Virginia Tech Football: It appears the glory days are gone, for now anyway

With still five games remaining in the 2023 season, the Virginia Tech football team released their future schedules that include non-conference opponents. There are going to be some familiar names on the list, while there are some new opponents.

This season, the four non-conference opponents were Old Dominion, Purdue, Rutgers, and Marshall. Some of those teams are also in the future, but let’s just say, that the non-conference schedule is a little underwhelming from past seasons.

Virginia Tech announces future football opponents

Next season, the Hokies will begin the season at Vanderbilt, then a home game with Marshall is followed by a trip to Old Dominion before Rutgers comes to Blacksburg before ACC play begins. ACC teams coming to Virginia Tech next season include Virginia, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Louisville, while the Hokies will travel to Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Duke, and North Carolina.

In 2025, the season begins at the Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta against South Carolina, followed by three straight non-conference home games against Vanderbilt, Old Dominion, and Wofford. The Terriers replace James Madison, who has been shifted to the 2026 schedule.

What sticks out is that the glory days of premier non-conference games for the Hokies are over, for now. You can’t blame them. Playing the top teams in the country would not benefit the program and second-year head coach Brent Pry is in the process of rebuilding it back up. I get it, football schedules are planned out a couple of years ahead of time unlike basketball schedules, but right now, the goal seems to be to try and get to six wins and become Bowl-eligible. Playing the top teams in the country won’t help them do that, yet. The Power 5 team are not knocking down the door to play the Hokies.

Heck, there’s more than a 50% chance that Virginia Tech doesn’t even become eligible this season and if that happens there’s no other place to look as to why not other than disappointing non-conference losses to Purdue, Rutgers, and Marshall. The Hokies are not like Florida State and Clemson in the ACC to go out and get the top teams to come to Lane Stadium. They have to settle for the Vanderbilt’s and South Carolina’s of the world for now, until they become relevant again in the FCS. That might not be anytime soon.