Virginia Tech Gets Bold Win-Loss Prediction For James Franklin's Debut Season

How many games can James Franklin win in his first season at Virginia Tech?

Oct 24, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies running back Marcellous Hawkins (27) runs the ball against the California Golden Bears during the first quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Not many teams had a better offseason than Virginia Tech.

The Hokies made a big splash by hiring former Penn State head coach James Franklin and he went right to work with acquiring talent. He managed to drag Virginia Tech's high recruiting class from outside the top 100 to ranking inside the top 25.

Then he went to work with bringing in one of the ACC's top transfer portal classes, headlined by 12 of his former players at Penn State. Does all of this guarantee that the Hokies will be an ACC contender and a sleeper playoff team? No, but there are enough questions in the ACC after Miami that the Hokies could find themselves in Charlotte.

Double-Digit Win Season?

Nov 19, 2025; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin speaks during the press conference at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

A double digit win season would be welcome for in Blacksburg and that is a bold prediction being made by CBS Sports Cody Nagel:

Bold prediction: James Franklin leads Hokies to 10 wins in Year 1

"James Franklin arrives in Blacksburg with a chance to awaken a sleeping giant. The pieces are already in place for Virginia Tech to start fast, and the ACC schedule offers a real opportunity for early momentum. If the Hokies stack wins in September and October, 10 victories suddenly feel attainable."

The Hokies are projected to be among the top teams in the ACC, evidenced by the recent early power rankings from CBS Sports Chip Patterson:

"The James Franklin era begins in Blacksburg with plenty of Penn State flavor, as 12 of Virginia Tech's 27-player transfer portal class are former Nittany Lions. Among them are quarterback Ethan Grunkmeyer and tight end Luke Reynolds, who along with Duke transfer wide receiver Que'Sean Brown give Hokies fans some reasons to be excited about the offense in 2026. Given Franklin's success recruiting top talent it shouldn't come as a surprise that Virginia Tech has the fourth-best portal class in the ACC and one that ranks 19th nationally, but the heavy turnover associated with the coaching change might have the Hokies a year away from jumping into that top tier and competing with Miami and others for conference supremacy."

The schedule presents opportunities to get to 10 wins as well. They do have a tough conference road schedule (Miami, SMU, Clemson, and California), but they are not going to be big underdogs in any game outside of the matchup against Miami.

There is plenty of reason to believe that the Hokies should be much better this season under Franklin and it should lead to them having more success on the field.

Franklin led two big turnarounds at Vanderbilt and Penn State, but this opportunity that he has in Blacksburg could be his best turnaround yet. He already brought in a top 25 recruiting class and a top ACC transfer portal class that should have the Hokies competing in the conference sooner rather than later.

While Virginia Tech might not be ready to win the ACC just yet, they have had a good offseason with a good portal haul and a good high school class. Let's see what the results on the field bring.