Is James Madison, Not UVA or Virginia Tech, The Top CFB Team In the State Of Virginia?

Sep 21, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; James Madison Dukes wide receiver Cam Ross (1) with the ball in the second quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

It has been a slow descent for both Virginia and Virginia Tech this decade.

The Cavaliers have yet to play in a bowl game this decade, while the Hokies have finished a regular season better than 6-6 (they won a bowl game at the end of the 2023 season to become 7-6). Meanwhile, James Madison has enjoyed the move up to the FBS level and has enjoyed a ton of success this decade, including a win over the Cavaliers. James Madison has won 28 games this decade and is the favorite in the Sun Belt heading into 2025, while Virginia and Virginia Tech each have win totals of 6.5 to begin the year.

Does that mean that the Dukes are the top FBS team in the state of Virginia heading into the 2025 season? When picking the top FBS teams from every state, CBS Sports David Cobb picked James Madison over Virgina and Virginia Tech:

Virginia -- "James Madison: For a Sun Belt team, James Madison boasts solid returning production from last year's nine-win squad. In fact, the Dukes probably should have won even more in coach Bob Chesney's first season. Seven of their nine victories came by double digits, and two of their losses were by a combined total of four. Quarterback Alonza Barnett and star running back George Pettaway can take this team a long way in 2025."

Nov 16, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott watches in the second quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

While it might seem like a bold take, UVA and VT have a lot to prove if they want this claim to be proven wrong.

The preseason media poll for the ACC was released a couple of weeks ago, and Virginia was picked to finish 14th in the conference.

Clemson was the pick to win the ACC, garnering 167 first place votes, while Miami was picked to finish second and got seven first place votes.

Here are the full results of the preseason poll with first place votes in parentheses:

1. Clemson (167)

2. Miami (7)

3. SMU (2)

4. Georgia Tech (2)

5. Louisville

6. Duke

7. Florida State (4)

8. North Carolina

9. Pitt

10. NC State

11. Virginia Tech (1)

12 Syracuse

13. Boston College

14. Virginia

15. California

16. Wake Forest

17. Stanford

While there seems to be external doubt about where the Cavaliers are going to finish in the ACC, Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott sounded very optimistic about his team at ACC media days:

"There's a lot of excitement surrounding this year's team. I absolutely love being around our young men. Another huge thank you to our administration, Dr. Williams, our donor base and staff for contributing the resources, the time and the effort to assemble the deepest and most complete roster that we've had in four seasons.

Oct 19, 2024; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott on the field gestures during the game against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Hicks-Imagn Images | Alexander Hicks-Imagn Images

Speaking of the staff, we're one of only six Power Four programs to return our entire staff. This off-season we added 54 new players. 32 of those through the transfer portal and 22 of those being high school signees. I'd also like to add that our staff has gone about building to this point, and we've done it the right way. Three years ago on the front end we made a decision to honor the commitments of the young men that were committed to the previous staff. We also decided to honor the commitments of the young men that were currently on the roster, to embrace them and work alongside them until graduation.

Our current roster is very balanced. 46 percent of our players are upperclassmen and 54 percent are underclassmen. With the addition of the players that we added in the transfer portal, we added 850 games of college football experience.

We held a lead in nine of our 12 games last season, and we're hopeful that the added depth and experience will help us in working towards closing out games in which we have a lead.

As a staff and administration, we're hard at work building a competitive roster. The scholar athletes are hard at work on the grounds in the classroom. In the spring we set a football record with a 3.23 team GPA, and as a program we've been above a 3.0 GPA five of the seven semesters we've been on the grounds. In our seven semesters, we've averaged 77 members of our team accessing a 3.0 or Above Club each semester. This season we have seven home games, four of which are within the first five weeks, and our staff and players are excited to see our outstanding fan base pack Scott Stadium and create an environment that makes it the hardest for opposing teams to play in."

Virginia opened fall camp today and their first game is at home against Coastal Carolina on Aug. 30th.