Virginia Tech vs. Virginia Spread, Line, Odds, Predictions, Picks, and Betting Preview

The Virginia Tech Hokies (5-6) look to stop the bleeding and reach bowl eligibility as they make the short trip to Charlottesville to do battle with the Virginia Cavaliers (6-5).

This will be the 103rd iteration of the rivalry known as the Commonwealth Cup. Virginia Tech holds the all-time series lead at 59-38-5.

Let’s get straight to the point. The Hokies are a rudderless team without a head coach (Justin Fuente was fired in mid-November), and they’ve shown few signs of life. They’ve been a money burner for bettors, going just 2-7 ATS in their past nine games. Now there’s uncertainty at the quarterback position after Braxton Burmeister was benched halfway through last week’s 38-26 loss to Miami.

Virginia has been a tough out despite sitting at only 6-5 on the season. All five losses have come against bowl teams, with four coming against surging teams with at least nine wins on the season (Pitt, Notre Dame, BYU, Wake). The offense has been a juggernaut led by star quarterback Brennan Armstrong, averaging 390.2 passing yards per game. As a group, they’re accumulating 517.8 yards per game on a ridiculous 6.8 yards per play.

The Hokies have a solid secondary, allowing barely over 200 passing yards per game. We wouldn’t look too hard at that matchup, however — Armstrong and company have been able to move the ball on everybody, and that shouldn’t change here. 

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall is one of our favorite coaches to back. They’ve gone against some very good teams and some good offenses that have been able to exploit their miserable defense, hampering their overall record and profitability from a betting standpoint. The Hokies don’t appear well-positioned to rack up points like some of their prior opponents, and Mendenhall will have the troops motivated to grab a much-needed victory in this heated rivalry.

Virginia minus the points or pass.