Tech will grace a BCS game, but not THE BCS game
The good news: Georgia Tech should — not could, should — play in the Orange Bowl as the ACC champion. The less-good news: Georgia Tech cannot reasonably aspire to anything better than the Orange Bowl, and there is one game better. It will be played in Pasadena, and it’s for the BCS title.
Tech was ranked No. 11 in the BCS standings announced yesterday, and to play for the BCS title a team must be no lower than No. 2. It sounds overly simplistic to say that for Tech to climb nine spots nine teams would have to lose, but that’s essentially how it is. With the Jackets’ schedule, they aren’t apt to jump anybody ahead of them so long as those teams keep winning.
A few of those teams must lose. Alabama and LSU will meet, and the winner of that game will surely play Florida for the SEC championship. And Southern Cal and Oregon face off this weekend. So that’s three teams ranked above Tech that are guaranteed having one more loss than they do today. But only three.
It’s unlikely Boise State or TCU will lose. (Cincinnati could, though: The Bearcats have West Virginia and Pittsburgh remaining.) And if the current standings suggest anything, it’s that an unbeaten team from a non-BCS league figures to trump a once-beaten team from the ACC.
The Jackets have four games remaining in their regular season. They’ll be favored in each. The cumulative record of those four teams is 14-16. Not one is ranked. Nothing Tech does in those four games is going to impress anyone the way, say, Oregon beating Southern Cal or LSU beating Alabama would. The meat of Tech’s schedule is behind it, and even the ACC title game in Tampa figures to offer no heavyweight opposition. Every Atlantic Division team holds at least three losses.
Put simply, a once-beaten conference champion from the Big 12 — say Texas loses to Oklahoma State this Saturday but then wins out — or the Pac-10 would surely shade Tech in the final rankings. The ACC has lost cachet by the carload these past few seasons, and history teaches that the teams extended the benefit of the BCS doubt are those that have already caught someone’s eye. (Think LSU in 2007, which was ranked No. 1 twice only to lose and still wound up the national champ.)
For all its splendid work, Tech isn’t yet in the top 10. The guess here is that it will be somewhere around No. 5 come Dec. 6, the day the final BCS standings are revealed, and that in the grand scheme is really good. (The obvious assumption is that Tech won’t lose again this calendar year, which it shouldn’t.) But the BCS will never be a truly grand creation simply because different teams and different leagues are held to different standards.
Were Tech still in the SEC with its one loss, it would stand a fighting chance to reach Pasadena. Because it plays in a conference that has lost whatever sheen it once possessed, it has next to no chance. Sad but true.
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378 comments Add your comment
A Dawg Fan
October 26th, 2009
7:52 am
Give it up guys, Dawgs will loose out the rest of the season. We suck this year and until little Willie and Mike Boob is gone we will continue to suck.
misterwax
October 26th, 2009
7:53 am
Actually Spurrier lobbied hard to get the job at GT after Curry left. He knew he could run his offense here but the AD staff would not hire him and went with Bobby Ross instead…..Steve was ticked and went to Duke a year or so later and quickly lead the conference using his offensive style…Spurrier knew he could recruit any kid nation – wide to play in Atlanta, but the TECH staff would not see it….to their great loss.
GT Fan
October 26th, 2009
7:53 am
Love those UGAG fans…They have a horrible football team, sub-standard academics and a classless fan base. What is there to live for???
Jaded Jacket
October 26th, 2009
7:55 am
I feel the same way, Mark. It doesn’t appear the BCS stars will be aligned in Tech’s favor this year. But at least Tech is in the conversation again.
GT Rules State
October 26th, 2009
7:55 am
UGAyer’s … what’s plans during bowl season? Start your own .. play with yourself and call it the jerk off Dawg Bowl. Losers
Cosmo
October 26th, 2009
7:55 am
If you UGA fans keep living in the past the future will pass you by…. BTW- Perhaps you are lost, this is the Tech blog or did I miss a story about UGA shutting down the football program?
Mark is spot on as this is what I had projected and would be really happy to have happen as a top 5 finish is a great finish and foundation for 2010. We only have 2 starting seniors on either side of the ball so FINISH STRONG and the respect will be earned for 2010 when we can make it 3 in a row against the dawgies.
Drexel Gal
October 26th, 2009
7:57 am
A Tech loss to Georgia would not affect its chances of reaching the Orange Bowl, since it has no bearing on the ACC title. But, even if Tech wins the Coastal Division, they would likely face a suddenly-hot Clemson team, and their best hope would be for the Gator Bowl.
