Status of the 2005 Football Recruiting Class

Virginia Tech signed 25 football players to letters of
intent this past February, which is the maximum allowed in one year by the NCAA.
Of those players, many have already enrolled at Tech, while others are still
waiting to receive word on their qualification status from the NCAA
Clearinghouse.

A recent NCAA rules change makes it possible for incoming
freshmen to have their summer classes paid for, which allows them to enroll in
college early. A total of 14 of Tech’s signees took advantage of this rule and
are currently in Blacksburg working out with the team and taking classes. They
include some high profile recruits such as Victor Harris, Elan Lewis and Ike
Whitaker.

Others have elected not to report until practice begins in
August, while others are likely headed to prep school or junior college. Here is
the full list of recruits, along with their qualification status:

The status of many of these players has not been confirmed
officially by Virginia Tech. The list of players that have already enrolled
comes from Beamerball.com and the July 19, 2005 edition of hokiesports.com
the newspaper. It appeared at one time that Steven Friday would qualify, but
sources say that he is likely heading to prep school. Early indication is that
Friday is going to prep school to get bigger and stronger, not because he did
not qualify academically. Sources tell TSL that because he did qualify
academically, Friday’s letter of intent will still be binding. In other words,
he can’t sign with anyone else. The plan is to bring Friday to Blacksburg in
January, 2006.

At this point 18 of the 25 players signed by the Hokies
are academically eligible. If Holland, Norris, Thompson and Virgil qualify, that
number rises to 22. Sources say the coaches are confident, especially in the
cases of Holland, Norris and Thompson. Deveon Simmons is probably Tech’s
biggest loss to academics. Simmons is probably heading to junior college at this
point.

In the biggest news of the day, the Champs Sports Bowl has
signed an agreement with the Big Ten that will greatly increase its prestige and
payout. The Champs Sports Bowl is run by Florida Citrus Sports, which also puts
on the Capital One Bowl. The new agreement will bring a Big Ten team to Orlando
to the Champs Sports Bowl every year, and the bowl payout will increase to $2
million per team. The bowl previously paid $850,000 per team.

The Big Ten and Florida Citrus Sports announced the four
year deal on Tuesday. The Capital One Bowl will still get the first pick among
Big Ten teams that did not make the BCS, but the Champs Sports Bowl will get the
third pick of Big Ten teams for two seasons and the fourth pick for another two
seasons.

At this point it has not been determined which conference
the Big Ten teams will be pitted against. However, it is expected that the SEC
will keep their bid to the Capital One Bowl and the ACC will retain the Champs
Sports Bowl.

The agreement would begin for the 2006 season. The Champs
Sports Bowl will be played in Orlando on either December 28
or 29, just a few days before the Capital One Bowl (January 1), which is also
played in Orlando. Such an agreement will make Orlando one of the hottest bowl
destinations in the country, with teams and fans coming from four teams in three
major conferences over the span of a few days.

In other bowl news, the Music City Bowl is attempting to
acquire an affiliation with the ACC beginning in the 2006 season. The agreement
would run until the end of the 2009 season. Currently the SEC and Big Ten send
teams to the game, which is played in Nashville. The Music City bowl formerly
pitted teams from the Big East and the SEC. Virginia Tech played in the
inaugural Music City Bowl in 1998, smashing Alabama 38-7.