When it comes to the Virginia Tech football team and non-conference games, it’s a subject that gets a lot of opinions. Some games are great for the program coming up, but some games put the Hokies in a no-win situation with nothing really to gain and a lot to lose.
Athletic director Whit Babcock had a chance to upgrade the Hokies' schedule by adding SEC powerhouse Tennessee back in November after Nebraska backed out of the scheduled games with the Volunteers in 2026 and 2027 for a pair of MAC schools. Instead of Babcock trying to get out of games with Old Dominion on those dates, Tennessee picked up Georgia Tech out of the ACC. That’s a huge get for a Yellow Jackets program on the rise while Virginia Tech appears to be spinning their tires in the middle of nowhere.
Babcock recently sat down with some beat reporters and said that he’s going to take a deep dive into who is on the schedule to get more marquee contests that will drive high TV numbers. Which schools will he look to target? Who knows, but here is a breakdown of the current confirmed games.
Whit Babcock to deep-dive into getting more marquee football games for TV numbers
In all honesty, this is a road that should have been traveled a long, long time ago. Let’s take a look at some of the Hokies' scheduled non-conference games for the next decade. Virginia Tech has six games remaining with Old Dominion, two with James Madison, one with VMI, and four with Liberty. Those are not going to really move the needle much. Then there are some interesting power conference games scheduled that will move the needle.
There are some games against power conference programs down the road. South Carolina is on the schedule this year and in the future, while other games are against Maryland, Notre Dame, Old Miss, Alabama, Arizona, BYU and Wisconsin. Not bad.
Now Babcock must add more and as we all know, TV drives the time of games and exposure of big games in primetime slots. Virginia Tech needs to get back into that for the good of the program and not adding games will help, but also the product on the field, which is key. It is shaping up to be an interesting summer for Babcock and his team.