If you think Virginia Tech is a better brand for applicants you are delusional. No one where I go to school knows anything about the school and it's viewed as a huge party school. UVA was most kids safety school, but plenty of kids were fully prepared to go there and would've been thrilled for the opportunity. That's like pretending you're a better brand than Harvard or Stanford because you had more early applicants. You had more because kids know they can get in. No argument here on the football piece but you're delusional if you think it goes beyond that.