Who do YOU think is the most important football rival for VT (after UVa, of course!)?

1. Miami
2. Florida State
3. Georgia Tech
4. Clemson
5. Wake Forest
6. North Carolina
7. NC State
8. Duke
9. Maryland
10. Boston College
11. Pittsburgh
12. Syracuse
    

Florida State. They lost the National Championship game to FSU.

Miami. You've got the Big East carry over, plus the fact that they're hardly the representation of all that is good in college sports, but almost the embodiment of the exact opposite. I don't see us as traditional rivals with anyone else other than WVU (which I would place higher than Miami). GT could be considered a growing divisional rival (maybe UNC if they can ever get to the next level given proximity and shared recruiting territory), but I don't think it will ever get to the same level as UVa, WVU, and Miami considering there's no long established history between the two. Outside of that, you really just have exciting match ups with the likes of FSU and Clemson but nothing emotionally special.

I think the biggest "rivals" outside of UVa would have to be (1) Miami and (2) Georgia Tech.

BC is honorable mention thanks to Matt Ryan.

I think Clemson, FSU and Maryland could all be big-time rivals if we played them enough times, but since they are currently in the other division and none of them is our cross-over opponent, we only get to see them each twice every 6 years, not counting the championship game of course.

I picked FSU.

Even though Marshall and VT are not rivals I love it when we play each other. VT is school that I like to follow. I think due to the plane crash in 70 we have a very tight connection. Coach Beamer is a very classy guy for what he did last year when you all came to Huntington. See you in 2013!!

PS. We both hate WVU with a passion.

Pitt

I voted in your poll and chose Pitt for you guys, which skews your data.

You'll learn to hate us once we're back together...

I was a student at Tech from '02 to '06. I HATED going 0-2 against Pitt while I was there, and was so glad to jump away from them to the ACC. And I remember our season going downhill each of those last 2 Big East years after losing to Pitt.

Personally, though, I voted for Miami. Looking back through the '90s and '00s, so many of our games with each other had major implications on the Conference of National Championship race. And even when there was disparity in our records, the games were highly competitive more often than not.

Look as recently as the last 2 years (eventual 11-win VT against eventual 7-6 or 6-6 Miami):
2010: VT is going neck-and-neck with Miami. A VT win clinches the Coastal Division then and there. A Miami win puts us in a must-win situation against UVA. Not until the 4th Quarter do we break free and get up on Miami once and for all. Plus, it was my first-ever away game that I attended in person.

2011: Both teams 0-1 in ACC play, and Miami has also suffered an OOC loss against Kansas State. This game was for redemption. After blowing a 2-score lead, we're down to a 4th-and-1 with the game on the line. Enter Logan Thomas for what I consider the play of the game (a QB keeper for the score, and the eventual win)!

Back in March I wrote a series of articles in my ACCFootballRx blog about the inherent strengths of ACC football... in the one about Style of Play I gave this opinion:

Quote:Miami & Va Tech seem to be the two "drama queens" of the ACC

What I meant was that these 2 schools are involved in an unusual number of last-minute games (wins AND losses), not only with other teams but especially when they play each other.