Here is How ESPN's FPI Sees the Virginia Tech vs Miami Game Playing Out
Virginia Tech travels to Miami on Friday night and the Hokies are hoping to pull a massive upset against the No. 7 Hurricanes. After a 2-2 start, Virginia Tech hopes to right the ship and start off ACC play with a win.
Going into the game, the Hokies are massive underdogs at Fanduel Sportsbook. After opening as 17-point underdogs, the line has climbed to 18.5. Not only are the Hokies underdogs there, but ESPN's FPI sees Miami as a big favorite on Friday.
ESPN uses its FPI (Football Power Index) as an advanced analytical model to help look at matchups and predict outcomes. In ESPN's own words: "FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward. The ultimate goal of FPI is not to rank teams 1 through 128; rather, it is to correctly predict games and season outcomes. If Vegas ever published the power rankings it uses to set its lines, they would likely look quite a lot like FPI."
This week, FPI is giving Miami a 90.2% chance to win.
When he gave his weekly press conference to start the week on Monday, Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal talked plenty about the upcoming game vs Virginia Tech.
"We have an opportunity to open up conference play against you know one of our storied rivals um can't say enough about them I think we've seen enough tape to know these guys are as talented is anybody um that we have faced and then some especially talented up front, very powerful, explosive, twitchy top 10 sacks in the country for a reason and they're deep um they got all kinds of you know they play their base stuff but they also have significant amount of exotic pressures in our high pressure organization they're very organized they're really good tacklers um on defense they're long, a lot of athletic ability, a lot of speed, they do a good job on the back end, one of the top cover teams in the country and then they're again complimented by awesome special teams as Virginia Tech always is and offensively I think um you know you've all seen it, I mean this is a team that returns 20 I believe of 22 starters from last year's team, one of the favorites not only to to win the conference but to be in the college football playoff. They're loaded, they're a loaded football team and their quarterback is an extremely explosive dangerous accurate player and great, great leader, and they are big, massive upfront, great running game explosive receivers. Looking forward to a great matchup."
It is going to be a tough matchup for the Hokies on Friday night and they are going to have to play a near-perfect game to try and put themselves into position to try and win the game.
JACKSON CAUDELL
Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell