Virginia Tech Football: Do the Hokies Deserve a Title Shot?

Congratulations, Hokies for making it into the Top 5 of the BCS Rankings. The question, is do the Hokies really deserve it?

Do they deserve a shot at a National Championship with the schedule they play? It really depends on who you ask.

If you were to ask Kirk Herbstreit and the majority of people at ESPN you would be answered with a resounding “no." But then readers see articles on websites such as the Bleacher Report that have already placed Virginia Tech in the BCS title game.

There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground when it comes to the Hokies.

It's hard to explain how this all happened in such a short period of time. Oklahoma State started this weekend with a loss to Iowa State in double overtime. Oregon, Oklahoma and Clemson all followed suit by losing to teams they probably shouldn’t have. These losses allowed the Hokies to move from No. 8 in the BCS rankings to No. 5.

As of this moment the BCS national championship game seems to be destined for an Alabama-LSU rematch, but now that Virginia Tech is in the Top 5 they are in the discussion. The reason that ESPN is so skeptical of the Hokies this year is because of their strength of schedule.

Virginia Tech’s strength of schedule is in the top 50 of the FBS but it is far from being an elite schedule.

They have played two good teams this season: Clemson and Georgia Tech. They lost to Clemson by 20 in Blacksburg, but were able to get a big win against Georgia Tech in Atlanta later in the season.

The Hokies have the playmakers on offense and a productive defense, but it is hard to argue they are elite. Logan Thomas has been great in some games and inconsistent in others, but that is to be expected with a rookie starting QB.

David Wilson is the lone elite player on this team; he leads the nation in rushing yards and has gotten a small amount of Heisman attention.

The defense has been productive; it is a top-10 unit despite a great number of injuries to starters and contributors. It would have been amazing to watch Bud Foster’s unit had the injury bug not bitten. The Hokies had the potential to be one of the top three defenses in the country.

Virginia Tech has playmakers but many of them are young, which is a dangerous thing for these Hokies.

That youth might cause them to overlook Virginia this weekend, and a loss to the Cavaliers could take the Hokies out of the National Championship picture and out of the BCS picture altogether. The battle for the Commonwealth Cup is for the highest of stakes this season.

The winner of Saturday’s matchup will win the ACC’s Coastal Division and will earn a matchup with Clemson in the ACC championship game. Virginia Tech must win out if they want any shot at the big game.

Kirk Herbstreit isn’t correct in his assessment of the Hokies, but neither are the people who have already placed them in New Orleans come January. Virginia Tech is slightly overrated, but that doesn’t mean that this won’t be a successful year. An Orange Bowl win would mean a lot for the Hokies and a lot for the ACC as a conference.

The race towards the end of the season begins Saturday, and the Hokies control their fate. They have the ability and the talent to make a run, but all of these title talks could come to a screeching halt if Tech doesn’t get past the Cavaliers.