Sadly, on many the occasions when we were in the national spotlight, we lost. The ACC as a whole faces this problem. We didn't lose them all of course, but enough to be viewed as not ready for prime time, elite winning blueblood football.

When VT fans and ACC supporters lament about the current disparity between the ACC and the SEC, they seem to put Clemson in another category. As if ESPN only pays attention to Clemson and no one else in the conference and treats them like an SEC team. Well, why does Clemson get this sort of treatment? They always had the big following. But what changed is the winning. They put Clemsoning to bed. Won some big games on the national level, including a national title, and that did the trick. It comes down to the Patton speech: Americans love a winner.

Heck, there are some actual bluebloods that ESPN hardly pays attention to now because they haven't been winning. Nebraska, Florida State, USC come to mind.

We are faced with an uphill battle. The gap between us and the leaders of the pack is large and getting larger. But we have to find a way to win in spite of it all. We also have to circle the wagons and keep supporting the team, even in bad times.