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
Get Real
October 26th, 2009
10:44 am
And both UF and UA will still be ranked higher than anyone in the acc. Go ahead and face up to the fact your conference stinks.
Trey
October 26th, 2009
10:44 am
Piss they would still put the sec champ winner in the bcs nat champ game.
Pi$$onaDawg
October 26th, 2009
10:45 am
I forgot GT goes unbeaten against the SEC by beating UGA that beat UF to finish the year ranked #5.
Gravy Train
October 26th, 2009
10:45 am
Mark,
GT deserves some praise…but let’s keep things closer to reality. That reality being that Tech is in the ACC. The national perception (as opposed to the local dellusions) is that the ACC is an inferior football conference. There aren’t enough quality teams within the ACC to change this fact. In the past four to five seasons Va. Tech has been gifted inflated rankings because they carried the torch for the conference by default. When voters look and see that GT is atop the ACC hill, they think “The ACC must be in shambles.” Until three or four ACC teams are perennial top ten teams things will remain the way they are. “Where are FSU and Miami? What happened to Clemson and Boston College? Oh yeah, and then there is Georgia Tech.”
I am all for Tech making it to a BCS bowl against a real contender team. The results from last years Chicken Bowl still linger. It would be nice to see what Turkey Neck could muster against Florida or Texas. It would be fun to watch Turkey Neck fume and curse as reality sets in…
CeeJay1977
October 26th, 2009
10:45 am
Reggie Ball you were UGAs star player for 4 looonnnnggg years. I’m sure they miss you between the hedges. I don’t completly blame you for those dismal seasons Chan(I won’t even call him coach) should have known better than to trust you. Scrap..#9 is a beast to say the least. I have been hearing the ESPN yahoos saying “how can he be called a qb and he doesn’t throw” isn’t a qb the leader of the team? I think Nesbitt is an amazing leader.
Atlanta Jacket
October 26th, 2009
10:45 am
Can’t believe I am actually pulling for the puke eaters this weekend, but selfishly I am. Their beat down will come at the end of November and then on to Shreveport for the doggies.
Buzz Capra
October 26th, 2009
10:46 am
In Georgia Tech’s grand scheme of things, UGA will quickly become irrelevant. ACC titles and BCS berths will be the important topics of the day on The Flats –defeating UGA will be nothing more than a given. Actually substitute “will be” with “is”. GT may very well top 409 rushing this year –I look for 500+
GTRich
October 26th, 2009
10:47 am
Clemson is peaking but is still very much a schizo team. Va which plays both BC and Clemson will have a lot to say as to who represents the Atlantic. I Believe BC has the easier (NC,Va) schedule remaining and will win out while Clemson will drop one to either FSU or Va. In which case Tech will play BC for the ACC championship. Its is unrealistic to expect Pasadena, the Fedex Orange bowl is fine for this year. The financial payout is the same as the Rose and we will find it easier to get more fans/supporters into the Orange. But lets focus on Vandy. This is the BIG game of the week.
Trey
October 26th, 2009
10:48 am
You’ll see how tough the acc is when fsu beats fla, gt beats uga and clemson routs sc.
Only an idiot looks at last year as a barometer for a conference and not this year.
GT 42 Miss St 31
Fla 29 Miss St 19 Should have been 22-20
Lsu 28 Miss St 24. Should have been a loss for lsu. Nuff said.
CeeJay1977
October 26th, 2009
10:48 am
Yeah Buzz with the way UGAs D has looked this year I am also predicting 500+ yards and maybe Bay Bay can get another 100 receiving day aas well!!
UGA Disser
October 26th, 2009
10:49 am
DAWG fans remember who owns YOU – FLORIDA!!!! Go Gators!!!!!!!!!!
TechMD
October 26th, 2009
10:58 am
Tech fans, one game at a time and we go 11-1. Only a dawg fan wouldn’t respect that.
Dawg fans, thanks for the bulletin board material but you might want to concentrate on becoming bowl eligible. Also, you can blame the refs for the LSU loss if you want but if you’d played better in the first half you would’t have had to worry about it.
Alabama Jack
October 26th, 2009
11:00 am
First, screw dawg fans. You all suck.
Second – there is only one game that is important.
We must beat Vandy next Saturday.
We can discuss other stuff next Sunday.
Joe Hamilton was a Rhode Scholar
October 26th, 2009
11:09 am
Does anybody know if the Tech football team had rings made for beating Virginia this past Saturday?
JawjunY'all
October 26th, 2009
11:15 am
Grew up in Athens but went to TECH for an education. Believe me, Dawg fans (those few that are left) are even more mentally deficient, venomous, and bestial when losing than winning. Contrary to common thinking in Athens, they do have a great football coach. What they need is an animal trainer.
Trey
October 26th, 2009
11:15 am
Does anyone know when the uGa tshirts are coming out celebrating their 30 year nat champ anniversary?
Get Real
October 26th, 2009
11:18 am
Try having your teams not lose to Sun Belt & Colonial conference opponents and then win a BCS game against somebody other than a corpse. People might then take you for more than what you are……a basketball conference.
Not Disappointed!
