Exploring Non-Conference Rivals For Virginia Tech

There was a recent guest article on ACCFootballRx written by MSTiger (a Clemson fan) in which he gives his outsider's view of which non-conference rivals each team should be playing annually, or at least regularly. This is what he wrote for Va Tech:

Virginia Tech
WVU – The Hokies and the Mountaineers have played 51 times since 1912. Their similar geography and industry gave rise to the "The Black Diamond Trophy". Even though it only began in 1997 any game that has a legit awesome trophy and name for its rivalry game should be played on a regular basis. Virginia Tech sits on the southern border of West Virginia and WVU is in the extreme north. Add to that the history of West Virginia’s break from the Commonwealth and you have not only a border state rivalry, but a North vs. South Hatfield’s and McCoy’s border feud that deserves a little respect and a few dates on the calendar.

Tennessee – Does anyone need directions to Neyland Stadium? Take a right on I-81 and you’ll be there in 3 ½ hours. These 2 teams have only played 8 times, but just like WVU they are close and share similar terrain, industry and culture. You would think this type of terrain would make it difficult for traveling fans even though they are close and maybe it has been the case in the past, but with the final completion of I-81 in 1987 there should be no excuses why this game isn’t a mainstay. "The Battle at Bristol" is scheduled for 2016, but this should be a regular part of the schedule for these 2 teams.

No huge surprise here - WVU and Tennessee are the 2 closest P5 OOC teams.
If you want to see who he picked for the other 13 ACC teams, check it out here.