The Hokies remained in the top 25 for the second week of the season in the latest version of ESPN’s SP+ ranking system by Bill Connelly.
Virginia Tech moved up to No. 25 in the nation after the Hokies dominated Boston College, according to SP+. Now, the Hokies are even higher, ranked as the 24th-best team in the country according to SP+ metrics.
Virginia Tech is slightly behind other ACC schools. Pitt finished in the top 10 at No. 23, Louisville at No. 22, SMU at No. 17, Clemson at No. 14 and Miami at No. 9.
The Hokies are rated by SP+ as the 34th-best offensive team and 29th-best defensive team with a net rating of 12.5.
What exactly is SP+? Connery himself describes it this way:
“As always, these are based on three key factors: production returns (final rankings are at the end of this article), recent hiring, and recent history. What do you think? Who’s coming back? A good rule of thumb when setting expectations for a team is to ask how good a player will be in place of a player who isn’t coming back. That’s also what I’m trying to do.
As always: SP+ is a measure of college football efficiency adjusted by tempo and opponent. This is a measure that predicts the most sustainable and predictable aspect of football, not a resume ranking. Similarly, these predictions are not intended to speculate on what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the day. That year. These are just early offseason power rankings based on the information we’ve been able to gather thus far. ”
Additional links:
Virginia Tech Football: 5 big takeaways from Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech win
Virginia Tech Football: 3 keys to victory for Hokies vs. Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech football: Hokies announce uniform combination for matchup against Georgia Tech