The Hokies hired Beamer in 1987 and joined the Big East in 1991. Virginia Tech joined the Big East around the same time that it brought on the legendary football coach and alum Frank Beamer. The 1991 additions included West Virginia, Miami (FL), Rutgers, Temple, and Virginia Tech. John’s, etc.) and then the larger state universities and larger private schools that comprised the Big East’s football product. This unique configuration meant that there were essentially two parts of one conference: the smaller, Catholic, legacy basketball members (Georgetown, Villanova, Providence, St. The conference remained predominantly basketball-focused until inviting Football-only associate members beginning in 1991 in an effort to grow the reach of the conference. Seven basketball powers founded the Big East conference in 1979. Virginia Tech remained outside any conference affiliation for 25 years. Virginia Tech did not leave for the SEC in 1932 and did not leave with the ACC in 1953, resulting in the Hokies remaining in the Southern Conference until finally deciding to opt for independence in 1964.

This left Virginia Tech in the depleted Southern Conference.

The ACC later added Virginia and Georgia Tech, while South Carolina departed for the SEC. The Southern Conference added additional members to replace them, but in 1953 seven members met and decided to break away from the conference to found the ACC: Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest. In 1932, the western schools all left and created the SEC. The Southern Conference did not last long with its charter members. The founding charter members of the Southern Conference included a mixture of current SEC and ACC teams: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee. Between 19, Virginia Tech was a member of the Southern Conference – which ultimately spurred the creation of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1932. Before joining the Big East, Virginia Tech bounced around various conference affiliations and was twice an independent in athletics.

Acc conference