Virginia Tech football: Hokies poised to be one of college football’s most improved teams

How good will the Virginia Tech Hokies be in 2026? It’s not often that you see fans so excited about a team that finished 3-9 the year before. This is different. James Franklin changed everything for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech’s new head coach has flipped the roster. In addition to bringing over several talented players from the transfer portal, Franklin signed a top-25 recruiting class and brought back Tech’s top players from last season. Players like Kemari Copeland, Ayden Greene, Benji Gosnell, Quentin Reddish, Noah Chambers, and others wanted to be a part of what Franklin was building.

Why? There’s a belief among the players, fans, and the Virginia Tech community that not only will Franklin turn things around, but he’ll do it this year.

Cody Nagel of CBS Sports recently picked several teams poised to improve their win totals in 2026. Virginia Tech was among those teams.

2025 regular-season wins: 3 | FanDuel win total: 6.5

Which team improves its win total more in 2026, James Franklin’s old program or his new one? Virginia Tech has more runway to make a significant jump after bottoming out with just three wins last season.

At ACC Media Days, Franklin declared that the Hokies won the offseason, and as dangerous as that proclamation can be, it’s hard to argue otherwise. From the potential home-run hire to an aggressive influx of talent and renewed investment across the program, Virginia Tech has embraced a full-scale reset. The Hokies are betting those moves can finally awaken the sleeping giant that dominated the ACC throughout much of the Frank Beamer era.

2025 regular-season wins: 3 | FanDuel win total: 6.5

Which team improves its win total more in 2026, James Franklin’s old program or his new one? Virginia Tech has more runway to make a significant jump after bottoming out with just three wins last season.

At ACC Media Days, Franklin declared that the Hokies won the offseason, and as dangerous as that proclamation can be, it’s hard to argue otherwise. From the potential home-run hire to an aggressive influx of talent and renewed investment across the program, Virginia Tech has embraced a full-scale reset. The Hokies are betting those moves can finally awaken the sleeping giant that dominated the ACC throughout much of the Frank Beamer era.

The schedule will not be easy. But if the Hokies can start fast, they’ll have more wins in September than they had all of last year. There are four road games that will prove to be quite the challenge for Franklin and the Hokies. If they can escape that, this team can win 7 or 8 games in 2026.

Can they win more than 8? We shall see.