Pending their own game against Notre Dame, the Stanford Cardinal will have to wait another week for enough possible upsets to get them into the number four spot in the 2011 BCS rankings. The fourth position is pivotal because if a conference champion is in the number three position (Oklahoma State being that likely team), an at-large candidate in the fourth position is guaranteed a BCS bowl appearance.
Virginia Tech is one of those teams ahead of Stanford and they squared off with in-state rival Virginia Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers were coming off their first ever win at Florida State, and had a shot to win the ACC coastal division with an upset of Virginia Tech. The Hokies were not to be denied however, as they had little trouble in a 38-0 victory. Virginia did not let things get out of hand too quickly, but they could get absolutely nothing going on offense. QB Michael Rocco threw a pair of interceptions and the Wahoos rushing attack garnered a mere 30 yards on 26 carries.
With the victory, Virginia Tech secures the ACC Coastal division and a spot in next week's ACC title game. As things currently stand, Stanford will be rooting for Clemson to spring the upset. A Clemson win would drop Virginia Tech behind Stanford in the BCS rankings. Arkansas' loss to LSU puts Stanford in a position to climb to fifth this week, so a Virginia Tech loss next week could be enough to get them to fourth in the BCS after next week.