Starring Henry Wilcoxon as Bishop Pickering
October 26th, 2009
7:59 am
Let’s get the facts right about Spurrier. He was an assistant under Pepper Rodgers (who was his OC as a sophomore at UF) in 1979. When Pepper was fired, Spurrier wanted to stay but Bill Curry chose not to keep him. Spurrier went to Duke as OC, then the USFL as HC with the Bandits, then HC at Duke. Spurrier enjoyed running up the score on UK when Curry was the HC there because of Curry snubbing him at Tech. He enjoyed sticking it to UGA when he was at UF. BTW Dog fans: Don’t you have other things to worry about besides Tech?
joe
October 26th, 2009
8:00 am
Lawdy. Tech will have to win the ACCCG first.
Rick H
October 26th, 2009
8:01 am
all true but the real question is where they are going to START next year
Hint: They won’t have 9 teams to jump over.
Dan
October 26th, 2009
8:01 am
While your facts are basically correct Voice of Reason, your supposition that SS “campaigned” to stay on the Tech staff is questionable seeing how SS had already been fired by the Tech administration and had accepted a job at Duke before Bill Curry ever got around to hiring a staff.
Mark Bradley
October 26th, 2009
8:02 am
Southern Cal loses its annual game and is still in the top 5. Tech loses a game in week 3 and is still trying to crack the top 10. Unfair? Sure.
Dan
October 26th, 2009
8:05 am
Curry said, “I never fired Steve,” he said. “(Georgia Tech) fired the (Pepper Rodgers) staff before I got there. Then while I was deliberating who from that staff to retain, Steve took the Duke (assistant’s) job.”
From Curry’s own mouth.
GT Rules State
October 26th, 2009
8:09 am
Mark, USC will always have the west coast edge in the polls. Just like Notre Dame. What other #25 team do you know of that had a serious contender for Heisman? GT will earn it in the hard way. That’s ok.
Atlanta1
October 26th, 2009
8:10 am
I would like to point out to all the Dawg Fans talking about Tech’s Record against UGA, that The Jackets are making a living out of breaking records and Streaks this year…Win against VA-Tech as home and the beating they laid on UVA this past weekend. Also This is NOT the Tech team of old. The only thing this team has in common with Chan’s squads is that they wear the same colors!
GO Jackets!
Trey
October 26th, 2009
8:11 am
The biggest joke is the acc right now has the best 5 teams at the top. GT is playing the best football than anyone. It’s ironic however it will come down to too fellow acc members for our lack of being higher. Had VT beaten bama and clemson over tcu, we would probably be #5 now.
joe
October 26th, 2009
8:11 am
actually the colors are different.
booger
October 26th, 2009
8:12 am
I likes my men with tight ends. dont you?
Cuz
October 26th, 2009
8:13 am
Take em one game at a time Jackets and then see what shakes out. Gotta wins in Wake and Duke.
Trey
October 26th, 2009
8:17 am
WHat a bs about so cal is they lost to a 5 loss Wash team who went 0-12 last year. Our loss is to a top 20 2 loss miami team. AND who is playing better now? That answer is obvious as usc looked awful sat night. Yet there they are 6 spots ahead of us. This is why a playoff has to happen. College football is the laughing stock of the sports world the way they crown their “champion” until a playoff comes.
Big time?? Not
October 26th, 2009
8:19 am
Four tickets, four hot dogs, four cokes
Dan
October 26th, 2009
8:20 am
Trey other than your offense the rest of your team sucks. Tech can’t win a game that comes down to defense like Alabama or Florida. A poor offensive performance at GT = loss. GT is not “playing the best football” right now. Your biggest asset is the crap schedule that you play. Alabama and Florida are playing the best football because they are multidimensional. They can win with offense, defense, and special teams. Tennessee would more than likely beat you.
Old Dawg fan
October 26th, 2009
8:21 am
Us old Dawg fans root for Tech until the last game (Pride in the state of Georgia). The more you win the better that last game is.
My dream game before this old Dawg dies is Georgia and Tech one and two in the nation between the hedges and Georgia wins! Maybe with this will happen yet.
Go Jackets until the Saturday after Thanksgiving then it’s GO DAWGS!
