The Virginia Tech Athletics Department announced Monday that Austin Peay University has been added to the 2012 Hokie football schedule and will play in Lane Stadium next fall as part of Tech's home schedule. The Governors replace East Carolina on the schedule in a one-game deal. The East Carolina game was moved in part to make room for Tech's 2013 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against Alabama in the Georgia Dome.

Virginia Tech and Austin Peay have never met in football.

In addition to Austin Peay, Tech will play Bowling Green at home, at Pittsburgh and against Cincinnati at FedExField in Landover, Md., next season in non-conference action. The 2012 football schedule will be released by the ACC in late January/early February of 2012.

Mr. Roth,
No one questions the quality of your fan base, only the quality of this selection. Boise State (remember them??) should be in the Sugar Bowl, not Virginia Tech. You can talk all you want about money and a Hall of Fame coach. You'd retire him in a minute if you could replace him with Chris Petersen. 'Fess up, the system IS broke and choosing Virginia Tech over BSU validates it. Eric Bouchard, Boise, Idaho.

Eric,
I think Tech fans can commiserate with you and other Bronco fans. They've been there before (Tech's 2000 BCS snub). I think Tech fans also respect Coach Petersen and the Broncos program. But bowl games are about putting fans in the seats and packing hotel rooms, and Virginia Tech has the advantage here. Bronco Stadium seats 33,400. Eric, Virginia Tech draws more than that for its spring game.

Furthermore, and I suggest this knowing in advance how you and other Bronco fans will react, there are several teams in the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac-12, and Big 10 that would have compiled a similar or better won-loss record than the Broncos over the past 10 years if they played the same schedule as Boise State. Yes, I'm quite aware of the result of the Tech-Boise game from last year, and the Georgia-Boise game from this year. And I really think the Boise-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl was the greatest game I ever watched. But in a one-game deal, anything can happen.

Over the years in the WAC and Mountain West, Boise feasted on inferior teams. There has never been a cumulative effect of getting pounded on by future NFL linemen week after week. If you let Tech (or South Carolina or Arkansas or Michigan State or Wisconsin or Florida State or Penn State, etc.) play the exact same schedule as Boise State over the past 150-200 games, they'd have won 90 percent of them, too.

As for your final comment re: Coach Beamer, I'm being totally respectful again when I suggest that you'd have said the same thing about former Broncos coach Dan Hawkins back in 2005 before he left Boise for Colorado. We know how that turned out, right? It's great you love and respect your coach. But in fairness, I'll take ours'.