It's the time of the year when college football writers preview the upcoming season, and for ESPN and David Hale, it's the time of the year when teams are broken down and some under-the-radar predictions are made. This season, Virginia Tech is going to be at the forefront of some predictions for the 2026 season.
Hale put all 138 FBS schools into 20 tiers for the upcoming campaign, and if you were looking to see where he had the Hokies, you wouldn't have to look far down the list. It would have been easy to go down at least midway through the list to find Virginia Tech, but instead, they fell into the sixth tier of Hale's "Probably fine. Maybe good. Possibly mediocre." tier.
ESPN has an interesting tier for James Franklin and Virginia Tech in 2026
Joining the Hokies in that tier are TCU, Clemson, Illinois, and Missouri. When it comes to these teams, Hale didn't beat around the bush as to why they are here.
"All five of the teams in Tier 6 rank between No. 20 and No 35 in Connelly's preseason SP+, which means they're good enough to be taken seriously and flawed enough not to be a serious playoff contender,'' wrote Hale.
Ah yes, the good ole good enough to be taken seriously, but flawed enough to not be a serious CFP contender tier. Who wouldn't love to be placed there? Honestly, given the last decade that Virginia Tech fans have gone through, they'll take anything close to being good at this point. Hiring James Franklin has brought a new sense of energy.
Hale also pointed out one thing about Virginia Tech's defense. "On drives that started on its side of the field vs. FBS opponents, Virginia Tech's defense allowed 2.8 points per drive last year -- the worst rate in the ACC and 128th nationally.''
Virginia Tech's defense under new leadership
I get what Hale is trying to say there about the Hokies' defense, but that was last year; this is this year. Sam Siefkes, last season's defensive coordinator, was put between a rock and a hard place. After three games, former head coach Brent Pry was fired, and his defense lost some key contributors who decided to head to the Transfer Portal in September or October. That limited the players he had at his disposal.
So what did Franklin do when he got hired? He brought back Pry, three months after being fired as head coach, to run his defense. It was certainly an eye-opening move; if they have come close to the success they had together at Penn State before Pry left to become the head coach in Blacksburg, then the Hokies' defense will quickly improve.
Is Virginia Tech a legit CFP contender in 2026? Probably not, but six wins and a bowl game would certainly be a nice step in the right direction in Franklin's first season. However, 10 or 11 wins and a spot in the CFP is complete craziness. It is very reasonable to put Virginia Tech into the tier they're in, and if things go as planned in 2026, they could be higher next season going into 2027. Who doesn't love August preseason tiers and rankings?
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