Hokies Ranked Ninth by the Coaches

The USA Today Coaches’ Poll was released today, and the Hokies find that
the pollsters agree with the preseason magazines and other prognosticators.
Virginia Tech is ranked ninth by the coaches, marking the third time in the last
five years Tech has been ranked in the top ten in the preseason.

USC received 45 of 60 first place votes to be the clear #1, while LSU, Tech’s
second-week opponent, is ranked a solid #2 and has four first place votes.
Florida, Texas and Michigan round out the top five.

The Hokies are the only ACC team in the top 20, with Florida State checking
in at #21. The “Others Receiving Votes” category is crowded with ACC
teams, with Boston College (26), Georgia Tech (27), Miami (28), and Wake Forest
(31) all appearing close to the top 25. Clemson comes in at #35, and Duke, who
always gets a preseason vote from former coach Steve Spurrier, shows up at the
bottom of the list with one point.

Other than LSU, no other VT out of conference opponent received votes.

In
2005, the Hokies were ranked 7th in the coaches’ preseason poll, and in
2003, VT was ranked 10th by the coaches in the preseason.