JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech freshman tailback Ryan Williams runs the ball against the East Carolina defense at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday. Williams totaled 88 yards in the first half.

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- The ACC will be divorcing the Gator Bowl and hooking up with the Sun Bowl and the Independence Bowl after this season.

The ACC announced Thursday its bowl agreements for the 2010-2013 seasons. The Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., has featured an ACC team since the mid-1990s, but not after this season. ACC associate commissioner Mike Finn said that was the Gator's choice.

Currently, the Gator is third in the ACC pecking order. If the Gator doesn't want the best available team, it must pick a team that has only one fewer league win. Finn said the Gator wanted the one-win rule thrown out in a new deal, and the ACC was unwilling to comply.

Under the new lineup, the ACC champion still goes to the Orange, and the Chick-fil-A still gets the next pick. The Champ Sports in Orlando, Fla., will then move up to third in the order. The new ACC foe in the Champ Sports will be the Big East runner-up or Notre Dame -- that's who the ACC currently plays in the Gator.

The Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, will be fourth in the order. Finn said the ACC was interested in the Sun because the foe is from the Pac-10. Fans might not flock to El Paso, but Finn said that won't be a big issue because the ACC team only has to guarantee 8,000 tickets sold.

The Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., is fifth, with the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., sixth. The Independence (vs. the Mountain West) in Shreveport, La., joins the lineup in the seventh slot. The Eagle Bank Bowl in Washington, D.C., is eighth.

The Emerald Bowl in San Francisco falls to ninth. The GMAC Bowl, which is ninth in the order this year, will not part of the new lineup.

Close-shave league

Perhaps the ACC should seek corporate sponsorship from the shaving cream industry.

Heading into this week's games, 16 of the ACC's 28 league games have been decided by seven points or less. All but five of those verdicts have been settled by five points or less. Last week, the four ACC matchups were decided by an average of 4.5 points, with all four winners not determined until the final minute of play.

The ACC's margin of victory in league contests is 11.61 points, the smallest scoring differential of any conference in the nation.

Quick shots

Ryan Williams' 88 yards rushing in the first half on Thursday pushed his season total to 1,018 yards. Combined with Darren Evans' 1,265 rushing yards last year, Tech became just the third school in NCAA Division I-A history to produce back-to-back 1,000-yard freshman rushers. Nevada (2001-02) and TCU (2002-03) are the others. ... Tech's Matt Waldron's 41-yard field goal in the first quarter was the longest of his career. His two field goals in the first half tied a career high. He's made a field goal in all nine games. ... Linebacker Cody Grimm forced his team-leading fourth fumble in the second quarter, plus recovered the ball. ... Brent Bowden's 60-yard punt in the second quarter was a career-long boot.

On deck

After playing back-to-back Thursday night games, the Hokies will get a couple extra days off before launching preparations for their next contest -- a week from Saturday at Maryland. Since joining the ACC in 2004, Tech is 3-0 vs. Maryland, outscoring the Terrapins 106-28. The Hokies whipped the Terps 28-9 in 2005, the only one of the three games played in College Park. Last year in Blacksburg, Darren Evans set a Tech single-game rushing record for with 253 yards in the Hokies' 23-13 victory over Ralph Friedgen's club.