The calm before the buzz

Alright, you ramblin wrecks.

Four days until the players report on Sunday, and practice begins on Monday.

This will be the last blog until after practice on Monday. Going to try and spend some time with the wife and kids before the 10-month college sports season begins and I become scarce around the old household.

So, I’m apologizing now (now that it’ll matter to some), but this blog will be short.

First, no updates on Kyle Jackson yet. He did go to the doctor in Charlotte, but I haven’t been able to find out anything.

Other than that, the team is healthy heading into camp.

There was a lot of talk at the ACC football kickoff earlier this week about the lack of respect the ACC gets nationally. The prevailing reason seems to be because the ACC hasn’t had a team play for the national championship since 2000. And the league’s record in BCS games since then isn’t to be envied.

Throw in that FSU and Miami just aren’t the teams they once were, and there’s no reason to believe that they are going to ascend anytime soon to that once-certain place, it’s a recipe for yawns.

Virginia Tech has assumed the ACC throne, but they are not a team that will challenge for a national championship in the near future. The Hokies recruit well, but they just don’t bring in the consistent caliber of recruits that will help them breakthrough the phalanx of the usual suspects who sit atop college football right now. That’s not a criticism of Virginia Tech. What Frank Beamer and Bud Foster have done should be a model for any college football team looking to build itself into a quality program. And I’m not saying that off the top of my head. Before I moved back to Atlanta I was the sports editor of a paper in Virginia that covered the Hokies.

So, what’s the point of this little speech?

The point is this could be Georgia Tech’s time, and I don’t see why it can’t happen now.

The state has more than enough talent to supply two I-A programs, not to mention the poaching that goes on from other schools in the SEC and ACC, as well as the myriad quality I-AA programs in the state and south.

Georgia Tech has a coach and system that is not a gimmick. It has worked everywhere he’s been, and is based on the fundamentals of football: running the ball, and stopping the run. If you can run, they can’t score. And vice versa.

Plus, Atlanta is one of the largest metro markets in the country. Tech starts winning, it’ll start getting attention nationally. And attention, as we all know, is what puts teams high in the preseason polls and gives them a shot at starting off well in the BCS rankings. It’s not always fair, but that’s the way it is.

Of course, Tech does have the academic requirements that can put it at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting. But, because Johnson doesn’t always recruit the same type of players that other coaches recruit, that hurdle isn’t as big as it may sometimes seem to be. And, to be honest, it’s an extremely large pool of players to recruit from, and you can only sign 20-30 at a time (40 if you are Alabama or UNC).

So, anyway I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve got a feeling this could be a very interesting year on the Flats, and I look forward to telling the stories. 

So, why do you think the ACC hasn’t gotten the respect of the SEC or Big 12 the past few years? Should the ACC be considered the equal of the Big 10? Better than the Big East? Is this Georgia Tech’s time? Let me hear from you.

Please follow me on twitter at ajcgatech.