does uva's abysmal recruiting bode well for the conference and the effect on the once-relevant rivalry between VT and uva? UVa lost two recruiting battles for VA athletes to JMU and ODU where UVa was the only other offer. An ACC program at a university that is perpetually rated as a top institution should be able to field a competitive team. I would contend that the long term impact is bad for the ACC (and therefore bad for VT as an "almost top-tier program" in the conference) due to the future inability of a conference member to field a team that can compete at this level. Alabama is better because Auburn and LSU are strong programs. Do we really want uva to suck at football?