Phil Steele: Hokies No. 29

Steelemas has come early for Virginia Tech fans. Steele has Tech ranked 29th in his 2014 top 40 countdown. Unless his methodology has changed, Steele's preseason top 40 is a projection of where he believes teams will finish in the final rankings. In other words, it's not a power ratings.

His capsule is always an excellent overview of where the program has been the last few seasons, and where it might be headed. Baring any injuries, I complete agree with his defensive starting lineup. However, I think the offensive front-five is a bit jumbled. I think Farris will start at center, and two of the three of Conte, Teller, and Smith will be the guards. Brent Benedict's status is up in the air, but even if healthy I'm not sure if he would've regained a starting spot. At the very least, it's a positive that there are a lot of o-linemen on the roster with starting/game experience that can play a variety of positions.

Juice Williams is also missing from the running back projections. I'm not sure what, if anything, that implies.

Pay attention to his note for Tech's matchup with Ohio State. "First meeting. The Hokies are 19-2 in 'true' road openers (lost at #2 LSU in '07 & at Pitt in '12). VT is 3-7 L3Y vs ranked opp's. VT last beat a Top10 ranked squad in '09 (#9 Miami, Fl), dropping 3 str since".