Virginia Tech football looks to benefit from expanded College Football Playoff

When the 2024 college football season begins, there are going to be some changes and the biggest one is surrounding the expansion of the College Football Playoff that goes from four teams to 12. That is going to open the door for a lot of teams and it will mean that there will be no more copies of 13-0 Florida State winning the ACC regular season title and ACC Championship and still being left of the CFP.

Several teams are going to take advantage of the playoff expansion, including some programs that are hoping to return to their glory days. One of those teams is Virginia Tech who seems to be turning around quicker than expected under Brent Pry entering Year 3. The Hokies are considered a sleeper team in the ACC for 2024 and if they can be, one writer thinks that they can take advantage of the expanded playoffs.

"Virginia Tech ended a run of eight straight 10-win seasons in 2011 and has only reached that number once since then.

However, it sure looks attainable in 2024.

The nonconference slate of Vanderbilt, Marshall, Old Dominion and Rutgers is very favorable. Within the ACC, the Hokies avoid Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina State—plus a rotating Notre Dame clash and even solid newcomer SMU.

In other words, Tech's toughest games are seemingly at Miami, home to Clemson and...a trip to Syracuse? Playing at Stanford or Duke?

Brent Pry inherited a mess in 2022 and finished 3-8, improved to 7-6 last season and, per ESPN, returns the most production in the country. Virginia Tech absolutely can contend in the ACC this season, and a fortunate bounce or two could put the Hokies on the periphery of the CFP.

What a jolt that would be for a toiling yet energized program."

- David Kenyon

There are multiple reasons for hope going into 2024 for Virginia Tech and one of the reasons is because of the schedule that they face. Miami and Clemson are their two toughest ACC games at first glance and Kenyon is right, who is their next toughest conference games? Syracuse and Duke and maybe even Georgia Tech at home. Their toughest non-conference games is Rutgers and that game will be in Blacksburg.

If the Hokies can find a way to 11-1 in the regular season and make the ACC Championship game, then the College Football Playoff is well within reach. There is no doubt that some programs are going to benefit from the expansion and there is no reason the Hokies can't be one of them sooner or later.