An impromptu Scheduling Day at CFT continues, with one ACC program confirming a handful of future matchups with the SEC.
At the end of its release announcing a future home-and-home with Florida State, Alabama included the mention of a previously-unannounced series with Virginia Tech in 2034 and 2035. Shortly thereafter, Tech confirmed not only that series but two other future home-and-homes with schools from the same conference -- Ole Miss in 2032 (Blacksburg) and 2037 (Oxford) as well as one in 2024 and 2025 against an SEC team to be named later.
The 2024-25 home-and-home against an unspecified SEC opponent will replace one that had previously been scheduled with Wisconsin, with that Big Ten school getting out of the agreement in order to schedule a series for the same years with Alabama.
From Tech’s release:Wisconsin approached us within the last year about moving our game dates again or potentially even cancelling our two future games. Knowing Wisconsin and Alabama could certainly pay the collective $1 million cancellation fee if they wanted to ultimately play on our dates in 2024 and 2025, we didn’t want to be left without a second Power Five non-conference opponent in those years.
“Fortunately, everyone worked together to get to our final outcome. We worked with Dave Brown of Gridiron to help identify an opportunity for us to play an SEC opponent in 2024 and 2025, then the Wisconsin contract got amended, thereby freeing up the shift, and additionally, Alabama worked with us to schedule a future home-and-home series in the out years.
Alabama and Virginia Tech have met 13 times previously -- the Crimson Tide is 12-1 in those games -- with the last three meetings (2013, 2009, 1998) taking place on neutral fields. Nine of the first 10 games in the miniseries took place in Alabama, with the lone trip the Tide has ever made to Blacksburg, 1969, was also former head coach Frank Beamer’s senior season as a defensive back at Tech.
Tech has played Ole Miss just twice -- a 1968 Rebels win in the Liberty Bowl and a 1913 Hokies win in Blacksburg.