2025 KFord Ratings: Where did the Hokies Land?

The Hokies settled in at No. 42 in Ford's overall rankings, slotting in with the No. 49 offense, No. 36 defense, No. 21 special teams and a power rating of 6.6, representing the points per game above the FBS average.

One intriguing tidbit: Tech was sandwiched between Minnesota (No. 41) and Rutgers (No. 43), both of whom it lost to this past campaign.

Elsewhere on the site, there were also ratings involved for schedule difficulty, conference result projections and College Football Playoff (CFP) likelihood. The schedule difficulty metric is a predictive model for how many wins the No. 12 team in the power rankings would notch with the schedule; Arkansas possesses the most difficult schedule in the metric, with the No.12 tallying six and a half expected wins.

In that measure, Virginia Tech ranks near the median at No. 55, with the No. 12 power-rated team projected to capture nine and a half wins. South Carolina, the Hokies' Week 1 opponent next Saturday, also settles in with both the fourth-highest offensive power rating and fourth-highest defensive power rating, as well.

Onto the conference standings: Ford projects Virginia Tech at No. 6 in the ACC standings, notching between seven or eight wins and four or five in-conference victories.

Virginia Tech is comfortably favored against Vanderbilt (61% odds of winning), Old Dominion (85%), Wofford (>99%), Wake Forest (85%), California (76%) and Virginia (67%). Louisville (46%) NC State (49%) and Florida State (53%) are relatively even toss-ups, per Ford's measures. There are three games in which the Hokies are underdogs in the metric by at least five percent: South Carolina in Week 1 (28%), Georgia Tech (43%) and Miami in the penultimate round of the regular season (33%).

Strictly taking 50% or above in the metric as a victory, Tech starts the season with a 4-2 record, clinching bowl eligibility against the Seminoles and achieving seven regular season wins, its highest mark under current head coach Brent Pry.

Finally, moving to the playoffs, Ford's metrics determine that the Hokies require a 10-2 record, at minimum, to be in the discussion for an at-large bid to the CFP. Those measure also determine that Virginia Tech needs three upsets to do so: presumably South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Miami. The metrics are predicated upon the assumption that the Hokies do not drop any games in which they are favored. Virginia Tech settles in at No. 31 in Ford's odds for the CFP at 7%.

Overall, Ford's metrics leave a positive indication for Virginia Tech football's fourth campaign under Pry. 12 days now remain until the Hokies kick off their season in Atlanta, Ga., facing off against South Carolina. At the time of writing, the Gamecocks are the highest-rated opponent on Virginia Tech's schedule and the matchup that the Hokies are the biggest underdogs in.