No. 7 Virginia Tech Hokies

2008 Record: 10-4.
2008 Against the Spread: 6-7.
2009 Odds to win BCS Championship: 25/1.
Key games: at Alabama Sept. 5; at Georgia Tech Oct. 17; vs. North Carolina Oct. 29.

Overview: One of the safest football predictions you can make every season in college football is that the Virginia Tech Hokies will contend for the ACC title and compete in a BCS bowl game.

Under venerable coach Frank Beamer, Tech's patented "Beamer Ball" includes a swarming defense and special-teams units that are just as capable of scoring points as the Tech offense.  In recent seasons, Tech's reliance on defense and special teams has become somewhat of a liability, as inconsistency on offense plagued the club and cost it some close games.

Despite a slow early start to the season that included a loss to East Carolina, Virginia Tech quietly rebounded and eventually found itself in the ACC Championship Game. Its win over Boston College provided a trip to a BCS Bowl, where the Hokies defeated Cincinnati as a slight underdog.

Given the team's struggles, inconsistency and injury problems, getting to 10 wins was no small feat, and Beamer publicly called the season one of his most satisfying as Tech's head coach.

If all goes as planned, the Hokies should return to their usual perch atop what many expect to be a mediocre ACC this season.

One of Virginia Tech's problems essentially has solved itself; quarterback Sean Glennon has graduated, leaving the job exclusively to the more athletic Tyrod Taylor.

Beamer spent much of the past two seasons rotating Glennon, a classic pocket passer with good accuracy, with the speedy and versatile Taylor. Unfortunately, the one-two punch backfired at times. Both quarterbacks struggled to achieve any sort of rhythm, and neither seemed to play his best while consistently looking over his shoulder. Tech's season took a turn for the better later in the year when Taylor was given the nod as the No. 1 starter.

Despite inexperience and youth in the running game and at wide receiver, Taylor's playmaking ability should make the Tech offense a formidable weapon. Most of the offensive line returns, as well.

The core of Tech's defense returns intact, and Beamer inevitably has standout players waiting in the wings to fill the few voids that were left.

Virginia Tech faces a big early test at Alabama, and the Hokies don't have a strong history against top-ranked opponents on the road; last season they were blasted in a trip to LSU.    

Even so, they always seem to be at their best toward the season's end, and you can expect another solid season on the horizon.

2009-10 Virginia Tech Hokies Football Predictions: 11-3, non-BCS bowl appearance.