Dooley's Cardiologist
October 26th, 2009
8:22 am
Is it sad that I am more worried about Vandy and Wake, than I am UGA?? I will keep saying this until it happens, GT WILL put up 60 points against UGA high school defense!! After that they’ll be begging to be ranked 39th in the country.
Dooley's Cardiologist
October 26th, 2009
8:23 am
*** UGA’s ***
CeeJay1977
October 26th, 2009
8:25 am
I think that what Clemson did to Miami actually proved that if we would have been a little more rested for the trip down to Miami things would have turned out much differently! Remember we played 3 games in 12 days. Miami had 10 days to get ready for us. Our offense is clicking right now and our D looked pretty good Sat. Morgan Burnett made a hit that was phenomenal and our young Linebackers are holding their own. I think we are underrated but to be honest that is good for us. I believe a national championship is far fetched but an ACC championship and a BCS bowl in Coach Johnsons second year is a big deal. I also want to say that Josh Nesbitt is impressing me more and more each week. We have to remember that he was recruited by Chan Gailey not Johnson. So, the fact that he is running that complicated offense as well as he is just shows that he is an amazing athlete. Three 100 yd rushing games and 7 tds in those three games. WOW!! Bay Bay is a beast, Anthony Allen has been a great addition, Dwyer is having a little bit of an off year but he still has held his own. I am proud of our Jackets and cannot wait to beat UGA again this year!!
Big Time?? Not
October 26th, 2009
8:26 am
70 tons of trash left on campus after a game. Entering November with a 4-4 record.
EEJacket
October 26th, 2009
8:32 am
Dawgs are reacting just like everyone else has to this team, trying to find some historical excuse why they’ll loose every single week. I think PJ and the team have made it pretty clear by now that history means next to nothing to them.
That said, lets just keep it grounded people. We can talk about NC’s at the end of next season at the EARLIEST, lets just focus on each game. Last damn thing we need is to trip up against Vandy and go to the lol.com bowl.
However, I have never had such a faith (cautious though it may be) in a coach before! Go Jackets! (Good thing, too, as my NFL team is the Bucs. lolz.)
Pi$$onaDawg
October 26th, 2009
8:33 am
Good Luck Dawgs. You really need something good to happen this year. Maybe the Refs will not steal a game from you in JAX.
Winger
October 26th, 2009
8:35 am
For all you UGA historians, those dominating teams that beat Tech all those years aren’t playing this year. Historical greatness never did anything for the future. Just look at the way the Braves sign players because of past performance, but they never deliver in the present. That said, I think UGA will win this year.
gthater
October 26th, 2009
8:37 am
Boooo Jackets the Sec confrence is ten times harder than the acc!
PMC
October 26th, 2009
8:40 am
why is oregon who started the season as flat and lousy as possible ranked ahead of Ga Tech?
Baba O'Riley
October 26th, 2009
8:40 am
Has there ever been a worse undefeated team from a major conference at this point of the season than IOWA?
TO cobb dawg
October 26th, 2009
8:41 am
do some homework and learn a little about the sport… Spurrier coached at Tech in the late 70’s
you spew your baseless venom just like the rest of the dawg nation – misinformed, baseless, visceral garbage that is not grounded in fact. Reminds me of Sarah Palin now that I think about it…
Winger
October 26th, 2009
8:41 am
Tech lost to Miami because our defense was too sophisticated. When the scheme became more reasonable, the tables turned. Sure Tech played 3 games in 12 days, otherwise it would have been 14 days. Conditioning at that point of the year shouldn’t have made any difference. We just matured a little late.
TO baba o'riley
October 26th, 2009
8:42 am
I would not dismiss Iowa – they took it to my gamecocks last year
Baba O'Riley
October 26th, 2009
8:42 am
GT’s monumental fall from the polls after the Miami loss is haunting them now. What’s strange is that Miami rocketed up the polls based on that win. If GT was so bad as to drop completely out of the polls after that loss, why were they so impressed with Miami to move them up so far? Definitely a double standard.
Saint Simons
October 26th, 2009
8:44 am
UGA #39 hahahahahahahahahahahahaha go gators
PMC
October 26th, 2009
8:44 am
they just need to keep winning thier games. An ACC championship is the most important and the first step. A BCS bowl would be huge. National Championships require you doing everything right and having the national cache to put your team in the game. It’s not like it’s settledon the field or anything. TCU and Cincinatti are very good. Boise State is good and maybe a bit over thier skiis this year. Not quite as good as thier record. They really only had Oregon on the schedule. If Tech wins an ACC title this year after losing all they did on defense that would be huge.
