Pregame Buildup
The matchup of Virginia Tech and Tennessee was the first game between the two teams since 1937, an unusual fact since both teams are located in the Appalachian Mountains and the two schools are just 3.5 hours by car apart. This proximity generated multiple news stories about towns lying between the two schools and the divided loyalties of their fans. In Washington County, Virginia, which lies along the Tennessee border, the county supervisor—a Virginia Tech graduate—proclaimed the week of the Gator Bowl to be "Hokie Week" over the objections of the county attorney, who graduated from Tennessee. This natural rivalry was amplified by a basketball game held the day prior to the Gator Bowl that pitted the two schools' varsity teams against each other. In exchange for participating in the game, each team received $1.5 million from the Gator Bowl Association.
Ticket sales were brisk in the month between the announcement of the Tech-Tennessee matchup and the day of the game. By December 14, two weeks after the initial announcement, Virginia Tech had sold 16,000 tickets to Tennessee's 9,000. On December 23, one week before the game, Tech had sold 17,653 tickets. By the day of the game, the two teams had combined to sell approximately 33,000 tickets. Two days prior to the game, spread bettors favored Tennessee to win by seven points.
Read more about this topic: 1994 Gator Bowl
Famous quotes containing the word buildup:
“I think those Southern writers [William Faulkner, Carson McCullers] have analyzed very carefully the buildup in the South of a special consciousness brought about by the self- condemnation resulting from slavery, the humiliation following the War Between the States and the hope, sometimes expressed timidly, for redemption.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)