On December 6, 2008, the No. 18 Boston College Eagles played Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game for the second consecutive season. Like the year before, it was a rematch of a regular season meeting won by BC, which dispatched the Hokies by five around the mid-year point. Unfortunately for the Eagles, it also ended like the year before with a win for the Coastal Division champion.
The loss dropped the Eagles out of the national poll, and a 16-14 loss to Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl ensured they wouldn't return at season's end. One year removed from a Top 10 ranking to finish added to the disappointment, but nobody could know that the Eagles wouldn't return to the national rankings for almost a decade.