When Virginia Tech began ACC competition in 2004, everyone knew it would take
awhile for the Hokies to catch up to the rest of the conference in all sports.
VT was known for football, but after spending time in the Metro, Big East and
Atlantic 10 since 1994-95, their athletic talent and support weren’t up to par
with the ACC in most of the other sports. Three years later, that appears to be
changing.
Virginia Tech finished the 2006-07 academic year with four ACC Championships.
They won the ACC in softball and men’s golf (tie), and the Women’s Track and
Field team won the indoor and outdoor championships. The Women’s Track and Field
team also went on to win the East Regional Championship this past weekend.
That’s a big change from Virginia Tech’s first year in the ACC in 2004-05.
The Hokies average finish in their 21 varsity sports that year was 7.6, which
ranked next-to-last in the 11-team ACC, ahead of only Maryland. Here’s a look at
how the ACC looked that year.
2004-05 ACC Average Finish |
||
School | Sports | Avg. Finish |
FSU |
19 | 4.28 |
GT |
17 | 4.29 |
UNC |
25 | 4.59 |
UVA |
25 | 5.14 |
Duke |
24 | 5.61 |
Clemson |
19 | 5.74 |
Wake |
18 | 6.42 |
NCSU |
21 | 6.48 |
Miami |
18 | 6.80 |
VT |
21 | 7.60 |
UMD |
24 | 7.77 |
The Hokies had some poor finishes that year, including 11th in women’s
lacrosse, 11th in women’s tennis and 10th in men’s golf. Tech did win the ACC in
football, but finished in the top four of the conference in only two other
sports (men’s basketball, fourth place, and wrestling, second out of six teams).
As you can see in the table below, things didn’t get much better in 2005-06.
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