Virginia Tech Football: Hokies Rise To Top 25 In ESPN’s SP+ Rankings
Heading into the week, Bill Connelly’s SP+ Rankings placed Virginia Tech as the 36th best team in the Nation, but the Hokies saw a significant increase after their dominant win against Boston College.
The Hokies got out to a hot start against the Eagles and did not look back.
Kyron Drones accounted for 200 yards, Bhayshul Tuten ran for 266 sacks, and Antwaun Powell-Ryland sacked Thomas Castellanos four times on the day. It was a good game for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech’s season hasn’t always been this way. Kyron Drones threw for just 137 in a loss to Rutgers. Bhayshul Tuten only ran for 34 yards in Virginia Tech’s overtime loss to Vanderbilt. Antwaun Powell-Ryland only recorded three tackles and a sack in Miami’s win against the Hokies.
So how has SP+ reacted to Virginia Tech’s up-and-down season?
Virginia Tech dropped all the way down to 51st, found their footing and moved up 45th, and slightly improved each week from there, with the Hokies now landing a top twenty five ranking by Bill Connelly’s SP+.
What exactly is SP+? Here is how Connelly himself describes it:
"As always, these are based on three primary factors: returning production (final rankings for which you can find at the bottom of this piece), recent recruiting and recent history. How good have you been recently? Whom do you have coming back? How good are the players replacing those you don't have coming back? That's loosely what we ask when we're setting expectations for a team; it's also what these projections attempt to do objectively.
As always: SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking, and, along those same lines, these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date."
Additional Links:
Virginia Tech Recruiting: Hokies Offer Class of 2026 Lucas Tielsch
Virginia Tech Football: Hokies Break Record For Thursday Night Wins
Virginia Tech vs Boston College: PFF Grades and Snap Counts For Every Hokies Player
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.