With its 38-10 loss to Clemson in Saturday's ACC Championship Game, Virginia Tech is likely headed to Atlanta for a Peach Bowl match-up with Auburn (the Peach Bowl is currently known as the Chick-fil-a Bowl).
With the way things turned out Saturday, the Hokies could have done better. As David Teel points out, Tech was in prime position for a BCS at-large spot until they were dominated by Clemson.
Houston, Oklahoma and Georgia all lost, a scenario we discussed last week, meaning the Hokies' main competitors for a BCS at-large will likely be Kansas State and Boise State (assuming TCU does NOT sneak into the Top 16). If the Hokies had kept Saturday's game against Clemson close, they would have had a much better chance of being selected for the Sugar Bowl based on the way Hokie fans flocked to Bourbon Street the last three times Tech played in that bowl.
The 28-point loss to Clemson certainly hurt those chances.
If Tech is not chosen as a BCS at-large team, the selection committee in Atlanta has no choice but to take the Hokies because of the ACC's one-win rule. The ACC's opponent there is the No. 5 selection from the SEC, which I believe will be Auburn.
LSU and Alabama will go to a BCS bowl game of some form and I think Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas will be selected by the Citrus Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Hall of Fame Bowl, leaving the Peach/CFA selection committee to pick between Auburn and Florida. I think they'll take Auburn.
If the Hokies face the Tigers, it would be their first game since the 2005 Sugar Bowl, won by the undefeated Tigers.