History of the Hokies

The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, and field, and wrestling. Virginia Tech's women's sports are basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, and field, golf, and volleyball.

Virginia Tech teams have never won an NCAA championship, but individual athletes from the program have won 18 individual national titles in various track and field events and in wrestling. Though not affiliated with the NCAA, Virginia Tech won the 2007 national championship of bass fishing. The Hokie men's basketball team won the 1973 and 1995 NIT tournaments and went to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in 1967 and 2019. The Hokies football team lost to Florida State in the 2000 Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) and finished the 1999 season with a #2 ranking in the BCS Poll.

The stylized VT (the abbreviation for Virginia Tech) is used primarily by the athletic department as a symbol for Virginia Tech athletic teams. The "athletic VT" symbol is trademarked by the university and appears frequently on licensed merchandise.

During the early years of the university, a rivalry developed between the Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech, then called VPI. This rivalry developed into the original "Military Classic of the South," which was an annual football game between VMI and VPI on Thanksgiving Day in Roanoke, Virginia. This rivalry continued until 1970 when Tech's football program became too large and too competitive for VMI. Today, Tech's major athletic rivalries include the Virginia Cavaliers (see Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry), the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Miami Hurricanes.

Virginia Tech's fight song, Tech Triumph, was written in 1919 and remains in use today. Tech Triumph is played at sporting events by both the Virginia Tech band, The Marching Virginians, and the Corps of Cadets' band, the Highty Tighties. The Old Hokie spirit yell, in use since 1896, is familiar to all Tech fans.

Many of Tech's more modern traditions were adopted after the construction of Lane Stadium in 1964. Virginia Tech's football traditions and the school's fans are the subjects of a 2007 full-length documentary called Hokie Nation which features a mix of interviews with coaches, players, and fans as well as a look at Hokie football history and the direction of the program.

College Sports Established
1895

Location
Blacksburg, Virginia

College Name
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1921 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
1907 - 1921 / Athletic Association of the United States

Conference History
2004 - Present / ACC
1991 - 2004 / Big East Conference
1978 - 1991 / Metro Conference
1965 - 1978 / Independent
1921 - 1965 / Southern Conference
1907 - 1921 / South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1895 - 1906 / Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Nickname
Hokies - The Virginia Tech Hokie is a thing of mystery. For fans unfamiliar with Tech's mascot, the much-beloved bird is an orange and maroon turkey—but it's called a HokieBird, hence the nickname "Hokies."

The nickname originated in the 1896 when the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (VAMC) changed its name Virginia Polytechnic Institute, now known commonly as Virginia Tech. Then abbreviated as "V.P.I," school administrators held a contest to find a new cheer to go with the University's new name.

Senior O.M. Stull won the contest with his cheer, "Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy; Techs! Techs! V.P.I." While Stull later admitted that the word 'hoki' had no real meaning, it worked as an attention-getter. The term stuck.

NCAA Championships
Baseball 0

Men's Basketball 0

Women's Basketball 0

Football 0

Soccer 0