Questions With A UNC Blogger, Part I

The obvious downside to UVA starting to get into the thick of conference play is that they're going to lose and lose often. The upside is that I no longer have to scramble for insider info about the team Virginia faces in any given week. As ESPN is loathe to point out, this week's Thursday night battle involves the Cavaliers and Tar Heels, two teams that have tallied a total of three wins thus far. And they're against Duke, Wyoming and Furman. The latter two have a combined four point margin of victory. Sports fans, pray for a Mets win.

After the jump, I'll get into the first question posed by UNC blogger and Danzig expert (possibly not true) James Conklin...
1. Who's on the hotter seat, Groh or Bunting? Why?

It's Bunting and it's not even remotely close. Even if you give the smallest scintilla of credence to Craig Littlepage's vote of confidence, that's more than what Bunting has going for him. I'll be amazed if he doesn't get canned the day after the season ends.

It would be a mistake to overlook the financial ramifications of firing Al Groh after he signed a contract extension that puts him in the upper echelon of college coaches in terms of compensation. But let's do it anyways for a second and realize that going to four bowls in your first five years will probably only get you fired at a place like Nebraska. And I think there's some misconceptions about the bowls Groh's gotten the team into. In 2002, UVA was picked to finish 9th in a 10-team ACC and went on to win 9 games, including a complete smackdown of the 16th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in the inaugural Tire Bowl, which sold out Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte. The next year, they beat a Pittsburgh team that featured Larry Fitzgerald. Before it became the North Carolina Invitational, the Tire Bowl looked to have pretty big ambitions. The MPC Computers Bowl fiasco was a complete screw job, but the next year, UVA mounted an impressive comeback to beat a Minnesota team that was probably a lot better than they were.

Obviously, UVA fans want more after Al Groh's promises of ACC titles. And this year's struggles throws some of the perceived disappointments of the past in greater relief. But to say that Groh stands a better chance of getting fired than Bunting, Chuck Amato or Ralph Friedgen is ridiculous, when you consider that each of them may have squandered just as much talent and have missed out on the bowl season completely several times in recent years. Even if UNC is a basketball school, they have an enrollment of over 25,000, beautiful facilities, nationwide brand recognition and recent success. At the very least, they should be UVA's equal. There's no excuse for Bunting to fail this spectacularly.

Of course, this is all contingent on UVA showing progress in 2007. Go take a look at the two-deep; it's ridiculously young, but some stars are starting to emerge on both sides of the ball. The ACC's down this year, but who's to say it's going to get much better next season? UVA has seemed to regain focus in recruiting in-state, and Groh's bounced back with what looks like a very strong 2007 freshman class. My guess is that Virginia will show some fight against far more talented teams down the stretch and set up expectations for a 7-win season next year that better f'in happen, followed by even greater things to come in 2008. And then, we can envision a Groh-less future in Charlottesville.