Va Tech’s ranked higher than 9 B1G schools, higher or same as12 SEC schools
Can we please get rid of the false narrative that seems to be out there about Virginia Tech academic ratings?
We are tied in public ratings with the second oldest college in America where some of our countries Founders attended or got licenses, like Washington and Jefferson, William and Mary. We are also tied with Texas A&M and FSU.
In addition, now since they are our new rival that we have never played a game against 😁 and is academically considered a great school, we are two spots better than Penn State.
PS I credit our retiring President Sands for doing a great job of making our rankings better, but hopefully the new President does a better job of advertising them. Our football game ads should talk about our overall and top rankings in some majors more. People are often motivated by numbers, ours are great, get them out there since many of us think Conference Realignment is not done, since 150+ years of CR, says it’s never done. Agree with it or not many Presidents who vote, care about these things, even if you don’t think they should care about them,
** Edited by Stech at 5/20/2026, 9:45:06 AM
39 Replies
2mo
For many athletic fans they do not see the linkage with the "university".. But VT university was not alligned with athletics program and saw it as a separate entity. THis goes back from 1950's. From the university, as long as Athletics was in the black and no drama, they dont need to worry about it.. and the university just did university things. THis is what is called alignment.
You can guarantee that it will be allignment in the foture and contiinued or effects on both direct and indirect funding for athletics. My gut is the BOV is going to 1) get the new AD on board, along with new fund raising manager for the HOkie Club and approve the reorganization of VT athletics with goverance and oversight. IT will be a 'NFL like' business operations with many new professionals who know how to manage a power 2 program, Also, during this time, if any residual executives in Burress Hall, who have had been putting in roadblocks on this, might determine to look at different opportunities. (my sense is the VP for Operations, and the CFO.
So when the new president comes in, he wiill NOT have any input governance and funding and process for ahtletics, but rather His/Her job is to ensure alignment and intent of the BOV. Which is a key VT hiring criteria.
(In response to this post by Stech)
2mo
improvement of its academic standing and public profile and athletic performance. But for conference realignment purposes, the evaluations and rankings are likely already fixed. That doesn't mean the decisions have been made. It means that VT's chances for joining a P2 depend on factors beyond relative rankings. There will be pairings/groupings based on complementary fit, sequence of movement, negotiated conditions of payouts and fees. I think very little has been determined at this point. The conferences and the candidate schools have preferences, but what a flurry of bargaining and lobbying must be happening outside of view.
(In response to this post by Stech)
2mo
(In response to this post by 33laszlo99)
E
EDGEMAN
2mo
Seriously!
(In response to this post by Stech)
E
EDGEMAN
2mo
...public schools in the country.
Ivy League schools are producing crap students, with all graduating with honors (which means nothing today).
(In response to this post by Stech)
2mo
instead of commented.
(In response to this post by EDGEMAN)
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EDGEMAN
2mo
...they received a substandard education compared to other universities in VA and beyond.
For those who actually believe that, why in the world did they attend VT? Seriously!
(In response to this post by Stech)
2mo
(In response to this post by EDGEMAN)
2mo
Total lack of confidence in life, and the skill sets they gained at VT. very sad...
Its the inferiority complex of these people, I wonder how their professional lives are going. Funny VT is just as tough to get into as UVA and it dwarfs any other State school (I dont treat LIberty as a public school).
(In response to this post by EDGEMAN)
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EDGEMAN
2mo
...almost no one was ever kicked out of UVA for grades. VT allowed a lot more in, but sent a whole lot of students home for lack of academic prowess. Back then UVA and VT grads were on equal footing across the board.
VT has been much harder to gain admission in recent years, so it's probably flunking out a MUCH lower percentage of students. It's probably on par with UVA when it comes to the percentage of incoming freshmen who leave with a BA/BS.
(In response to this post by 1947Sunbowl)
2mo
realignment and the future of college football, nobody cares about any of this except people like Jim Phillips, leader of the ACC, the longest running joke in college sports, which really goes a long way towards explaining how we ended up with Cal and Stanford and their bottom of the barrel football and basketball programs parked in the ACC, 3000 miles from anyone else in the conference that matters. Any university president that is thinking about conference realignment and college athletics with any focus at all on academic prestige or the USNWR rankings should be fired.
Nobody is rushing to add Rice football to their schedule because of how impressive the academic credentials of the school are.
(In response to this post by Stech)
2mo
of Virginia Tech in 🏈 support and Conference Realignment. Or at least acting like it. Some ESPN people and podcasters are saying it’s academics. It’s hogwash! I don’t agree with it at all, but if you say something often enough, people start believing it. In the absence of facts, opinions rule, so stop letting them hide behind the opinions, and we need to get the facts out there. In other words, get the battle on the real turf, which is where the money is 🏈. However, you have to counter the false narrative, or as Beams said, they will get after you now.
** Edited by Stech at 5/20/2026, 1:48:18 PM
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
is simple fact academics are about to be nothing. You are correct. It is all about results. No care for academics in SEC. Probably not at OSU for their athletes.
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
AAU matters to them. We need to continue to work towards that. Academic performance may not be the end all, but it’s not nothing imo.
Our fan support and athletic potential are strategic advantages. We just need to quit crapping the bed in football.
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
Of course it may change in the future.
