for years, the ACC looked down their nose at VT because of our initial loyalty to the Southern Conference when the ACC formed. When South Carolina left the ACC and VT began to realize that they needed to be in a better overall athletic conference situation, they were shunned several times for various reasons by the ACC and it severely stunted the growth of what could have been at VT as a well rounded and athletically competitive university. VT persevered over time as an independent and thru various conference affiliations while achieving many gratifying accomplishments but imagine where they could be now with the consistent and stable conference support that many of VT's peers received over the last 70 years !?