Virginia Tech Football: Hokies Ranked 5th in 247Sports ACC Power Rankings
College football realignment has certainly changed the landscape of the ACC. Newcomers SMU, Cal, and Stanford could be set up to have surprising years—but the uncertainty is clear. There’s no true number one, the rest of the conference is full of question marks, and analysts don’t know where to rank all seventeen of the teams.
247Sports ranked the ACC however. The “upper tier” of the conference finished as follows: Florida State at 1, Clemson at 2, Miami at 3, NC State at 4, Virginia Tech at 5, and Louisville at 6. Frankly all of these teams are very hard to rank. The Seminoles were the champs of the ACC last year, but the impact of DJ Uiagalelei remains to be seen. Jeff Brohm has found major success at Louisville, but the offense is set to look much different from years past. NC State is one of the only teams in this tier who is trending up, and if Grayson McCall is the quarterback they think he is, they could be something special. Miami too, has a boatload of talent, but Mario Cristobal could struggle to finally get over his coaching woes at Miami. Clemson beat a very solid Kentucky team last year, but Klubnik has been inconsistent at quarterback and I’m not sure if he can produce at a high-enough level for the Tigers. Virginia Tech returns some of the most production in the ACC, and could shoot up in that tier, but is unproven among some of the current big players in the ACC.
Any of those six teams could be the top team at the end of the season. Virginia Tech may not have the talent like Miami has at the top, but they have much more continuity and definitely control their destiny with how easy their schedule is. Here’s what Cody Nagel of 247Sports had to say after placing Virginia Tech fifth among their peers in the ACC:
“. There is a lot to like about the Hokies, who were the second team on the outside looking in for the preseason AP Top 25 rankings. Virginia Tech brings back more starters from last season than any other power conference team. With that depth of experience and the momentum from closing out 2023 with six wins in their last nine games, the Hokies are emerging under third-year coach Brent Pry. Quarterback Kyron Drones is the key returnee for Virginia Tech, but wide receiver Da'Quan Felton and top tackler Keli Lawson are also major pieces. The Hokies expect to have one of the best defensive lines in the ACC led by standout edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland.”
Although I think it’s fair not to rate this team very highly because they have yet to kickoff in 2024, I think the Hokies will be much higher on this list at some point. 247Sports already ranked Virginia Tech above Louisville, who just missed out on the AP Top 25, and if all goes well Virginia Tech could catch every single team ahead of them.
Nobody said it’ll be easy, as Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Miami, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, and Clemson are all teams you have to take very seriously this season. The schedule overall is still easier than much of Virginia Tech’s ACC foes and could be the main ingredient to a conference title run for the Hokies.
RJ Schafer joined the On SI team in 2024, contributing to the coverage of Major League Baseball, Collegiate Basketball, and Collegiate Football at https://www.si.com/college/virginiatech/. Prior to this, RJ built a strong portfolio covering Georgia Tech and the Tigers for the Bleav Network. With a solid background in sports journalism, RJ has conducted interviews with both collegiate and professional athletes, enhancing the depth and authenticity of his reporting. RJ's extensive experience in the sports industry has equipped him with a keen understanding of the dynamics and intricacies of both collegiate and professional sports. His work is focused on providing insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage, making him a trusted voice in the sports community.