The No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers (8-3, 5-3 ACC) officially learned the identity of their bowl opponent yesterday afternoon, and it will be Fresno State, which sports an identical 8-3 record. The MPC Computers Bowl on Dec. 27 will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools.
Virginia's acceptance of the bowl followed several days of speculation that the ACC might have found an MPC Bowl replacement for the Cavaliers in the Big East. The ACC is contractually obligated to send a team to Boise each year, and the negotiations to broker a deal in which another school would take Virginia's place failed.
This is the first year in which MPC Computers has been the title sponsor of the bowl. Most recently, the game in Boise was known as the Humanitarian Bowl.
The Cavaliers will be the highest-ranked team in the bowl's history. Typically, the bowl game in Boise draws the sixth-place ACC team. Virginia's 5-3 conference mark was good enough for fourth place in the conference, but a conflict with final exams and the Continental Tire Bowl's invitation of North Carolina dropped the Cavaliers to the MPC Computers Bowl.
Initially, Boise was expecting to host Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets will now accept a bid to the Champs Sports Bowl in Virginia's place. Additionally, the Cavaliers provide a great draw for the MPC Bowl.
"The best thing for Boise was to have Virginia here," Bowl Executive Director Gary Beck said.
Fresno State, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, will make its sixth-consecutive bowl appearance.
"We're more excited about the opponent than anything else," Fresno State head coach Pat Hill said. "What brought us to Boise was the opportunity to play Virginia."
Virginia coach Al Groh and Hill coached one year together in 1992 when both were members of Bill Belichek's staff with the Cleveland Browns.
"Fresno State is the fifth-highest scoring team in the country, and has beaten Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Kansas State in recent seasons," Groh said. "It'll take all we've got to be ready for this one. It'll be a real test."
Earlier in the week, Hill stated his interest in playing the Cavaliers in an interview with The Fresno Bee. He added that if Virginia were to have ended up in the Independence Bowl, Fresno State would have declined the MPC Bowl in favor of the Silicon Valley Football Classic. If Virginia had not accepted the MPC Bowl bid, 6-5 Syracuse would have been their likely replacement.
Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said all bowl negotiations were conducted through the ACC office.
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