October 26th, 2009
11:19 am
I know there are alot of classy dawg fans out there. My brother for One and Cuz, 45acp, ugafan, etc., but today it appears the freaks are coming out. Maybe it’s the thought of having to face Teebow & Company? It’s a winnable game.
Dawg fans need to concentrate on how to beat Floriduh. We need to beat Vandy this week and screw the Polls for now.
Ramblin Wreck!
Dense Vooley
October 26th, 2009
11:23 am
Shirts with 30 year anniversary on sale at same pawn shop as the one selling breaking the streak rings. Located just off North Avenue….but don’t go there at night because you will be robbed. Another nice feature of the tech campus……..
Bill
October 26th, 2009
11:27 am
Enter your comments here
Trey
October 26th, 2009
11:27 am
you mean that cincy team that is ranked top 10? yes you beating hawaii sure was impressive. lol
bamafan
October 26th, 2009
11:27 am
Hey Andy Rooney – “Pac 12″ conference? Who did they add?
Wild Willie
October 26th, 2009
11:29 am
Ga Tech will win out the regular season, then Clemson will take revenge on them and go to Orange Bowl as ACC Champs..
Wreck
October 26th, 2009
11:30 am
Why are UGA fans here?
UGA = IRRELEVANT
Fillin' up @ Juniors
October 26th, 2009
11:30 am
Once again the discussion spirals into a dawg fest…a sign of intelligence is the ability to stay on topic. So the reciprical of that would be talking endlessly about a rivalry that has nothing to do with the article.
This whole college football ranking system is garbage. How does a team ranked 14th pre-season, whose only lose comes from an away game to a ranked opponent, A ranked opponent that had the 2007 high recruiting class in the country I might add, only gain 3 spots in the course of 8 games…They have a top 5 in the country win against VT and play the 12th hardest schedule in the country…Other than Florida, Alabama, Texas, and LSU I would put that against any other team in the league except for a system that is so foolishly run that is sucks at its only intenetion…The whole BCS system is worse than having no system at all, and I realize that was once the case and it was better. Its better to have co-champions than a champion that can be disagreed with.
Keep USA #1
October 26th, 2009
11:30 am
UGA better get their mind on Fla before talking about GT. Take one at a time,
gdawginkalamazoo
October 26th, 2009
11:31 am
No doubt Tech is having a stellar year. Can’t call the ACC a weak conference either. Both VT and Miami were in line for the title game given a Texas slip up. Tech would have been too if not for the crash in Miami. Here’s hoping that we find a defense this November that can at least slow down that O. Finally a rivalry again where the games actually matter for both teams (well not us this year, maybe next year though).
Dense Vooley
October 26th, 2009
11:35 am
Nice pose as someone other than a tech fan, kalamzoo.
SEC fanatic
October 26th, 2009
11:37 am
We must question Tech’s validity in the BCS picture based on their S.O.S. Tech is a fine football team but they should not be in the discussion with top teir teams yet… Tech’s opponents have a combined record of 27-21, excluding FBS Jack State. I am sorry, Tech beat a good Va Tech team that was decimated by Alabama. I have no confidence in their defense what so ever. Celebrating a victory of Virginia is a bit of a joke. I think they will be exposed in the BCS. TCU, Boise St., and other marginal teams would all beat Tech soundly. Its about Defense. Personally, I think Tech will struggle with Wake Forest, a smart and efficient defensive scheme with a very accurate QB. Tech is not as talented as they think.
KY
October 26th, 2009
11:40 am
sec fanatic = clueless lying idiot.
Blue Carpet
October 26th, 2009
11:41 am
We sure do miss having Ga Tech University at our beautiful stadium. A couple of losses to weak forest and vandergirls and we should get to see our nerdy friends from the trade school again.
CeeJay1977
October 26th, 2009
11:42 am
The Jackets have beaten FSU, Clemson, a VT team that was far from decimated by Bama,Miss St on the road(Miss State barely got beat by Teblow), a Virgina team who had held the last 3 opponets to 100 yds of total offense. The SEC is crumbling….Florida and Bama can’t finish teams like the Jackets can. Try again FANATIC
CeeJay1977
October 26th, 2009
11:44 am
UGA may be at the Blue Carpet Bowl this year…if they can muster 6 wins…LMAO
gdawginkalamazoo
October 26th, 2009
11:45 am
The thing with the polls and BCS is that you can’t complain if you lose a game. That’s the frustrating thing being a dawg fan. We seem to drop a dumb game or two (or three) a year where it is simply a blow out and the team never gets off the bus. I will never complain about a ranking (no problems there this year) if we lose a game, no matter who you lose to. If you go undefeated and win the conference championship then you can go crazy about the injustice. Like Auburn in 2004 but the SOS does count and should be considered.
KY
October 26th, 2009
11:46 am
Gt’s sos by jeff sagarin is higher than fla bama and ga. It’s so easy to refute the lies of a redneck moron.
Chef montuer
October 26th, 2009
11:53 am
Go Tigers! Oh ya Saints 53 Birdies 10.
