I'd love to focus on Ohio State's success in the 96-2010 period but the focus here belongs on VaTech and Frank Beamer. In the first 60 years of the AP Poll (1936-1995) VaTech was a complete nobody, they had:
- 44 total AP Poll appearances - That is roughly three every four years and was 68th nationally.
- 1 total AP Top-10 appearance - In sixty freaking years.
- ZERO AP Top-5 appearances - EVER.
The above actually somehow manages to understate Frank Beamer's impact on that program because he became HC at VaTech in 1987 and 31 of VaTech's 44 AP appearances prior to 1996 were under Beamer between 1987-1995. Additionally, their one and only top-10 appearance before 1996 was in the final poll of 1995 under Frank Beamer.
VaTech in the AP Poll before Frank Beamer (1936-1986):
- 13 TOTAL appearances:
- 9 in 1954 at 14-19
- 3 in 1956 at 15-18
- 1 in 1986 at #20
Then under Frank Beamer they were #3 in total appearances from 1996-2010. That is insane.
