last-second defeat in Blacksburg on October 25. Despite its previous loss, spread bettors favored Virginia Tech to win the game, with most favoring the Hokies by 4.5–5 points. The game was the 15th contest between Boston College and Virginia Tech and was their second of the 2007 season. The first meeting, which took place in 1993 in the Big East conference, resulted in a 48–34 Boston College win. Between 1993 and 2003, Boston College and Virginia Tech played annually as part of their conference schedules. The teams did not meet in 2004 following Virginia Tech's move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. When Boston College followed in 2005, the schools resumed meeting during the regular season, playing in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Off-field issues Following the 2006 ACC Championship Game, the Gator Bowl Association, which administered the ACC Championship Game during its first two years of existence, was awarded a one-year extension to its two-year contract to host the game. The 2006 game suffered from poor attendance, resulting in over $1 million in losses for the Gator Bowl Association. In the off-season, the Gator Bowl Association declared that if sales did not improve for the 2007 ACC Championship game, the game's Jacksonville future would be in jeopardy. Attendance for the 2006 game was low due to high travel costs stemming from Jacksonville's distance from the participating schools, and the 2007 participants—Boston College and Virginia Tech—faced the same problem. With Jacksonville's future as host in doubt, representatives from Charlotte, North Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Jacksonville visited the ACC offices to lobby to host the 2008 game. Orlando, Florida, which had been an early contender to host the 2008 game, was eliminated from consideration before the meetings took place. As kickoff drew closer, the Gator Bowl Association expressed displeasure with the poor ticket sales, saying nearly 20,000 tickets remained unsold as of the week of the game, and that if it was not a sellout the game would likely not remain in Jacksonville. Offensive matchups Media attention was also directed at the teams' offensive capabilities. Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in the week leading up to the game. In the first half of the 2007 season, Ryan had been prominently mentioned in candidate lists for the Heisman Trophy, college football's highest individual award. Although Ryan's late-game comeback in their previous game against Virginia