By Jimmy Robertson
Editor

Tech defensive end, Corey Moore, one of four finalists from the Lombardi Award, is noted for speaking his mind.

And he did just that when asked about the Bowl Championship Series and the recent BCS rankings which saw Tennessee jump Tech to No. 2 even though the Hokies won this past weekend against West Virginia. Penn State vacated the No. 2 spot after losing at home to unranked Minnesota.

Tennessee jumped Tech despite having a loss on its record. The Volunteers lost to Florida in the second game of the season.

"Obviously, if we take care of our own business, and if Florida State wins out, then we've got to play Florida State no matter what the computers say," Moore said. "That's my thinking.

"And then if somehow Florida upsets Florida State and we take care of our business, and Florida wins the SEC championship game, then it's got to be us and Florida."

If Tennessee plays for the national title, it would be most unusual. The Volunteers probably will not play in the SEC championship game because they lost to Florida and Florida stands to win the East Division. The Gators only have to beat winless South Carolina to win the East. Mississippi State - also an unbeaten team - and Alabama will battle this weekend to decide the West Division champion. The winner in all likelihood gets the Gators in the SEC title game.

So could it be that Tennessee would play for the national title without even playing in its own conference's championship game?

"To me, that would be highly unusual," Tech head coach Frank Beamer admitted.

"My main thinking is they're going to get it right. As many computers as they've got hooked up to this thing, as many rankings, as many polls, it's going to turn out right. We've just got to go out and play."

Tennessee, which hammered Notre Dame this past weekend, plays a much tougher schedule than Tech because the SEC is much tougher than the Big East. But the Vols' claims for a shot at the national title don't hold much stock with the Hokies.

"Tennessee can stop crying," Moore said. "They had a chance to control their own destiny. I thought they tried to run the score up on an average Notre Dame team this past week. But I'm not going to stoop to their level and cry like they've been doing the past two weeks.

"Granted, they are the defending national champions. But they had an opportunity to take care of their business earlier this season against Florida and didn't get the job done. So stop crying.

"Winning the national championship is in our control. Like I said two weeks ago, if we go 12-0, we're national champions. Simply put."

Huddler Notes
The Hokie Hudler newspaper consists of the ever-popular "Insider" section with interesting bits of inside information. The Huddler also consists of columns by Robertson and Bill Roth, the Voice of the Hokies, and assistant editor Neal Richards, which focus on everything dealing with the 21 varsity sports at Tech.

Then, there is also, of course, game information on primarily football, men's and women's basketball and baseball. Fans can get the depth chart (during football season), features on players, statistics and standings, notes and quotes and recruiting profiles on football and men's and women's basketball recruits along with information on recruits in other sports as well.

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Jimmy Robertson is the editor of the Hokie Huddler at Virginia Tech. The Hokie Huddler is the athletics department newspaper that is printed 33 times a year - weekly during football and basketball seasons and bi-monthly during the spring.