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
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EDGEMAN
2mo
..."huge thumb on the scale" for the B1X when considering invitations. It's not the be all, end all point of consideration, but it is important for them.
They knew Nebraska was losing their AAU status when they invited them, so that set a precedent. But Nebraska was still an excellent school in their footprint, thus they received an invitation.
(In response to this post by RandomAsianGuy)
2mo
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
2mo
We do that even when we suck
The B1G isn’t letting in the University of Phoenix even if they do.
Again, it’s not the most important factor in any of this. But you’re fooling yourself if you say it doesn’t matter at all.
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
in common for purposes of this analysis - they're not football draws for TV. Academics has absolutely zero to do with it.
Live attendance really has little to no bearing on anything. Miami might put 12k people in a 65k stadium on gameday, but they're a brand name and people will still watch them on TV. The University of Phoenix could start a program and draw 120k people for every game for the next 10 years, and nobody would watch them on TV, because they're not a name brand. TV viewership is measured in MILLIONS. This really isn't a difficult concept to understand.
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
2mo
They just aren’t. Eyes on the TV or not. Again, I’m not even arguing that it’s the most important factor but in the rubric of decision making it’s clearly there. They’ve pretty much explicitly stated that with their AAU requirement. As you said, this is not a hard concept to understand.
I’m tapping out of this conversation. We can just not agree.
** Edited by fsghokie at 5/20/2026, 4:14:26 PM
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
Nebraska?!?!?!?! Now, that's a football brand that all the casuals recognize! PUT THEM RIGHT THROUGH!!!!!!!!
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
2mo
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
TWO MONTHS PRIOR TO JOINING THE CONFERENCE, the first institution ever forcibly removed by a member vote in the AAU's 100+ year history. And their AAU status had been in constant jeopardy since at least the year 2000. Don't believe me? You don't have to. Check and actually read the link below.
Just stop, man. Your implication that Nebraska was added because the Big 10 wanted to associate with an elite academic institution vs. just wanting to add a football brand and major TV draw is laughable.
** Edited by Baltimore_Hokie at 5/20/2026, 4:34:36 PM
Link:
Please edify yourself!
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
2mo
I don’t have to stop anything. This whole time I’ve said it’s not the most important metric just that it isn’t inconsequential
Good lord
(In response to this post by Baltimore_Hokie)
2mo
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
2mo
for their football brand, not their academics.
(In response to this post by BROman Hokie)
2mo
the B1G did take Nebraska b/c of their brand, but adding Maryland/Rutgers was all about in-sate B1GN subscriptions b/c their brands suck. If UCLA, USC, and Texas A&M were viable expansion options in the 2 states with the most TV subscribers back in 2010, IMO the B1G takes them first.
** Edited by BROman Hokie at 5/21/2026, 12:46:03 PM
(In response to this post by Big12 guy)
2mo
for there own network. They were on "their" radar, and zero consideration was given by Texas to change conferences.
Nebraska and Missouri both asked the BIG to be a member. Missouri, from a much larger market, with much better academics, didn't get the invite. Remember that Colorado, with their pretty good academics, went to the PAC.
All of those moves were to get away from Texas, and at the time, the BIG and SEC had about the same media contract as the ACC with the B12 losing out on the next round of contracts because of Texas.
(In response to this post by BROman Hokie)
2mo
replying to the statement that Texas was no on the BIGs radar.
Tell you what though, A&M hates Texas enough that jumping to the BIG is not out of the question.
(In response to this post by BROman Hokie)
2mo
I'm saying that if the B1G had their choice of UCLA, USC, TAMU, Nebraska, RUTS, and UMD at a time where they were trying to get their network off the ground, they probably take the first 3 schools.
(In response to this post by Big12 guy)
2mo
just misread your intent - my apologies.
(In response to this post by BROman Hokie)
2mo
the potential for them to go even higher IF Nebraska ever finds Osborne 2.0 to lead them back to the promise land. If the Big Ten can ever have a season where Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, and USC are competing for a Top 5 spot for the entire season, then the Big Ten may feel they have died and gone to Ratings Heaven.
(In response to this post by Big12 guy)
2mo
interested in making more money.
Also, you're just wrong about Nebraska. If you'd read the article I linked, you can see that Nebraska had been basically on the verge of getting booted out of the AAU since the year 2000, mostly because Big 10 schools like Northwestern, Purdue, and Michigan were embarrassed to be affiliated with them and wanted them out. It wasn't some huge surprise that nobody saw coming when they were booted out 4 months after joining the Big 10. Sometimes, it's OK to take an L. We all make mistakes. I know you didn't do it intentionally.
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
R
RJHokie
2mo
Must have blown a few tires along the road since being admitted…..
(In response to this post by fsghokie)
2mo
But yeah, they definitely fell
(In response to this post by RJHokie)
2mo
to implement for VT that will determine if VT is able to shake the false narrative off its back or not. Also, VT may need to consider joining other research and/or academic consortiums (if the opportunity presents itself) that may be a little more exclusive to help achieve that goal. Also, it may help with the messaging if the Roanoke/NRV area see similar growth that the Research Triangle has seen in recent years. I realize that will require other players to buy into the idea, but VT may need to take the lead to at least get the ball rolling.
(In response to this post by Stech)