 Virginia Tech began the 1998 season after going 7 – 5 the previous year, including a 42 – 3 blowout loss to North Carolina in the 1998 Gator Bowl. Prior to the 1998 season, the annual preseason poll of Big East football media picked Virginia Tech to finish fourth in the Big East, and West Virginia was favored to win the conference. Most pre-season attention was focused on whether Tech would perform well enough to attend a sixth consecutive bowl game at the season's end.
