Thanks to a series of fortunate events, No. 22 Virginia Tech is headed to the Camping World Bowl to face No. 19 Oklahoma State on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 5:15 p.m.
College football insider Brett McMurphy was the first to report the news.
Virginia Tech, which seemed headed for a Tier I ACC bowl, such as the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., lucked out on Sunday. The College Football Playoff committee ranked Notre Dame 14th in their final regular season rankings, leaving them out of the New Year’s Six bowl games. Because a Big Ten team (Wisconsin) is playing in the Orange Bowl, that opened up the Citrus Bowl for Notre Dame, removing them from the ACC’s bowl lineup.
With Notre Dame removed from the discussion, Virginia Tech was the next highest-rated ACC team among the Committee’s rankings, thus landing them in the Camping World Bowl.
This is the 25th-straight bowl appearance for Virginia Tech, which is the longest active bowl streak recognized by the NCAA. Tech finished the regular season at 9-3, improving Justin Fuente’s career record at Virginia Tech to 19-7. Camping World took over naming rights for this bowl game from the Russell Athletic Bowl for this season. Virginia Tech’s first and only appearance in this bowl game came in 2012, when the Hokies defeated Rutgers 13-10.
Oklahoma State finished third in the Big 12 this season, with a conference record of 6-3 and a overall record of 9-3. The Cowboys are known for their explosive offense, averaging 46.3 points per game (third in FBS). Quarterback Mason Rudolph led the way with 4,553 passing yards and 35 touchdowns. Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State have not played since 1972.
You can find more information on buying tickets to the Camping World Bowl here.