Bradley’s Buzz: ESPN again picks against Tech and Johnson
Not the flavor of the month per Scouts Inc. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
I’m not covering the Orange Bowl. I’ll be in Athens tonight watching Georgia and Georgia Tech play basketball. But I found it amusing to note that, once again, ESPN.com’s Scouts Inc. has picked against the Jackets (in football, not basketball).
A review (and all these links require registration): Scouts Inc. picked Miami over the Jackets in September and was correct; it picked Virginia Tech over GT in October and was incorrect; it picked Clemson over the Jackets in September and also in the ACC title game and was twice wrong. Now it likes Iowa to win 28-24 tonight. And that’s legit: This will be a difficult game for the Jackets, and a lot of people are picking against them.
What’s of greater interest is that Scouts Inc. again gives the edge in coaching to Tech’s opponent. And maybe that’s also fair: Kirk Ferentz is well regarded in the business. Scouts Inc. did the same for the Virginia Tech game — again, Frank Beamer is a proven commodity — but it also gave Clemson the nod in coaching for the ACC title game, and I can’t imagine too many folks see Dabo Swinney as more established than Paul Johnson. (Interestingly, Scouts Inc. rated Tech’s coaching as better than Clemson’s in September. Guess Dabo had a better season than Johnson.)
Maybe I’m being unfair: Scouts Inc. did pick Tech over Georgia and give Johnson the edge over Mark Richt. (Georgia won, as I recall.) But when I see a category breakdown so imbalanced — the Jackets are rated above Iowa at only three of eight positions (quarterback, running back and, interestingly enough, special teams) — you’d have to think the coach of the presumed lesser team has done something right to get his side to 11-2 and a BCS bowl.
And maybe this expression of non-love for PJ simply balances the scales: I’m aware that many among you (read: Georgia fans) believe we at the AJC have fallen all over ourselves in our admiration for the Tech coach. And I’ll concede to a bit — OK, maybe more than a bit — of gushing on my part. Still, I think the man has done a fabulous job. He’s 20-6 in two seasons and has won his conference. As I recall, we around here also sang the praises of Richt when he went 21-5 and won his league in his first two years on the job.
But enough of that. I close with two notes: Scouts Inc. isn’t to be confused with ESPN’s ACC blogger Heather Dinich, who has also picked against the Jackets a few times but likes Tech tonight. (Also by the score of 28-24.) And Mr. Always Wrong — that’d be me — likes the Jackets to win twice this evening. First at the Stegasaurus, then at Land Shark Stadium.
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349 comments Add your comment
J E A L O U S
January 5th, 2010
2:26 pm
all dogpoops will be tuned in regardless who wins…
I'm just saying...
January 5th, 2010
2:26 pm
It gives me some small measure of joy to note that The Dawgs worst team in about a dozen years was, evidently, good enough to win the ACC!
Great Post
January 5th, 2010
2:27 pm
T-Man, it is good to see some humor instead of the usual back and forth on these blogs.
And
January 5th, 2010
2:28 pm
West Virginia was the real 2005 SEC champs
webster
January 5th, 2010
2:30 pm
GO JACKETS!!!! I find it amusing how Tech fans will root for UGA being a home state team in their bowl yet the doggie fans wont pull for GT being a home state team. Yalls is sum fools mane!
Artie
January 5th, 2010
2:33 pm
Hey, VegasGT…Tech ALWAYS does it to THEMSELVES!!!!
Blue
January 5th, 2010
2:33 pm
I’m just saying; does that mean that last year, the GA team that was ranked #1 and supposed to win everything was not good enough to beat a non-ACC champ/non-division champ?? What did that say about the ACC? Bet you weren’t taking that view last year. Kind of like when Utah THROTTLED Alabama last year “oh, Alabama didn’t want to be there”. BS…they got spanked.
Littering and, littering and..........
January 5th, 2010
2:33 pm
I really hope this gathering of players throwing around a piece of leather and man humping each other will turn out to be an excellent event! Sting them u silly, fuzzy, fast, sticky, prickly bees!
suwaneedawg
January 5th, 2010
2:34 pm
It makes sense to pick Iowa. GT lost to the worse Georgia team in the last 10 years and Iowa plays smash mouth football who has the ability to shut down this pretty much one dimensional offense. We will see….GO HAWKEYES!!!
