The Hot Button: Where would Tech finish in the SEC?
There's a difference between ACC speed and SEC speed. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
It’s clear – to me, if not to C.J. Spiller and Dabo Swinney — that Georgia Tech is the class of the ACC. But the ACC is often described as the least of the six BCS leagues, and another conference in the neighborhood is regarded as the best. So now, today’s question:
Where would Tech rank in the SEC?
My first inclination is to say the Jackets would finish wherever Mike Slive’s refs got together and decided they should be, but that’s my little joke. Getting serious, I’d say …
Second in the East behind Florida. Third in the West behind Alabama and LSU. Fourth overall.
That wailing you hear are the cries arising from the confluence of North Avenue and Techwood Drive, but hear me out. As good as Tech is — and it is very good — there’s still a difference between the personnel of a top-shelf SEC team and of everyone else. (Ask Jim Tressel.) This doesn’t mean Tech couldn’t up and beat Florida or Alabama or LSU on a given Saturday; it simply means that, on most given Saturdays, talent would prevail.
We’ve seen the difference between the SEC and the ACC three times in this city in the past 15 months. Alabama beat Clemson in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic and then whipped Virginia Tech in the 2009 installment. LSU beat Tech 38-3 on Dec. 31, 2008. Three games on a neutral field, three emphatic SEC victories. Anyone who says there isn’t an imbalance between leagues, at least at their respective summits, isn’t dealing in reality.
On the other hand, SEC zealots are wrong to suggest the Jackets would finish far up the track in that famous league. Tech is better than Ole Miss, better than Auburn, better than South Carolina, better than Arkansas … yes, better than Georgia. To be placed below Florida and Alabama is no great failing, for those are two of the three best teams in the land, and to be deemed less gifted than LSU is no demerit, given that the Tigers have lost only to the Gators and the Tide.
Loading ...(And yes, I have noticed that Tech beat both Mississippi State and Vandy by one more point than did the mighty Gators. Whatever that means.)
Since you asked, I don’t think it’s a question of Paul Johnson’s offense not working in the SEC. It’s an issue instead of the SEC’s Big Three having superior defensive manpower. Nobody else in the ACC has the speed to keep up with Dwyer and Nesbitt and Roddy Jones; certain teams in the SEC do.
OK, there’s my take. Feel free to call me an idiot — pretty much everybody does — but know this: I do speak from observation. I’ve seen Tech and Florida and LSU in person both this season and last, and I saw Alabama in the imposing flesh twice in 2008. And I’m not trying to denigrate the Jackets, who might well be the nation’s fifth-best team. (After Florida, Texas, Alabama and LSU. Though I’m not suggesting LSU, with its two losses, should be ranked ahead of Tech in the polls.) I’m just telling you how I see it.
You’re now free to express yourselves on this weighty matter. Why do I feel you won’t need prompting?
And now, because fair’s fair: Where would Georgia rank in the ACC?
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901 comments Add your comment
Pi$$onaDawg
November 11th, 2009
1:37 pm
NO, it is the #1 team we play every year:
Clemson The Hated
UGA The Bad
FSU The Bowden
VT The Auburn of the ACC
UGA The DAWGS just because.
Pi$$onaDawg is legally retarded
November 11th, 2009
1:38 pm
Richt is 11-1 against the ACC has head coach. The lone loss coming by 3 points. Choke on it.
DA
November 11th, 2009
1:38 pm
Oh so, Ga. Tech is now the class of the ACC and they haven’t won the ACC championship yet. They were a fourth down away from giving the Coastal back to Miami on Saturday night. Win three ACC championships in 5 years like Va. Tech and get back to me.
JacketFan
November 11th, 2009
1:38 pm
DawgFan, funny thing is that I used to pull for Georgia every game against UF in the Spurrier years. He was QB coach when my dad played at Tech – my dad despised that man more than any other coach he has ever encountered. I think that may be why Duke is on that list too.