Trey
October 26th, 2009
8:45 am
Yeah dan that tennessee offense is so powerful. Bama couldn’t even score a td at home against them. Bama is the most overrated piece of junk. Tech handled miss st better than fla AND lsu did. Yet you continue your ignorant statements against us. Our d? We took care of VT and VA. You are delusional. Fla should already have a loss but the refs are keeping them undefeated. Your sec is not any better than the acc this year. In fact, it’s below. Vandy nearly beating SC at SC? Give me a break. And that officiating in the fla miss st game. It’s so apparently obvious the refs are doing all they can to keep fla and bama undefeated for the sec game as they have to have an sec team in the nat champ game. It’s going to be funny to watch the ga fans complain about the bad calls in the fla game this week at the same time talk up the sec. Fla bama multi dimensional? ROFL. Yeah, not being able to score a td against tenn sure is multi dimensional. Idiot. Even ohio u did so 3 weeks go. The sec is a joke this year. If the system wasn’t rigged, fla would have a loss to Arky and Bama would be dropping from it’s crappy play. Yay bama beats a 4 loss tenn team and can’t score a off td. They are soooo strong! What an offense. Their red zone scoring, when they do get there 1-2 times a game is one of the worst in the country. That’s is not a pedigree for a nat champ team.
GT_64
October 26th, 2009
8:47 am
bugsquacher is really a pathetic wretch. Get a life, fellow. Yes, your dawgies suck, and no, they’re not going to get any better as long as Richt is there. Why don’t you take up chess or bowling to take your mind off UGA? Posting on a Tech blog just shows how desperate you are for attention.
Look, UGA is just a crappy school. Period. Football is just a distraction from the silly coursework that leads to a worthless liberal arts degree and a job at Waffle House. Football at least gets the student’s and alumni’s minds off the wretchedness of their existence for a few hours on Saturdays. So enjoy it even if the team sucks this year and most of the players are illiterate and spend time each week with their parole officer. And be nice to Richt. A real coach would suspend arrested players for the season, not just one game. And ask yourself why other teams don’t have the arrest record of UGA.
You reap what you sow.
Tech Tony
October 26th, 2009
8:47 am
The old adage is that one must crawl before one can walk and one must walk before one can run. Therefore, as far as the national stage is concerned:
2008—Tech learned to crawl
2009—Tech is walking, briskly too might I add
2010—Tech runs
FL over UGA is a done deal
October 26th, 2009
8:48 am
Trey is correct – the fix is in, and the SEC powers want to guarantee that FL or Bama are in the Natl Championship game. I look for a ton of holding calls against UGA this week… in the first half of course, to allow UF to put some pts on the board early
GT_64
October 26th, 2009
8:50 am
Note to gthater: Get a life. Your bleatings are so pathetic.
Get Real
October 26th, 2009
8:53 am
You mean the acc front runners did not move up in the polls after beating the Wahoo’s? Oh that’s right…..Bill & Mary also beat the same team. I can’t understand why the acc does not receive any more respect….I mean just look at their fine record in BCS game!!LMAO
gthater
October 26th, 2009
8:54 am
gt_64: the acc is pathetic!
TamoshanterTech
October 26th, 2009
8:56 am
The UGA fans who are deluding themselves that the officials are to blame for their misfortunes are… well… just delusional. The problems are crappy, unmotivated players and a third rate head coach.
Georgia Tech is a shining light in the darkness of college athletics that proves that student-athletes can excel in the proper environment and with good coaching.
FloridaDawg
October 26th, 2009
9:00 am
Mark can you get rid of the aggravating ad that I have to close out every time I go on this page?
GT_64
October 26th, 2009
9:01 am
gthater, the fact that you’re spending all your time on a Tech blog and that you obviously have no job to go to is evidence enough that you’re pathetic. But bless your heart, we still love you and hope you find a job soon. Try your local Waffle House for starters.
RAMBLE ON!!!
October 26th, 2009
9:02 am
Welcome back Mark, I hope you had a good vacation. Did you go “Down by the seaside”?
It will be a great weekend.
UGAg loses to UF, probably bad. If they were to get lucky and catch UF looking ahead, they could actually win, which helps GT. Then of course, we would have to listen how UGAg was going to win the N.C. in 2010 till we smack them around in Nov.
So, there is bad with the good.