Charleston Jacket
January 5th, 2010
2:34 pm
Dawg Days I believe it was that was saying that Tech hasn’t played in a bowl since WW2. I’ll go ahead and sound like a nit-picker, but Tech last played in the Orange Bowl in 1967. WW2 ended in 1945. You are uneducated, sir.
Haters gonna hate…. GO JACKETS!
Which is worst
January 5th, 2010
2:36 pm
barely beating what your fans call a 4th rate high school team or getting beat by that same 4th rate high school team BETWEEN THE STORIED HEDGES
Milli Vanilli fan
January 5th, 2010
2:37 pm
Does anyone remember last year Tech against LSU? Ummkaaaay, that should explain it right there. Tech doesnt do well in bowls with CPJ, so, ummmmkaaaay, like, forget about it..
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMKAYYY!!!
Ramblinwreck83
January 5th, 2010
2:38 pm
59bulldawg
Do you mean the same crap that’s been going on for years on the AJC. Why is it that when UGA talks all their trash on blogs and is beating tech, it should just be ok and Tech fans should just get used to it. We’ve been hearing it a hell of a lot longer than UGA fans have. Some reason only UGA fans are entitled to trash talk and it be ok. Quit talking about how its a most terrible thing you’ve ever heard. All you fans weren’t complaining when you won the game.
I wish I was smart enough to go to UGA but Mc'adezz will do fine
January 5th, 2010
2:39 pm
Kentucky runs this state no wait Clemson beat them it’s Tennessee no wait VT spanked them in which both Team were 0-3 vs Tech. Theory Flawed Flukes happen…
Flip
January 5th, 2010
2:39 pm
No more Resean and Rennie. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to stay for a repeat year. 2009 will be just like 2010 except you will lose to tech next year.
Blue
January 5th, 2010
2:45 pm
Milli Vanilli fan; yep…that one year trend of CPJ not doing well in bowl games. Like Mark said…20-6, conference championship for CPJ with a program that was BAD. 21-5, conference championship for CMR. I see no reason that you have to try to belittle the accomplishments because they lost to LSU (by the way, said loss to them was in LARGE part to special teams). You are NOT an LSU fan…so don’t sit there like other loser Dog fans did last year when Tech beat you and then try to rest on the laurels of another team in your conference. Dogs have bragging rights on the head to head game this year…and that’s it. They still had an inferior season by won-loss record, not conference championship, lower tier bowl game. Deal with it.
1eyedJack
January 5th, 2010
2:49 pm
G…G…Goo….Good Lu…Luck. Man that was hard to get out.
BREAKING NEWS
January 5th, 2010
2:49 pm
ESPN can confirm that the University of Georgia has been secretly negotiating with the ACC to switch conferences. With perennial powerhouses Florida and Alabama, and rising powers Tennessee and Kentucky to contend with, Georgia officials admit that their chances of ever winning the SEC title again are slim and none. They acknowledge that their only hope of ever winning a conference title again is to play against what their fans call 4th rate high school teams. They tried to join the Georgia High School Sports Association as a 5A team, but failed. In closing Georgia officials said they heard Miami was real nice this time of year.
This just in
January 5th, 2010
2:51 pm
Congrats 1eyedJack on Ga’s bowl win. I know how you feel. It is hard to change old habits and root for the other side in this “good old fashioned hate” rivalry.
Milli Vanilli fan
January 5th, 2010
2:51 pm
Oh booo hoo Blue!! Booo effen hoo. OMG, seriously, this whole triple option is gonna hit a dead end street and then PLUMP, game over man! It was cool the first year for something different, but I think teams are preparing for it now, like uga did, and miami, so time to pull some new tricks out of your hat!
Kevin
January 5th, 2010
2:52 pm
Well we know at game time remember Boise state was not givin chance Vs Okahoma n TCU to…..and they won 14-0 this season n will move to 3in Polls after all said n done ..Oh GT will win over Iowa 56-21.
Sporty Black
January 5th, 2010
2:54 pm
I see the tornadoes did not destroy all the trailer parks… BREAKING NEWS! Oklahoma State, LSU, Tennessee, Florida, & Kentucky apparently run Georgia. What do you call fans of a program that has a TOP 5 recruiting class EVERY year and only ONE national title? Answer: High on meth. What do you call UGA without Herschel Walker? Answer: Kentucky.