SEC Fan
November 11th, 2009
1:38 pm
Hearing all of the Tech fans talk about how great they are is just funny, I don’t care who you are. Fact is the competition, not just at the top of the conference, is why they would finish somewhere around 5th or 6th. Bama, Florida, and LSU would probably work them over pretty good but the middle of the SEC would split games with them if they played 4. Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennnessee, or South Carolina would give Tech fits. Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee all have the defensive firepower to stop Tech’s offense, not just the tope three. They do have a fairly tough schedule but North Carolina, Florida State, Wake Forest, Duke, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Jacksonville State is not the equivalent of an SEC schedule. So they play 4 tough games and they are ready to run with the big boys? Remember, Tech left the SEC…..no sense in trying to argue your way back into the club. We prove year in and year out during bowl season how much better our league is than everyone else. Our 3,4,5 ranked teams will play other conference’s 1 or 2 ranked team and whip them more times than not during bowl season….that is only one game. Tech may be able to upset one of our top teams but they would muddle through the rest of the SEC schedule….try 7 tough games instead of 4.
DawgFan
November 11th, 2009
1:41 pm
Yes, Spurrier does wonders for rivalry games. He has always had a thing for us since we ruined his perfect season the year he won the Heisman. Which I find comical, because that only makes it sound like he expected us to rollover and die and not bother trying to win the game.
JacketFan
November 11th, 2009
1:41 pm
SEC Fan … yeah, we really saw that SEC dominance in that bowl game against WVU …
Saint Simons
November 11th, 2009
1:43 pm
33-17
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TomB
November 11th, 2009
1:44 pm
SEC Fan: If what you say is true then all we can go by is head to head match ups.So If Tech beats UGA this year, they are 3-0 against the SEC.
Keep it Real!
November 11th, 2009
1:44 pm
Look when Mr. Johnson gets his type of players they would be able to do well in the SEC. The SEC is a very overrate football conference. Florida did not play any tough teams outside of the conference so we do not know how good they are.
Alabama will beat Florida this year in the SEC championship game!
That been said Mark Bradley using your premise of LSU beating Tech last year that means UTAH would be an elite team in the SEC because they beat Alabama in a bowl game last year.
winfield
November 11th, 2009
1:46 pm
Alabama whipped Virginia Tech? Really? Alabama trailed in the fourth quarter and needed a phantom holding call by SEC refs to change the momentum in their favor. Georgia Tech is a tought team to face when you only have one week to prepare for their offense. They would probably finish third in the SEC behind UF and Bama. LSU is one of the most overated teams in the most overated conference.
LSU
November 11th, 2009
1:46 pm
38 -3
Suspiciously Eligible Conference
November 11th, 2009
1:46 pm
What will Georgie fans say when we beat them this year? It was a down year? We had bad coordinators? Well, we still won 7 in a row when you had Gailey? We just got worn down by our tough SEC schedule? Maybe you can cry about chop blocks like Frankenstein Beamer!
Keep it Real!
November 11th, 2009
1:47 pm
SEC fans are funny, I guess if you play Vandy,Kentucky,Miss St, UGA, Tenn, Arkansas, and Auburn you are playing a tough schedule. All those teams are not good period!
JacketFan
November 11th, 2009
1:47 pm
Keep in mind too that when Miss State and Vandy were scheduled, both were making some pretty strong runs in the SEC. You can’t account for how a team is going to do in the future when you make out a schedule years in advance. Who knows, by 2011 Saban may be at Michigan or ND and Bama will be at the bottom of the conference. You can’t fault a team that schedules FBS schools. However, you can fault a team that traditionally buys games every year (e.g. UF, Bama, LSU).
BS Patrol
November 11th, 2009
1:48 pm
DawgFan,
List of teams you would most hate to lose to:
Ga
1) Ga Tech
Ga Tech
1) GA
Pi$$onaDawg
November 11th, 2009
1:48 pm
Sorry VT is higher than FSU because we don’t see FSU every year.
willie martinez
November 11th, 2009
1:48 pm
Enter your comments here
TomB
November 11th, 2009
1:48 pm
South Carolina is one of the better SEC teams this year so someone please explain to me how they narrowly escaped beating NC State this year by 7? NC State people. How did this happen?
