Here's the official release.
Virginia Tech and East Carolina University announced Tuesday the re-activation of their current football contract that runs through the 2015 football season, plus an addition five years to bring the total of games to eight.
The two will renew the series beginning next year, 2013, with a game on Sept. 14 at Greenville and will play there in 2015, 2017 and 2019. ECU will visit Blacksburg in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
The two teams had mutually agreed not to meet in 2012 or 2013 because of the ACC's impending nine-game conference schedule, but when the league voted to go back to eight conference games, it necessitated the need for a fourth non-league game for everyone. Tech originally had Pittsburgh as a non-conference game, but that now becomes an ACC contest with the Panthers joining the league next season.
Virginia Tech's 2013 non-conference slate is now: Aug. 31 vs. Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Sept. 7 at home against Western Carolina, Sept. 14 at East Carolina and Sept. 21 at home against Marshall. The eight ACC teams Tech will face will be announced at a later juncture with the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh.
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Love, hate, or indifferent?
Comments
Just... tired of playing them. Why?
So
we can call it a regional rivalry and give a chance to soften the schedule/ add a trap game every year.
#ALLOFTHECAROLINAS
I'm now looking for us to drop 'Bama next year in favor of South Carolina, and change UNC to an out of conference match. Then, pair that with games against Western and East Carolina... Boom. Cardinal Carolinas. Bring 'em on.
Meh
Yeah I just saw that and really didn't care either way. Not sure why. They're a pretty good team at least, but nothing to be excited about or anything.
Good God
Why can't we play ODU!!!! they will be in the same conference
Couldn't
play them next year because they will still be in FCS not sure you want 2 FCS opponents when you play in the ACC already
Meh
Tough spot for VT - with a three game OOC, you can take a cupcake, a midmajor ECU type team, and then a legit BCS league team. With four, what do you add? I'd rather add a meaningful BCS team, even if that means taking a loss some years. At least you lose to someone in the top 25, vs. ECU, who has proven they can beat us. That said, games in Greenville are awesome and if we were going the midmajor route with that fourth OOC, at least play someone regional and continuously to develop a "rivalry". ECU fans are fun, and its an easy drive. Not GREAT news, but better than a rotating MAC opponent. And hey! No neutral site games for us to lose!
the problem I have with ecu is that we have nothing to gain by playing them. i know every team needs these kind of games but id like to play someone else. they will be pumped to play us and we just look at them as another midlevel team on the schedule and then 2008 could happen all over again.
This, exactly. There is
This, exactly.
There is nothing to gain and everything to lose by playing a team like ECU. I still have bad memories of that blocked punt... ugh.
Why so long?
I get that we were in a bit of a pinch for the next couple years after the ACC announced an 8 game conference schedule, but was it really necessary to extend the contract past 2015? As we supposed to be excited about playing ECU for 8 straight years?
I mean, it probably doesn't matter since I doubt we would schedule anything more than difference MAC/C-USA teams anyway, but personally, I don't like playing the same mid-major semi-local team that can start to view us as a rival while we will never see them that way every year.
My Theory for this...
Terry Holland still has the naughty pics of Jim Weaver.