Virginia Tech Receives Interesting Preseason Ranking For James Franklin's First Season

Virginia Tech football is still seven-plus months away from its 2026 season. Yet, the offseason — chock full of its speculation, recruiting and preseason predictions — rages on. On that topic, ESPN's Bill Connelly released his SP+ rankings earlier this week.

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INITIAL 2026 SP+ RANKINGS, FINALLY

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Ohio State's No. 1, Indiana's [throws dart] No. 5, buy 🦆🦆🦆 and the state of South Carolina, sell the Big 12 teams that aren't Tech.https://t.co/dud00gbyry
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) March 27, 2026

SP+ is crafted using recent history, recent recruiting rankings, returning production, and coaching changes. Of course, Virginia Tech had a notable coaching change this offseason and should get a significant boost in that metric, as well as being No. 4 in returning production.

With that in mind, Virginia Tech ranked surprisingly high. The Hokies came in at No. 32 overall with an SP+ rating of 9.4. Tech's offense currently ranks No. 34 in the FBS with a tally of 31.5, while its defense ranks No. 38 with a mark of 21.5. The Hokies' special teams currently clocks in as the lowest, with a -0.2 mark that sits 89th in Division I.

At the time of writing, that 32nd-placed overall ranking slots Virginia Tech in as the fifth team in the ACC, behind Miami (No. 8), Clemson (No. 32), Louisville (No. 27) and SMU (No. 28).

The Hokies' placement comes as a surprise mainly due to the second point in Connelly's explanation for the SP+ rankings. A season ago, Virginia Tech finished 3-9 and started 0-3, firing Brent Pry on Sept. 14 after a 45-26 loss to Old Dominion. The Hokies lost six of their last seven games, with the season finale being a 27-7 loss to archrival Virginia.

However, Virginia Tech welcomed in James Franklin as the team's new head coach on Nov. 17, and immediately, it has shown improvement on the recruiting trail. Twenty-two enter the program from the Class of 2026 high school ranks, including a trio of four stars: offensive tackle Thomas Wilder, linebacker Terry Wiggins and running back Messiah Mickens. Virginia Tech also landed the top kicker in the class in Will Love, brother of longtime Hokies kicker John Love.

Twenty-seven enter the Hokies from the transfer portal, including three four-star recruits: quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer (Penn State), tight end Luke Reynolds (Penn State) and wide receiver Que'Sean Brown (Duke).

Virginia Tech's 2026 season begins on Saturday, Sept. 5, when the team takes on VMI in the two schools' first meeting since 1984. In the meantime, the Hokies' spring game will take place on Saturday, April 18 at 3 p.m. ET, and it will be free of charge for all who attend.