SEC Fan
November 11th, 2009
1:50 pm
TomB, did I leave out the fact that Mississippi State and Vanderbilt do not qualify as tough games? You beat the two worst teams in our conference and UGA is down this year. So, your team would be 3-0 against the bottom 3rd of our conference….the rest of the SEC is too.
Tech82
November 11th, 2009
1:52 pm
Paul’s Johnson @ 11:50am writes: “Those ratings are the same for both QB’s for the 2009 season and yes Cox does have a higher rating than Nesbitt.”
A wise man once said, “Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.” Do you research before you make a fool of yourself. Here are the undisputable facts: Josh Nesbitt’s passer rating so far this year is 144.8 while Joe Cox’s passer rating is 137.0. Now, please look at those numbers and explain to me how Cox’s QB rating is higher. Moron.
Pi$$onaDawg
November 11th, 2009
1:54 pm
NCSY fumbled the ball on their own 7 or so yardline. USC scored and that was the gift of the game. USC played the big bad DAWGS better than they played NCSU.
gdawginkalamazoo
November 11th, 2009
1:54 pm
In a typical SEC year when the powers are up they would finish 4th in the East and Third in the West. 5th or 6th overall if playing a full on SEC schedule every year. Of course they will finish first in the ACC. And they would definitely beat Notre Dame.
SEC Fan
November 11th, 2009
1:54 pm
The WVU game? You mean the one where they scored 28 points in the 1st qurater and barely a thing the rest of the game? Jumping on a lazy UGA team? You’re citing one game from 3 years ago? Gotta come with something better than that.
Les Miles
November 11th, 2009
1:55 pm
I suppose instead of SEC teams playing weak opponents they could play even weaker ones like Maryland (loses to I-AA opponent) or Virginia (loses to I-AA opponent) or that powerhouse called Weak Forest or the almighty formidable Duke…….what a joke the acc is….I could go on but that is like shooting fish in a barrel.
SEC Fan
November 11th, 2009
1:56 pm
JacketFan, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt have both had one good season this decade. They are the doormats of our conference. Don’t use them as a measruing stick.
Richard
November 11th, 2009
1:57 pm
I believe you are correct in placing Tech 4th overall.I wish Tech had never opted out of the SEC back in “66.They went independent thinking they could get more $ and compete with the likes of Notre Dame
Big Deal-look at Notre Dame today(hope Johnson is smart enough not to go there)
Pi$$onaDawg
November 11th, 2009
2:00 pm
The way this year is going I am sure everybody wants to get UGA on their schedule and run from TECH.
Mark Richt, the jersey dick
November 11th, 2009
2:01 pm
I heard Richt is going on a new show called “Queer Eye for The Coachy Guy” to learn how to coordinate jerseys and helmets and pads and stuff for his football menses.
Les Miles
November 11th, 2009
2:02 pm
We would love to have Yech on our schedule. It seemed to work out quite well for us last year playing in ATL.
Justin
November 11th, 2009
2:02 pm
“Nobody else in the ACC has the speed to keep up with Dwyer and Nesbitt and Roddy Jones” No your wrong Clemson does other than that long 82 yard run by Allen in the thursday night game clemson contained the Triple Option. When they play in tampa clemson will destroy them.
ZebraGate break-in
November 11th, 2009
2:05 pm
If not for the suspended SEC officiating crew,
LSU would be 6-3
Florida would be 9-1
and
$aban would be unhappy………GO JACKETS…….
TomB
November 11th, 2009
2:06 pm
SEC Fan: You keep contradicting yourself. The SEC has teams that aren’t tough? UGA plays these teams, don’t they? LSU, ALA and Fl play these teams too, don’t they?
