The Virginia Tech Hokies entered the 2004 college football season having gone 8 – 5 in 2003 , culminating with a 52 – 49 loss to California in the 2003 Insight Bowl . The 2003 season had also been Virginia Tech 's final year in the Big East Conference , and Tech began the new season in the Atlantic Coast Conference . Tech started the season unranked for the first time since 1998 , and was picked to finish sixth ( out of 11 ACC teams ) in the annual ACC preseason poll , held in July . The Hokies ' first game in their new conference was a non-conference contest at FedEx Field in Landover , MD. against the top-ranked USC Trojans . Tech lost , 24 – 13 , but recovered to win its next game — against lightly regarded Western Michigan — in blowout fashion , 63 – 0 . In its first conference game in the ACC , the Hokies beat Duke , 47 – 17 , to improve to a 2 – 1 record . Their first win in the ACC was followed by their first loss , however , as the Hokies lost the next week to North Carolina State , 17 – 16 , when Tech kicker Brandon Pace missed a last-second field goal
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2005 Sugar Bowl