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BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech’s football team traveled one of its hardest roads to reach its 22nd second straight bowl game. It’s making its shortest postseason trip ever for the contest.

The Hokies (6-6) will play Cincinnati (9-3) in the Military Bowl on Dec. 27 at 1 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis, Md., about five hours northeast of Blacksburg.

“This is a matchup that we’ve been following and hoping to get for several weeks now,” Military Bowl president and executive director Steve Beck said Sunday night. “There were several other great teams out there that would have fit well for us too, but we think we got the best matchup for our game in Annapolis.”

Beck estimated Virginia Tech, which had to win two of its final three games to become bowl eligible, has about 55,000 alumni in the Washington D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia areas.

“We’re really counting on seeing Hokie Nation pack that stadium,” Tech associate head coach Shane Beamer said Sunday. “We expect that thing to be full of maroon and orange and need our fans to come through for us.”