SC beats NC state by 7 and ALA has a hard time beating VT, and Clemson will probably beat SC. So the top of the SEC is good, but top to bottom they are not as good as you and others make them out to be. The telling story in those two Tech victories were the offensive stats that Tech racked up, and Vandy has a pretty good defense.
SEC Fan
November 11th, 2009
2:06 pm
TomB, South Carolina is not one of the better teams in our conference this year, they are a middle of the pack team. They will have a great game and then have a bad one. NC State played them tough….but South Carolina won the game.
Ezekiel
November 11th, 2009
2:07 pm
Don’t see anything wrong with that analysis at all. Alabama and Florida are slam dunks and LSU manhandled Tech last year in the Fowl-Fil-A. But would like the opportunity to play any of those teams this year and settle it on the field. Talk more Tech football at: http://www.bbuzz.off.com
ZebraGate break-in correction
November 11th, 2009
2:08 pm
FLORIDA SHOULD BE 8-1
pee on a bee
November 11th, 2009
2:10 pm
does richt have to play tech this year..please he doesn’t want to..he’s actually lost to them once in his 8 years at Georgia, how embarrassing!
bug on a rug
November 11th, 2009
2:11 pm
georgia has no chance against the super bowl champion ga. tech yellow jackets..roflmao
JacketFan
November 11th, 2009
2:11 pm
SEC has three competitive teams. One of which is NOT uga. UGA fans ride the coattails of better programs in their conference as an excuse for their poor showing this year. Of the three top-tier teams, UGA has played two of them. So, dawg fans, how do you account for the losses to the rest of the SEC teams on your schedule … oh, and that Oklahoma State team? I mean, they play in an inferior conference, right? No other conference should hold a candle to a team from the mighty SEC, right?
Give us a break, kids.
scared big time
November 11th, 2009
2:12 pm
i know the dawgs are scared of a team that is a whole 10 point favorite over the MIGHTY DUKE BLUE DEVILS, roflmao
Shula
November 11th, 2009
2:13 pm
Utah and Louisiana-Monroe would be above Bama
in the SEC West.
scared big time
November 11th, 2009
2:13 pm
yes we are riding on the coattails of 34 and 10 against tech over since 1965…roflmao
JacketFan
November 11th, 2009
2:14 pm
Again, any UGA fan that would like to come by and see me at the Varsity on the 28th, feel free to drop by and have some ribs. We’ll be glad to have you over. Seriously. Good old fashioned hate or no, nothing beats football in the state of Georgia on the weekend after Thanksgiving.
DUKE.COM
November 11th, 2009
2:15 pm
That Duke QB is much better than scared big time JOE COX.
some Ga. tech sense here
November 11th, 2009
2:15 pm
be careful my yellow jacket colleagues, if we are upset by Georgia the crow eating could be unbearable!!!!!!
JacketFan
November 11th, 2009
2:17 pm
Yeah, scared, thanks for reminding me. UGA fans also revel in the past as seen in their constantly referencing that national championship from 30 years ago. Funny. What have you done for me lately, baby. Today, Tech has the Governor’s cup. Until that changes, you guys are the biggest losers in the state.
scared big time
November 11th, 2009
2:17 pm
the varsity is awesome , used to go there before every hawks game back in the 70’s, believe it or not when the hawks home was the tech coliseum, and football is fun in Georgia, regardless of who wins, but go dawgs!!!
Devildog
November 11th, 2009
2:17 pm
Tech probably wouldn’t challenge for SEC titles because . . . gasp!!. . .
Jackets’ player REALLY have to go to class, study and pass tests.
You can tell that isn’t the case at Georgia by observing how many times an offensive lineman jumps offsides. He’s supposed to know the snap count, but HE can’t count!
willy want a cracker
November 11th, 2009
2:18 pm
The mighty Duke Blue Devils could beat Georgia
scared big time
November 11th, 2009
2:18 pm
true ..jacketfan…but Georgia will give ya’ll all you can handle of that i am sure.. good luck to ya