#16 Virginia Tech Hokies: College Football 77 in 77

Welcome to The Sports Bank 77 in 77. We’re previewing one team a day everyday as the college football season approaches. And we’re doing it in rapid fire sequence. Today, the Virginia Tech Hokies

Go here for the VT college basketball season preview: #104 Virginia Tech Hokies

2011 was: a banner year in school history. However, they fell again in their BCS game. Even though they outgained the Michigan Wolverines 2-1 in yards, Frank Beamer fell to 1-5 in the big games. Their defense was phenomenal, 7th overall, top ten in scoring. The Hokies lost twice to Clemson, but otherwise took care of business with an 11 win season.

2012 will go smoothly if: the new running back lives up to the hype; the last guy was only ACC Player of the Year and a draft pick by the New York Giants. David Wilson’s replacement may be by committee, no certain front runner yet. QB Logan Thomas is the real deal, and will carry the load on offense. There isn’t much starting experience returning at offensive line. But the D returns 8 starters and was a sack happy bunch last season.

2012 will be rough if: there’s more questions than answers, especially on O, and in the skill positions. Also, they’ve won the conference games, but Beamerball has been lacking in all the big shootout non-conference type games.

BMOC: Thomas, DEs James Gayle and J.R. Collins. The Hopkins brothers who play the D tackles

All Name team: strong at this area, both with freshmen: Donaldven Manning and veterans Alonzo Tweedy

Bottom Line: 8-10 wins looks likely. They might be deserving of more, but it all depends on if they stay healthy at the positions where they have little depth. There’s going to be a step down from last year, probably. How much? depends on how well the youngsters on offense grow up in a hurry. Still might be the favorite in the ACC Coastal division though.

All the 77s

#17 Nebraska

#18 Boise State

#19 Oklahoma State

#20 Ohio State

#21 Texas

#22 Texas A&M

#23 Michigan State

#24 Louisville

#25 Stanford

#31 Virginia

#32 Notre Dame

#33 NC State

#34 Iowa

#35 BYU

#36 UCF

#37 Washington

#38 Tennessee

#39 Rutgers

#40 Penn State

#45 Mississippi State

#46 North Carolina

#47 Northwestern

#48 Miami, FL

#49 California

#50 SMU

#51 South Florida

#52 UConn

#53 UCLA

#54 Illinois

#55 Vanderbilt

#56 Washington St.

#59 Purdue

#62 Arizona State

#63 Boston College

#64 Ohio

#65 Marshall

#66 Arizona

#67 Southern Miss

#72 Colorado

#73 Kansas

#74 Maryland

#75 Duke

#76 Minnesota

#77 Indiana

Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Chicago Tribune.com, Fox Sports, Walter Football and Yardbarker

A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too

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