Virginia Tech begins the 2024 season with a nonconference game against Vanderbilt. Virginia Tech has one of the easiest nonconference schedules, playing Marshall, Old Dominion and Rutgers in the first four weeks of the season. Virginia Tech could start the season well and would like to end the year with an ACC championship.

ESPN uses its FPI (Football Power Index) as an advanced analytics model to analyze matchups and predict outcomes. In ESPN’s own words: “FPI is a prediction rating system designed to measure the strength of teams and project future performance. The ultimate goal of FPI is not to rank teams from 1 to 128, but rather to correctly predict games and season outcomes. If Vegas ever released the power rankings it uses to set its lines, they would likely be very similar to FPI.”

Here’s what ESPN’s FPI has to say about Virginia Tech’s Week 1 game against Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium.

Week 1 at Vanderbilt: ESPN’s FPI gives Virginia Tech a 57.7% chance of winning

I think that percentage chance is pretty slim for Virginia Tech. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the spread for this game favors Virginia Tech by 13.5 points. Virginia Tech has a very fair chance to win this game as I think they are better in all aspects of the game. Vanderbilt has a questionable offense that certainly won’t be definitive in the first week of the season. The Commodores have a new quarterback, a new coordinator, and a completely new style of offense. I don’t have full confidence in Diego Pavia or any part of the offense, and this should be a pretty easy win.

Kyron Drones and Bhayshul Tuten should be able to handle the Vanderbilt defense. The Commodores struggled with the passing game last year, ranking 109th in yards per attempt allowed in 2023. The new additions in the transfer portal are exciting, but I don’t think Vanderbilt will make any major changes on defense.

The game odds are updated regularly and are subject to change.

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