Finally, the game has been made official: Virginia Tech and West Virginia will play in FedExField in 2017.
This game had been rumored for many months, as the Hokies searched for an opponent from a Power 5 conference for the 2017 season. In fact, we dedicated a TSL Pass article to the subject back in May. The game as announced earlier this afternoon, and it will be played on Saturday, September 2, 2017. It will be the season opener for both teams.
Virginia Tech now has at least one Power 5 non-conference opponent on their schedule in each season through 2023. Here's now the future schedule looks…
2014: at Ohio State
2015: Ohio State, at Purdue
2016: vs. Tennessee (Bristol), at Notre Dame
2017: vs. West Virginia (FedExField)
2018: Notre Dame (not officially confirmed, but very likely)
2019: at Wisconsin
2020: Wisconsin, at Michigan
2021: Michigan, at West Virginia
2022: Penn State, West Virginia
2023: Purdue, at Penn State
In the future, ACC teams are required to play one non-conference game per season against a program from a Power 5 conference. This game with West Virginia fulfills Tech's requirement for 2017. A home-and-home game against another program would have been tough to schedule, as VT's schedule is almost full through 2023. Tech's Power 5 opponent requirement is now fulfilled through 2023 as well.
Tech's series with West Virginia was thought to be extinct following Tech's 34-17 win back in 2005. However, Jim Weaver and WVU AD Oliver Luck signed a home-and-home deal for the 2021 and 2022 seasons before Weaver's retirement. Now that Whit Babcock and Luck have signed a deal to play at FedEx, the series will be restarted earlier than expected.