VT had an official invitation from the SEC. In the case of Missouri and Texas A&M, there is documentation out there to support both schools made the initial contact to the SEC.

"(Texas A&M) did approach the SEC, not the other way around," Gearhart said.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6861385/sec-satisfied-current-alignment-extend-invite-texas-am

"As I told y'all Friday, Texas A&M reached out to the SEC this time around, not the SEC reaching out to A&M."
http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/fsu-and-clemson-have-no-shot-at-the-sec-081311

"When Mizzou made a public showing about wanting to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten, there were sour feelings. But those seemed to heal after Mizzou and the rest of the Big 12 decided to fight expansion and stay together as a conference despite the loss of Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-12.

Well, that strawberry gumdrop aura only lasted so long as Missouri once again tried to find a way out of the Big 12 and this time found a willing suitor in the SEC. The SEC had already lured Texas A&M, threatening the membership sustainability of the Big 12, and now it wanted Missouri to complete it's 14-team league."
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/emails-show-big-12-tried-stop-missouri-leaving-150327542.html

So it is reasonable to assume that if VT really wanted to join the SEC, then it most likely needed to reach out to the SEC. Not the other way around. If for some reason the SEC did informally to VT, then there is no way to prove or disprove that VT officials told the SEC that they had their mind set on joining the ACC. The fact that VT had difficulty to join the ACC shows at the time that the school may have had tunnel vision and was only open to joining the ACC.

Now I do believe that VT could have been the 14th member in the SEC especially since the various reports listed VT as a possible candidate. However, I also believe that the school officials (not sure whom) were determine to see the school join the ACC. So I am not sure they would have accepted any invitation from the SEC, the Big XII, and maybe even the Big Ten.