CBS Sports Analyst Picks Virginia Tech As The Most Underrated Team in The ACC

Virginia Tech is not expected to finish amongst the other top teams in the ACC, but are they being underrated heading into 2025?

Nov 9, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Brent Pry leads his team onto the filed with Virginia Tech Hokies wide receiver Takye Heath (2) before the game at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Entering year four in Blacksburg, head coach Brent Pry is trying to play his way off the hot seat. After coming into the 2024 season with high expectations, the Hokies finished with a 6-7 record, including more abysmal one-score game performances. Virginia Tech saw five players drafted and a number of high-profile players elected to enter the transfer portal. With 30-plus new transfers on the team and two new coordinators, can Pry find a way to work his way off the hot seat this season? Is a bowl game going to be good enough, or will Virginia Tech need to find itself in ACC contention?

Most underrated team in the ACC?

Oct 17, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) throws a touchdown during the second quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

While Virginia Tech was picked to finish 11th in the ACC preseason media poll, you could make a case for them to finish higher. When picking the ACC's most underrated teams, CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson made the case for the Hokies:

"Brent Pry made some staff changes after the Hokies went 0-5 in one-score games. Among them was bringing in Philip Montgomery as the new offensive coordinator, and so this is a bet that his pairing with Kyron Drones yields fruitful results for both the quarterback and the coaching staff. Pry says this year's roster is the closest to his vision of the Virginia Tech program since he arrived, so fans are expecting results that are closer to the Hokies standard."

Drones staying healthy and picking up Montgomery's system quickly would do wonders for Virginia Tech. Drones is a dynamic dual-threat quarterback when healthy, but he has struggled to stay on the field. By all accounts, he is having a great fall camp and is ready to lead the Hokies to a better record in 2025. Let's see if he can put it all together this season.

One Score Games

Jul 24, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry answers questions from the media during ACC Media Days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The record in one-score games was a topic for Pry when he talked at ACC Media Days:

"Yeah, we've certainly talked about it a lot, as well as everybody else. First of all, it was coaching decisions, making sure we're making the right decisions, not just at the end of the game but throughout the game. Then secondly, being the team that is more mentally and physically tough and prepared at the end of a game to close it out.

So there's a couple different areas that we focused on to make sure we're better there, and certainly we've talked about it. We've leaned into it as a program, how close we were to being the team that we want to be. We were competitive week in and week out and just kept finding ways to come up short as a staff and as a team.

We should arguably be improved in that area. We've put a lot of emphasis there."

Only time will tell if Virginia Tech is actually better in that area. They kick off their season on August 31st in Atlanta against South Carolina and the Gamecocks are entering the game as a big favorite.