Friday night, SMU crushed Virginia 51-28 to improve to 7-2. SMU should be ranked in the top 25, with a monster matchup upcoming with Wake Forest, where the winner has the inside track to the ACC Title game.
If you are Virginia Tech, you got an up-close and personal look at what is a realistic target for your program.
Virginia Tech plays Miami in a couple of weeks, and I’m not saying Virginia Tech can’t get to the level that Miami currently competes at, but Miami is currently the number 1 team in the country. If Indiana can get there, anything is possible, but if you are looking at what Virginia Tech could be, then SMU is a great goal.
SMU has a ton of private funding, but they are also paid significantly less in media revenue than legacy ACC schools. Through solid investment and quality coaching from Rhett Lashlee they have become the ACC’s second-best program over the last 3 years.
Since joining the ACC, SMU is 27-9 (19-4) with a playoff appearance and an ACC Title game appearance. They still could get to Charlotte this year and make the playoffs. At the very least, they are still in thick of things through early November.
Why can’t Virginia Tech have this level of consistency? James Franklin has the pedigree of past success. Virginia Tech is making a financial commitment to football, and the Hokies have shown glimpses of their peak Beamer-era teams.
That begs the question of why programs like SMU, Wake Forest, and Duke are having more recent success in the ACC than just about anyone not named Miami.
If I am a Virginia Tech fan, I’m frustrated by the blowout loss, but encouraged by what I’ve seen so far this year. Certainly, there have to be upgrades on the defensive side of the ball. I also understand that what a school like SMU is doing should be achievable under the right circumstances.