DawgDayz
October 26th, 2009
12:11 pm
Don’t worry…Dawgs waz preseason #1 2008! We will get to the top again. GOOOOO DAWGS!
"Red" Barron
October 26th, 2009
12:11 pm
Mark, thanks for deleting unconscionably bad blogs (entered by Dawg fans, naturally).
Fillin' up @ Juniors
October 26th, 2009
12:13 pm
The last SOS I saw for Tech was 12th in the country (pre seaon #2). They are missing the two weakest teams in the ACC (maryland and NC State) and they picked three SEC teams to play. Granted those teams are not the toast of the SEC but they generally beat their non-conference opponents and would probably be ranked teams if they didnt all have play the level of competition that exists in the SEC. Put This years Georgia team in the Big East…Big Ten…PAC 10 and they are vying for the the top and ranked. Put those same teams up against SEC teams and they are .500. I would also add that when Tech scheduled Vandy and Miss st. both where rebounding bowl bound teams.
booger
October 26th, 2009
12:14 pm
as I said earlier, nuttin but net.
Golden Tornado
October 26th, 2009
12:25 pm
I’m so genteel, I no longer even yell, “To Hell with Georgia!”
I enter the stands, shake my fist, and yell, “TO, liberal-revisionistic, long-protracted, but not everlasting, PERDITION – WITH,
not the entire University of Georgia, but only with the Bulldog football team, and their athletic department and fans, who have already gone there.”
jacketnation
October 26th, 2009
12:31 pm
The UGA trailer park whine babies are out in full force. We have a better team than you; with our 2 and 3 star recruits. Maybe you and your 4 and 5 star recruits will make it to the fried pork rind bowl; after you get ripped apart by the Gators and later on the Jackets.
Go Ramblin’ Wreck
danno175
October 26th, 2009
12:36 pm
I was wondering how long it would be and who it would be at the AJC that would crap on TECH grid-iron success. Great positive comments Bradley, and thanks for waiting until the end of October to do it. Anything you can to try and deflate positive feelings about the Flats.
ToHell with Georgia
October 26th, 2009
12:39 pm
We will soon be rid of Mark and his UGAY pals at the Urinal Constitution: Newspaper circulation falling fast, down 10.6 pct: US newspaper circulation down 10.6 percent as rate of decline accelerates
Augusta Jacket
October 26th, 2009
12:41 pm
All Dawgs puppies live in the past.There furure look very bad. Ga Tech future look very good.
What U.G.A. record with the Gators From 1990 to 2008 if you want to talk about the past.
45 to 42
Glynn
October 26th, 2009
12:45 pm
Calm down you Dawg Fans
Im a die hard GT fan, but Im not overlooing UGA. As I kept reading this article I kept wondering “is he forgetting UGA?”. Imagine if they beat Florida and win a few, UGA would be ranked again most likely. Still, GT playing in the BCS championship is unrealistic, but we should be a top ten team by now.
So UGA fans, dont worry, Tech fans are not overlooing you, why would we. On the other hand, how about giving us a little bit of respect for the season we are having, this isnt Chan Gaileys GA Tech, were not rolling over for anyone.
DirtyDawg
October 26th, 2009
12:52 pm
I’m sorry but I can’t let you techies get away with claiming that you ‘knew all along that Paul Johnson’s offense could succeed at this level’. I know plenty of Tech folks and to a person they were, at best, hopeful that he could find some level of success – once he recruited the kind of athletes that could run it of course – but weren’t optimistic. Having followed the guy though Georgia Southern and the Naval Academy, I tried to tell ‘em that they had a good one and just wait and watch. Even going into last year’s Mississippi State game they doubted. Then the light came on, and now they can’t build wagons fast enough for the band-thing.
So don’t try to tell me how smart you are. You’ve tried to have it both ways forever – when you lose it’s because you can’t get the quality athletes necessary to compete…so when you win, you no longer can use that excuse – you recruit, and keep eligible, whoever and whatever you need – so let’s not be hypocritical about it, OK.
And Mark, it’s OK for you to suck up to the Jackets – as Bill Godfrey said, ‘Folks sure are good to you when you win’…just don’t expect to be welcomed back with open arms when that wears thin.
Tide Rising
October 26th, 2009
12:57 pm
Tech may not get in the position of getting in the BCS but if they win out and go to the Orange Bowl and win it still has to be considered a very successful season. They would certainly end up in the top 3 at the end of the season if they did all that. Not bad for a 2nd year coach if Tech can keep it up.
Dense Vooley
October 26th, 2009
1:01 pm
You want a blog with invective and venom try taking a look at the one posted where Shirley Franklin lambastes Mary Norwood as a mayoral candidate. I hope Norwood is elected and cleans up the crime around Atlanta including those vultures hanging around and robbing Tech students. We can all give each other a little grief concerning our football teams but I hazard to guess we would agree that a safer and more prosperous Atlanta is in the best interest of Tech & UGA fans.
Southpaw Lance
October 26th, 2009
1:04 pm
Wow……UGA reveals it’s back to mediocrity and it’s ‘oh, well, at least we beat tech a bunch in the past’ for whiny DAWG fans.
classy, Athens.