The Cavaliers and Hokies had a program-wide rivalry first called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005–2007) which UVA swept 2–0 before ending the series in a show of sportsmanship following the Virginia Tech massacre.

A second series called the Commonwealth Clash (2014–2019), under revised[a] rules and sponsored by the state's Virginia 529 College Savings Plan, was again won by UVA, 3–2.

On the other side of the rivalry, Virginia Tech is one of two ACC programs (the other is Pittsburgh) to have not yet earned its first NCAA Championship in a team sport.

In basketball and volleyball, where the two schools meet twice per season, each individual game is worth one-half point.

In sports where teams participate in meets or tournaments instead of head-to-head – cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, and men's and women's golf – the school that finishes higher in the ACC championship earns the point.

[9] The Clash made its return after a three-year absence for the 2021–22 academic year, with Smithfield Foods taking over sponsorship duties.

[13] In 2022–23, the Cavaliers took home the Clash after posting a better finish than Tech at the ACC Championships in men's golf, eventually winning, 12–9.

Former Ohio State quarterback and football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said in 2004 that he "never realized how much those people hate each other."

Talks with Syracuse stalled as Jim Boeheim vocalized his opposition to the move, and Duke, UNC, and Virginia consistently voted against adding the Orange.

Virginia Governor Mark Warner earlier had suggested the NCAA intervene and mediate the expansion process, and when that failed added pressure to UVA President John Casteen to refrain from casting an affirmative vote for the conference's plan to expand without Virginia Tech.

[19] UVA President John T. Casteen III then offered a plan to have the ACC expand but consider Virginia Tech in lieu of Syracuse on June 18, 2003.

The primary significance of this development to the rivalry was that the athletic teams from the two schools would now be mandated to play every year.

In addition to ending the original Commonwealth Challenge, the Virginia Tech massacre had the effect of lessening of hostilities between the two universities during the aftermath.

[21] ...there was the sense among Tech students that fans of U-Va. – an institution founded by none other than Thomas Jefferson – looked down their noses at the mountain-ensconced Hokies of Blacksburg.

U-Va. students and faculty members wrote condolence letters, held a candlelight vigil and even painted the campus's fabled Beta Bridge with a pro-Hokies phrase.UVa.

The University's Z Society went so far as unveiling a 65' x 120' Virginia Pride flag featuring both UVA and VT logos on it during the annual football game, and it was noted that the two fan bases had never been so close as they were after the shootings.

The following Saturday, November 19, Virginia Tech and Liberty Flames football players wore orange and navy blue jerseys to match U-Va.'s colors prior to their matchup.