The only difference between GT and UGA is when GT gets talent, GT wins.
webster
January 5th, 2010
2:54 pm
Just take a look at Florida, they were using the option quite a bit this year and just barely won games. Then they came to Bama, who stopped em in there tracks. I love dem Jackets, but we need to have a backup passing routine as well, otherwise these games are gonna get boring and lose their spunk!
how2fish
January 5th, 2010
2:56 pm
Sporty Black we are ACC ‘Champs” this year and 8-1 in the last nine…now back to the basement little guy. I hope ESPN is wrong best of luck tonight Jackets..!
Hillbilly Deluxe
January 5th, 2010
2:57 pm
ESPN doesn’t realize anything exists west of the Hudson River other than USC.
Ramblinwreck83
January 5th, 2010
2:58 pm
Milli Vanilli fan
Oh booo hoo Blue!! Booo effen hoo. OMG, seriously, this whole triple option is gonna hit a dead end street and then PLUMP, game over man! It was cool the first year for something different, but I think teams are preparing for it now, like uga did, and miami, so time to pull some new tricks out of your hat!
Are you serious. They’ve only lost 6 games in two years and only 2 this year. I think alot of teams haven’t figured out this offense including your MUTTS. I guess everyone’s figured out that joke of a pro-style offense. they better come up with something else if they want to win.
swampjacket
January 5th, 2010
2:58 pm
Love how UGAG fans have to hang on to that SEC junk when their team sux. There are only two good teams in the SEC. By the way, ACC is 2-0 head to head against SEC this bowl season.
Sporty Black
January 5th, 2010
2:59 pm
Which is worse, the two programs that GT lost to this year? Or, the two worst losses UGA expereiced this year? You’ve got it; we’d rather lose to two programs with top 5 recruiting classes every year than lose to Kentucky and “….I’M A MAN!”
Gen Neyland
January 5th, 2010
2:59 pm
Robert
January 5th, 2010
2:22 pm
This year’s SEC vs ACC stats. Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina beat VT, GT, FSU and Clemson. VT, GT beat Tennessee and MissST. We can go in circles about this team beat that team who beat this team….but facts are facts.
> Then get yours straight, Robert.
WW
January 5th, 2010
3:01 pm
Do they still want a $1 to get into the Stegasaurus?
Joe Fan
January 5th, 2010
3:02 pm
Just consider how the SEC has faired in the bowls against the ACC and the rest. Looks like a conference of very average teams except for Fl and Al.
Sporty Black
January 5th, 2010
3:04 pm
Gen, you meant GT beat Vandy, but there is not much of a difference there.
ATLBUZZZZZ
January 5th, 2010
3:04 pm
Thanks for the laughs this year Joe. Who will be UGA’s QB next year?
Face it Tech fans,
January 5th, 2010
3:07 pm
to the Ga fans, the victory over our team was the dogs signature win this season, against which they are measuring the success of their year.
Their team was down this year, and if they could not talk about beating a SUPERIOR Tech team, they would have nothing left to say except “wait till next year”.
The only thing about next year though is, they saw their future in the dome a few weeks ago, another beat down in the Sec, except it will be Alabama rolling over them instead of Florida.
So, Tech fans take pity on them, and try not to be too hard on them. They are really depressed right now.
Poindexter Jugdish
January 5th, 2010
3:08 pm
Amber Alert!!!!
Please be on the lookout for the Georgia Tech punt return unit….last seen November 14th…wearing ugly yellow shirts with white knee britches…can be identified by red and yellow bumps on face and Dungeons & Dragons tattoo on little behind. Some may be wearing Mr. Spock ears and Yoda footie pajamas.
An Omen?
January 5th, 2010
3:15 pm
Tech favored by 5 against Iowa. Also favored by 5 against ga in hoops. They will cover both.
Bone Breath
January 5th, 2010
3:15 pm
How much brain do they remove when making mutt fans?
Dawg Central
January 5th, 2010
3:18 pm
Tech doesnt score over 17 points tonight…….and loses!! Say it loud and proud Tech fans “UGA is my DADDY!!!! 8 out of 9 and 30-24…..does that ring a bell?????
Good Old Fashioned Hate
January 5th, 2010
3:22 pm
Four college alumni were climbing a mountain one day: a Georgia, a Georgia Tech grad, a Florida grad, and a Notre Dame grad. Each proclaimed to be the most loyal of all fans at their alma mater.
