VT's conference record. However, I am not sure the wins move the needle enough for the overall perception given people's perception of the Big East and later the ACC during that time period. Even if VT lumped all of its big games together, I believe VT lost more big games than it won. Particularly if you compare VT's big game record to someone like Boise State who perceptually won a lot more big games than it lost during that same time period. If someone wanted to break it down even further, then they could compare the level of impressiveness of the win (or loss) by the margin of victory (or loss). The LSU home-home series and the Nebraska home-home series compared to the Orange Bowl are 2 examples of what I am talking about. LSU-VT History #16 VT 26 - #14 LSU 8 (2002) #2 LSU 48 - #9 VT 7 (2007) Most people would say that LSU had the more impressive victory. Nebraska-VT History #10 VT 21 - #6 Neb 41 (1996 Orange Bowl) VT 35 - Neb 30 (2008) #13 VT 16 - #19 Neb 15 (2009) Most people would say that Nebraska had the more impressive victory and justify VT's sweep of the home-home series because the Nebraska program was "down" compared to where it was in the '80s or '90s. A similar argument could be made with the history against Alabama even if the focus is only on the Music City Bowl vs. the 2 CFA Kickoff Games in 2009 and 2013. When people hear Reese Davis or whomever say "Style points matter," this is what they are talking about. Historically VT is perceived to be content to just eek out a victory instead of blowing the opponent out when it had the opportunity. For the record, there is nothing wrong with having that mindset. It just means the program may not receive as much credit for the win because of other factors (i.e. perception of the conference, opponent is perceived to be "down", margin of victory vs. margin of loss, etc.).