BCS atmosphere in Atlanta for Kickoff

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Pitting top-10 teams against each other on college football’s opening weekend — which, by the way, hasn’t happened in five years — is precisely what Gary Stokan had in mind back when the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game was still in its exploratory stage.

With the game just hours away, it’s clear the dream has nothing on the reality.

Fifth-ranked Alabama and seventh-ranked Virginia Tech won’t square off until Saturday night at the sold-out Georgia Dome. But the buzz surrounding the game for both teams and their rabid fan bases has been building for days, even weeks.

That buzz has spread from Blacksburg to the east and Tuscaloosa to the west and beyond, with the nation’s most diverse college football melting pot serving as the host city for a game with national championship implications.

“I really believe this is the national championship game on the front end of the season,” said Stokan, president of the Chick-fil-A Bowl, sponsor of the game and its surrounding events, along with ESPN. “There will be people that do neutral site games but ours has a special twist in that it’s two of the top 10 teams in the country, [ESPN’s College] GameDay is here for the second straight year and we’ve created a BCS atmosphere for 48 hours.

“Whether you have a ticket or not, whether you’re a local or not, this is the kickoff of the college football season and it’s going on right here in Atlanta.”

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban doesn’t need to be reminded, not after his team used it 34-10 drubbing of Clemson last year to jump-start a run at the BCS title game.

And with tens of thousands of Crimson Tide fans invading the city this weekend, along with their Hokies counterparts, there will be plenty of vocal reminders for both teams.

“Everybody knows where Atlanta is,” Saban said. “I don’t think you have to major in geography to figure that one out. Our fans have always been great. We’ve always traveled well. And we appreciate their enthusiasm.”

Continuing that kind of momentum is what Stokan said will keep the game a vital part of the college football landscape for years to come.

The NCAA’s decision to expand the schedule to 12 games allows schools to play seven home games and maintain a neutral site option. There are several other high profile and non-traditional neutral site games this year, including No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 20 BYU this afternoon at the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.

Good luck finding one with the drama and intrigue of the Crimson Tide and Hokies. The SEC-ACC component and the $2.3 million payout for both teams, which Stokan said was more than 17 bowls paid out last year, makes it an even sweeter sell for all involved.

“We’ve done the research,” Stokan said. “We meet with the alumni groups here in Atlanta. And we have all the No.1 alumni bases for all of the ACC and SEC schools, except for two [Duke and North Carolina], outside of their home markets.”

“You take that recipe of ACC and SEC alumni, an infrastructure with three interstates intersecting downtown, a great city, a great facility and a great partner like ESPN ... we’ve seen it work with the [Chick-fil-A Bowl] and we felt like it should work on the front end, too.”

Hokies coach Frank Beamer was sold on the idea years ago, with his team having played Southern California in the Black Coaches Association Kickoff Classic in Washington in 2004. The extra attention to detail from everyone during fall camp did not go unnoticed by the longtime coach.

“A win over a great program and a football team as good as Alabama would be a big a thing for Virginia Tech and the ACC,” he said. “The flip side is it doesn’t make [or break] your season either way. You’ve still got at least 11 more games to play, win or lose.

“But I truly believe this helps you become a better football team. It did the year we played Southern Cal. And that’s why our guys understand that if you want a shot to beat Alabama, you better be prepared.”