As they climbed higher, they argued as to which one of them was the most loyal of all. They argued all the way up the mountain, and when they reached the top, the Notre Dame grad hurled himself off the mountain, shouting “This is for the Fighting Irish!” as he fell to his doom.
Not wanting to be out done, the Florida grad threw himself off the mountain proclaiming, “This is for the Gators!”
Seeing this, the Georgia Tech grad walked over and shouted “This is for the Yellow Jackets!” and pushed the Bulldogs fan off the side of the mountain.
@Face it Tech fans,
January 5th, 2010
3:23 pm
It’s HILARIOUS that you are talking about a “signature win”. Yes, it was a down year and yes, it was our best win of the season; however, UGA, unlike Tech, does not base their season on the Tech game. The vast majority of the time it’s just another nice win on the way to another solid season. Must I remind you, AGAIN, that it was YOUR TECH TEAM that put the Georgia score on their rings last year!
The University of Georgia defines Georgia Tech. It always has and it always will. You are the Michigan State to our Michigan and the Texas A&M to our Texas. Big brothers ALWAYS define their little brothers, for good or ill.
Ga Tech's Biggest Boss
January 5th, 2010
3:24 pm
Well, well, well!!! Why is it that this post went from being a prediction of who’s going to win the orange bowl to being another rendition of GT vs UGA? Although we know that GT’s a lot better than UGAy.
Anyway, I feel as though GT can pull the game out tonight because of the defense, led by Derrick Morgan, and our #2 rushing attack. ESPN can kiss my STINGER. Just like AJC, ESPN is anti-tech and pro-UGA, and look what happened. UGA ended up with a sucking 8-5 record, while GT ends up with an 11-2 record after tonight. Just watch the game, and all the haters will be back on GT’s band wagon.
Prediction: Tech wins both football and basketball tonight.
Good Old Fashioned Hate
January 5th, 2010
3:27 pm
One day in an elementary school in Athens, GA, a teacher asks her class if the Georgia Bulldogs are their favorite football team. The whole class says yes, except for Little Jimmy.
The teacher asks, “What’s your favorite football team Jimmy?”
Little Jimmy says, “The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ”
The teacher asks, “Well, why is that?”
Little Jimmy says, “Well, my dad is a Yellow Jacket fan, my mom is a Yellow Jacket fan, I guess that makes me a Yellow Jacket fan.”
The teacher angered by his reply says, “If your dad was a moron and your mom was an idiot what would that make you?”
Little Jimmy says, “Well, I guess that would make me a Georgia fan.”
Red Foreman
January 5th, 2010
3:28 pm
Ahhh, Im gonna kick my dawgie just for luck….Ugay 7 is a maggot pile by now…long live ugay 7
1eyedJack
January 5th, 2010
3:30 pm
Good Old Fashioned Hate, have you ever wondered why you never have long-term girlfriends?
1eyedJack
January 5th, 2010
3:31 pm
Red, if there was an open season for fellows like you, I’d get
myself a hunting license.
Good Old Fashioned LAME Jokes
January 5th, 2010
3:31 pm
Why don’t you get off of Google for a few minutes and think of ONE original thing to say. Just so you know, you can insert ANY college name into those joke for different situations.
Hey, here’s an idea…you could head over to the Alabama or Texas blogs and use the joke against them! That will show them!!!
Good Old Fashioned Hate
January 5th, 2010
3:32 pm
1eyedJack
My wife of 33 years would kill me and I would rather live to have fun going back and forth with Ga fans, and it is all in good fun.
tech fan
January 5th, 2010
3:32 pm
suck it dogs. go jackets!!
@Red Forman...
January 5th, 2010
3:33 pm
You are a miserable person. I hope you will find somebody to love you one day so you don’t have this disgusting hate inside you anymore.
59bulldawg
January 5th, 2010
3:35 pm
Ramblinwreck83
I don’t disagree with you on that! There’s too much crap talked on all sides. And unfortunately many in the Dawg Nation are some of the worst! Would love to just talk football without all the juvenile stuff. You will notice however that even if I can’t pull for Tech I did at least compliment your coach. For the extra hate stirred up on the Georgia side during the last 13 months though you can blame posters like that idiot St. Simons.