 The matchup of No. 21 Indiana and No. 22 Virginia Tech was the first matchup of ranked teams in Independence Bowl history . Despite that fact , the bowl had difficulty selling tickets for the game . Slightly more than 33 @,@ 000 tickets were sold by the day of the game , far less than the stadium 's 50 @,@ 459 @-@ seat capacity . In exchange for their participation in the game , each team received $ 700 @,@ 000 , the minimum payout required by the NCAA at that time . Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech to win by three points . The matchup was Indiana 's first time playing Virginia Tech , and was the first time Virginia Tech played any team from the Big Ten . 
