An obvious Virginia fan has written to CNNSI to bash my beloved Virginia Tech:

Why is it that so many people in the media hold Virginia Tech in such high regard? I mean, the Hokies' history over the last 10 years is filled with criminal behavior and poor academic performance, and year in and year out they play one of the weakest schedules in Division I-A. Virginia Tech's ledger is stacked with nonconference cupcakes and obviously overrated ranked teams (see: LSU, Texas A&M), not to mention the pathetic excuse for a conference that is the Big East (no offense intended, Miami). I guess what I'm trying to say is: What makes this team worthy of a top-five ranking? To give credit where it is due, I will concede that the defense and special teams are impressive, but often against unworthy opponents. Care to provide any musings?
--Samuel Karns, Manassas, Va.

Mr. Kerns puts his complete lack of NCAA football knowledge on display with this rant. If he is unhappy with Virginia Tech's strength of schedule this year, he'll never be happy with it. LSU, Texas A&M and Marshall were deservedly Top 25 teams. LSU was the SEC champion last year, and proved their worth against Florida this week. Texas A&M hadn't lost a non-conference game at home in about 300 years until Virginia Tech came to visit. Both LSU and Texas A&M are top ranked in total defense, and scoring defense, while Marshall is ranked #1 in total offense.

As for the rest of VT's schedule, BC should be top 25, but losses to #1 Miami and #3 Tech have kept them out. Pitt put on an impressive showing at Notre Dame last week and should end up with a December Bowl. Virginia is coming back from their slow start, and WVU is looking better this year as well.

Nitwits like Kerns obviously have no idea what goes into scheduling NCAA football. First of all, schedules are laid out 5 years or so in advance. You can put a quality team like Notre Dame on your schedule, but there is no guarentee that they'll show up with a winning record in 5 years. Also, football teams need a certain number of home games to balance out their away games. Traveling is very expensive, and sometimes mutual agreements between schools cannot be reached. For instance VT has been trying to schedule Tennessee, who is just down the road, for several years now. Tennessee has been holding firm that they want 2 home games. Virginia Tech cannot afford to give up two home games and wants to split them home and away. So far the schools are no where near reaching an agreement to play each other.

As for the Big East as a conference, we have the best bowl record over the past two years. You cannot argue with success like that.