On Thursday, Oct. 27, No. 24 NC State football is set to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in a primetime battle under the lights. As a native Virginian, this game feels like a battle between past and present, pride for my home-state team versus the school I will have a connection with for the rest of my life. What many people at either school don’t understand however, is that NC State and Virginia Tech have a lot in common with each other. 

Academics

Are you interested in engineering or agriculture? How about a school that has multiple research opportunities and top-class professors in your desired field? A school that prides itself on being a rigorous in-state institution? Then look no further than NC State, or its direct equivalent across the border — Virginia Tech. The two schools have not just been battling out on the fields, but also in the classroom; with many polls placing the universities close to each other in rankings for their stellar engineering and agriculture programs. 

Rivalries 

As a native Virginian, I know single-handedly that there’s only one important choice to make in regards to college sports — are you a Wahoo or a Hokie? You’ll be asked this question starting at a very young age, and you’ll need an answer. No matter what team you have a connection with, it’s also imperative that you stick with it for the rest of your life. 

You will never find a true Hokie using the UVA navy-and-orange together in an outfit. Furthermore, there’s not a better football game than the Commonwealth Cup, where every Thanksgiving weekend the two sides compete against each other in a grueling battle to earn the title of “Virginia’s Team.”

For all you North Carolinians, does this sound familiar? A large agriculture and engineering school facing off against its so-called “big brother” program, fueling the rivalry that has deep rooted connections to students and families around the country? The in-state rivalry between NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill is a mirror image of the UVA and VT rivalry, so much so that any native Virginian can feel right at home in picking the Wolfpack’s side. 

Game day

If there is one thing that the ACC understands, it’s game day. Ever since 2004, the Wolfpack and Hokies have been battling it out themselves on the gridiron. Both fan bases are highly passionate about their teams and even use their signature battle cries without hesitation on game days as “Go Pack!” or “Let’s go Hokies!” echo throughout their respective stadiums. 

While the Pack has Carter-Finley, the Hokies have Lane Stadium. The 65,000 seat football stadium hosts conference games that cause literal earthquakes in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Hokie’s biggest sports tradition, jumping to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” while the football team runs onto the field, has registered on the Richter scale many times throughout the fall.

With NC State looking to extend its home win streak to 14 games, Carter-Finley is set to be rocking once again against the Hokies, especially with the Wolfpack favored against its state-adjacent ACC adversary. 

As Oct. 27 gets closer, these two schools and their students are preparing to tune into a game that holds a lot on the line for each institution. These academically similar, and so-called little brother programs always have much to prove, and they’ll do it under the lights as all of the Wolfpack and Hokie nations will be ready to cheer on their teams until the death.