ESPN FPI has the Virginia Tech football team going back to a bowl game in 2024
By Scott Roche
Expectations are high for the first time in some time in Blacksburg going into a Virginia Tech football season. With a ton of retainment that head coach Brent Pry got with some transfers and a manageable 12-game schedule, winning at least eight or nine games is not out of the question.
As we found out last season, of course, injuries can play a big role with starting quarterback Grant Wells getting injured in Week 2 against Purdue, which opened the door for Baylor transfer Kyron Drones to take over and he never let go of the starting job. He was one of the big-name players who announced last December that he was returning for the 2024 campaign.
With the season less than three months away from kicking off on Labor Day Weekend in Nashville, Tennessee against Vanderbilt, ESPN released their latest Football Power Index (FPI) for the season and they have Virginia Tech going to a bowl game, but with not as many wins as some expect.
ESPN FPI give the Hokies under 70% chance of winning at least six games
ESPN's latest FPI for the ACC and the Hokies were given a 69.1% chance of winning at least six games in 2024 and they ranked ninth in the conference percentage-wise. Ahead of them in order were Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, Miami, SMU, North Carolina State, North Carolina, and California.
Winning six games this season again for the second consecutive season would be a disappointment in terms of how successful of a season it was. Winning between 8-10 games should be reachable and the goal and if things can break right, they could reach the higher end of the total. Of their eight ACC games, only two teams, Clemson and Miami, are ranked higher than the Hokies, which means no FSU, Louisville or NC State, the three teams who beat Virginia Tech in 2023 in conference play, are on the schedule.