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TSL recruiting analyst Chris Horne recently released his Pre-Summer Top 30. After viewing the list of prospects, one thing is clear.  Virginia Tech is thoroughly dominating UVA in in-state recruiting these days.

Virginia Tech has commitments from three of Horne's top five recruits in the state of Virginia.  Defensive end Zack McCray, offensive tackle Mark Shuman and defensive tackle Nick Acree have all given their verbal pledges to the Hokies.  Tech has also locked up #16 Derrick Hopkins, #20 Caleb Farris and #22 Tahrick Peak.

Meanwhile, Virginia doesn't have a single commitment from any player in the Top 30.  They have five commitments overall.  Two are from North Carolina, two are from Maryland and one is from New Jersey.

Even amongst the uncommitted prospects in-state, Virginia doesn't stand a great chance with many of them.  Offensive lineman Conner Davis, the #15 recruit in the state, appears to be UVA's best chance at landing an in-state player at the moment. 

Virginia Tech is still firmly in the running for a number of uncommitted prospects from the state of Virginia.  Defensive tackle Evan Hailes (#6), linebacker/safety Travis Williams (#7), linebacker Brian Laiti (#9), linebacker/safety Nick Dew (#12) and linebacker Chase Williams (#13) are all still listing the Hokies. 

Considering recent results on the field, this shouldn't be unexpected. Virginia Tech has won 10 or more games in each of the last five seasons. They have won the ACC three times, and played for the ACC Championship another time.  They won the Orange Bowl just this past season.

In those same five seasons, Virginia has never won more than nine games in a season, they've had a losing record twice, and their best bowl appearance was the Gator Bowl in which they lost to Texas Tech.  They also lost to Virginia Tech in all five seasons, and four of those losses were by double digits.

Then there are the question marks surrounding Al Groh and his coaching staff.  There seems to be a lot of coaching staff turnover at UVA each year, and Groh seems to be sizzling on the hotseat right now.  There is a strong possibility that any recruit who signs with Groh right now will be playing for a different coach before his college career is over.

The coaching situation at Virginia Tech couldn't be any different.  Frank Beamer has been at Tech since 1987, and there have been no staff changes in Blacksburg since the end of the 2005 season.  The Hokies have a number of excellent in-state recruiters who have built relationships in high schools through hard work over a number of years.

Bryan Stinespring, Jim Cavanaugh and Curt Newsome do an excellent job in the state of Virginia, and Bud Foster's name and reputation will get Tech's foot in the door of just about any in-state defensive recruit.  Not to mention that more and more high schools are now running variations of Bud Foster's defense, so it just makes sense for many of these in-state players to sign with Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech's advantage in-state has gotten bigger in the last several years. From 2004 through 2006, both programs signed 26 players from the state of Virginia. However, from 2007 through 2009, Virginia Tech has signed 41 in-state players, while UVA has signed just 20.

The advantage for the Hokies was enormous in the 2008 class, when Tech signed 17 in-state players compared to UVA's one. Buddy Ruff was the only in-state player to sign with UVA in 2008. Meanwhile, the Hokies signed four of the top five prospects in the state.

Virginia Tech has a major advantage over UVA right now in recruiting, and until the Hoos start showing better results on the field, don't expect that to change.