Virginia Tech Football: Roster Analysis Based on Past Recruiting Rankings

The website College Football By The Numbers (CFBTN for short) does some good work analyzing statistics. This week, CFBTN analyzed P5 team rosters based on previous 247 recruiting rankings of the players. In other words, how many 4 and 5 star players are currently on your roster, etc.? (note: for the full story, please click here).

Here are the top 4 teams in terms of roster star power, along with some other teams of interest to Hokie fans:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Florida St
4. Florida
...
10. Notre Dame
...
12. Clemson
...
17. Miami
...
25. Va Tech
26. Virginia
27. N Carolina

Naturally, VT will play the #2 roster in the country - on the road, no less! That's what Hokies do... but I digress.

On the other hand, let's face it - having a top-25 roster ain't half bad. With decent coaching, a team can win big with that kind of talent. The Hokies may not have a national championship roster (yet), but they are within striking range with a couple of good signing classes.

Here are a few more highlights from the CFBTN article as it relates to the Virginia Tech 2014 roster:
Number of former 5-star recruits: 1 (should be at least 2 more - stinkin' Mike London!)
Number of former 4-star recruits: 17

Trails best team in the country (Alabama) by 58 players
Trails best team in the ACC (Florida State) by 37 players

Yes, those top teams have so many 4 and 5 star players that blue chippers have to compete against each other for playing time. Virginia Tech is a few steps away from that level, but could the Hokies win the Coastal Division? Absolutely! Could they go so far as to earn an at-large spot in a Peach, Cotton or Fiesta Bowl? Call me crazy, but I think so.

Hokie football was built on the blue-collar lunch-pail work ethic: take a bunch of 3- and 4-star guys and coach 'em up. It worked once, it can work again. Still, star ratings do indicate talent to some extent. Tech needs more blue-chip players if it ever hopes to win that elusive national title.