Virginia Tech announced Wednesday morning that ESPN's College GameDay will be visiting Blacksburg for the season opener against East Carolina on September 1. The Tech-East Carolina game will be televised at noon on ESPN. It was originally scheduled to be televised by ESPN2.

GameDay hosts Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, and Kirb Herbstreit pose on the GameDay set during their 2005 appearance for the VT-Miami game.

This is the sixth time that GameDay will originate from Blacksburg, VA. The show came twice in 1999, for Tech's games with Syracuse and Miami. The Hokies trounced the Orangemen 62-0 and beat Miami 43-10 on their way to an undefeated season and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.

GameDay came back for Tech's Sunday night BCA Bowl game with Georgia Tech in 2000. However that game didn't take place because of a thunderstorm, and Lee Corso's car was struck by lightning after picking the Yellow Jackets to upset the Hokies.

In 2005, GameDay returned for two more games. They watched Marcus Vick and the Hokies rout Georgia Tech 51-7 in late September. They were also present when Miami beat Tech 27-7 later in the season.

The relationship between Virginia Tech and College GameDay has been a mutually beneficial one, as GameDay exposure helped boost the Tech program, and in return, Hokie fans provided packed, raucous environments for the show. In an April 19th column about the tragedy at Virginia Tech, GameDay host Chris Fowler credited Virginia Tech fans with taking the show to a new level, writing:

After [the 1999 visits to Virginia Tech], our little traveling circus was never the same. The ante had been upped for every other school. Virginia Tech set the standard. We really have savored each visit since.

The show will begin at 10 a.m., although it isn't clear at this point where they will set up.

Former Virginia Tech basketball coach Bobby Hussey passed away early on Tuesday morning, at the age of 67. The Roanoke Times reported today that Hussey died in a Charlotte hospital, one day after suffering a massive stroke.

Hussey was Virginia Tech's head coach in 1997-98 and 1998-99. He won just 23 games and lost 32 in his two years at Tech, although he was 310-270 in his career as a head coach. He also coached Davidson and Belmont Abbey. He led Davidson to the NCAA tournament in 1986.

He was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech under Bill Foster, and helped guide the Hokies to the 1995 NIT Championship and the 1996 NCAA tournament.