Times are changing in college football, with TV ratings becoming more involved with TV revenue sharing, it's making schools take a deeper dive and look into scheduling of non-conference games, something that Virginia AD Whit Babcock needed to take a hard look at.
With that said, Virginia Tech announced some changes in its series with Old Dominion. The Monarchs will visit Blacksburg this fall, in 2026, and again in 2030, while games at ODU in 2027, 2029, and 2031 have been canceled. The 2028 scheduled for Blacksburg has also been canceled.
“As we continue to evaluate and align our future non-conference schedules with the evolving landscape of college football, we’ve made a strategic decision—mutually agreed upon by both programs—to alter the number of games in the series,” said Babcock in a release by the school. “We’re grateful for the competitive games we’ve shared and we appreciate the flexibility and partnership from Old Dominion as we work to adapt in this new environment.”
Virginia Tech makes the right decision canceling game with ODU
Truth be told, this is something that needed to be done by Babcock. Sure, it leaves openings on the future schedules for the Hokies, but those dates should be filled against Power 4 non-conference opponents. This is just the nature of the current state of college sports and revenue sharing.
It'll be very interesting to see who Virginia Tech gets to replace Old Dominion in the future and who they likely pick up a home-and-home series' with. In 2026, they are scheduled to visit Maryland, then host Maryland in 2027 along with a trip to Notre Dame. Maryland is a four-game series, and Notre Dame returns the trip to Virginia Tech in 2028. Aside from Maryland in 2029, the Hokies will visit Arizona.
Again, this is the right move and needed to be done. Also part of the deal, Virginia Tech will host Old Dominion in a men's basketball game no later than the 2027-28 season.