Following a 20-16 upset win at Clemson on Saturday night, the Virginia Tech football team improved to 6-2 and officially became bowl-eligible. According to first-year Hokies coach James Franklin, that is what is going to be expected every season, ending with a bowl game.
Truth be told, he would love to end the season in the College Football Playoff, and with how fast he's turning things around in Blacksburg, he might not be too fr from that happening. The win over the Tigers gives Virginia Tech a nice bye week to enjoy this weekend before their final four games against SMU, Stanford, Miami, and Virginia. SMU and Miami are games that will be on the road.
However, what we are guaranteed is that after Virginia visits on Thanksgiving Weekend, the Hokies will have one more game to play in a bowl. Which bowl? Let's take a look at the latest projections, which have Franklin going up against a Beamer, Shane Beamer, in what would be a major revenge game.
Virginia Tech bowl projection highlighted by potential revenge game against South Carolina
Last season, the Hokies began the 2025 campaign in Atlanta against Shane Beamer and South Carolina. In a game that was not clearly played on both sides, the Gamecocks made enough plays to pick up a season-opening. That started a three-game stretch that got Brent Pry fired as head coach. Brad Crawford dropped his latest CBS Sports bowl projections, and he has Virginia Tech matched up with Shane Beamer and South Carolina in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Here is a look at all of the Hokies' bowl projections after Week 8.
- On3: Gator Bowl vs. Tennessee
- Sports Illustrated: Gator Bowl vs. Houston
- Athlon Sports: Gator Bowl vs. Florida
- CBS Sports: Gator Bowl vs. South Carolina
- ESPN: Kyle Bonagura: Sun Bowl vs. Arizona & Mark Schlabach: Gator Bowl vs. Tennessee
Do you see a common theme here? The Gator Bowl in Jacksonville against mostly ACC schools, with Tennessee being the most common opponent. Truth be told, the Sun Bowl in Texas on New Year's Eve afternoon wouldn't be a bad landing spot either. However, a matchup against an SEC school, regardless of who opts out and who plays, would be a good first-year measuring stick for Franklin and the Hokies.
Given all the struggles the Virginia Tech program has been through the last decade, well, fans will take any bowl game that James Franklin accepts a bid to. It's going to be big for Franklin and his staff to get a few extra weeks of practice to prepare for one more game and send them into the offseason with a ton of momentum.
A matchup between Beamer and South Carolina would be something that would be great theater. Not as much as a matchup between Virginia Tech and Penn State in a bowl game, pitting Franklin against Matt Campbell and the Nittany Lions. Regardless of where they end up, there will be one more football game for Virginia Tech fans to look forward to following the Commonwealth Clash next month.
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