We are just 15 days away from the Virginia Tech football season kicking off. This is a big year for the Hokies under head coach Brent Pry, who is looking to have his team rebound from a disappointing 2024 season.
After an offseason of roster turnover, some retention, and coaching changes to his staff, Pry has his team gearing up to face South Carolina, with his team facing more questions than answers. Facing an early difficult schedule in the first two weeks against the Gamecocks and Vanderbilt, if the Hokies want to go bowling again for a third straight season under their head coach, they'll need to get off to a good start. ESPN predicted that Virginia Tech would go bowling this year, and one analyst has them facing a former foe in late December.
ESPN predicts Virginia Tech to face a former teammate in bowl season
ESPN college football writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach predicted all of the bowl games for the 2025 season, and both have the Hokies becoming bowl-eligible, but playing two different opponents, with one predicting them facing a former teammate who transferred in the winter portal window.
Bonagura has predicted before the 2025 season gets underway that Virginia Tech will play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Missouri out of the SEC. Now, remember, this is just a prediction; however, if their game were to happen on Dec. 27 in Jacksonville, it would pit the Hokies against their former teammate, Mose Phillips III. It would be a primetime on a Saturday night on ABC.
Last season, Phillips III was a big part of the Virginia Tech defense at safety, and in 25 games in Blacksburg, the Nashville, Tennessee native registered 92 tackles, one interception, and forced two fumbles. He entered the portal, along with several other former teammates, and landed in the SEC with the Tigers.
Schlabach had a different prediction for Virginia Tech this winter as he has the Hokies in the Go Bowling Military Bowl, also on Dec. 27, against Memphis. It would be the second Military Bowl in three years for Pry's club after they beat Tulane in 2023, 41-20. Again, these are just predictions, but two predictions that Hokies' fans would welcome: a bowl game.