as its new head coach presents a different dynamic.
The reason Virginia fans wouldn’t trade their athletic program for Tech’s is the hope for better times to come, both for men’s basketball and football.
That could come under football coach Al Groh, who turns 65 in July, or it could under his successor, whenever that transition takes place.
Virginia has a lot of things going for it, including $128-million John Paul Jones Arena, but the Cavaliers can’t consider themselves superior to their in-state rival until they beat the Hokies on the football field, and not just once every 10 years.
Tech has won the last five games in that series and nine of the last 10.
The Hokies have drawn big crowds and enlarged their stadium and increased their athletic fundraising, to go along with heretofore lucrative TV payouts. Maybe that could last forever but, in the meantime, Tech needs to continue to push for improvement in its other sports.
Aside from football, Tech has not another ACC championship this year. In 2007-2008, the Hokies collected titles in football, women’s indoor track, softball and women’s outdoor track. The year before that, Tech won the ACC men’s golf championship.
Virginia this year has won titles in men’s cross country, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s tennis and men’s outdoor track and field, but no men’s basketball since 1976 and no football since 1995 (the second of two shared titles).
There is room for two elite athletic programs in the state but they’re not there yet.
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