Georgia Tech as Coastal champion? Yep, it could happen
It was a stretch to think the Jackets could be in such a position, but here they are. (AP photo)
With one conference game remaining, Georgia Tech stands a real chance of winning the Coastal Division. This development is so outrageous as to shock someone who picked Georgia Tech to win the Coastal Division. Namely, me.
Know how bettors at the horse track turn losing tickets into a cascade of confetti? That’s what I’d done, albeit figuratively, with that prediction. Tech was 2-4 halfway through the season, 1-3 in ACC play. No way, I figured, that Virginia Tech and/or Miami — they’d beaten the Yellow Jackets in overtime — would lose the four conference games needed for Georgia Tech to finish ahead of both. Well, the Hokies have, and Miami might, and even if the Hurricanes don’t, the Jackets could still play for the conference championship. (More on this in a bit.)
There’s also the likelihood that Georgia Tech, should it squeeze into the title game in Charlotte, will do so at 6-6. (Assuming a victory over Duke on Saturday and a loss at Georgia on Nov. 24.) This wouldn’t be the greatest advertisement for ACC football, but the last great advertisement for ACC football came in the 20th Century. Somebody has to win this crazy league, and who better than these Jackets?
Georgia Tech is 68th among 120 FBS teams in total defense, 83rd in scoring defense. It dumped its defensive coordinator in midstream and has actually seen its points-against average rise since the change — from 30.17 under Al Groh to 30.25 under the interim Charles Kelly. The Jackets are still yielding 40-plus points every other game (three times in six with Groh, two in four without), and somehow they have a chance to be champions of one of the Big Six conferences.
Cold numbers don’t quite capture the degree of improbability. Tech needed three big things to happen last week, and all three did: Florida State scored with 40 seconds remaining to beat Virginia Tech on Thursday; Virginia scored with six seconds remaining to beat Miami on Saturday, and the Jackets won at North Carolina on a day when they yielded 50 points but scored 68.
If the Jackets beat Duke — they’re a double-digit favorite, which might not be a great thing — they’ll finish 5-3 in league play. Miami must win at Duke on Nov. 24 to get to 5-3. If Tech and Miami tie for first, the Hurricanes win the tiebreaker. (Thanks to their 42-36 victory here Sept. 22, a game the Jackets led by 17 points entering the fourth quarter.)
There’s another way Tech can make it, but it has nothing to do with Tech. Miami is facing NCAA sanctions, and the school is trying to decide if, in the attempt to lessen those penalties, it should impose a postseason ban on itself. The ACC will not allow Miami to represent the Coastal in the title game and then decide to skip a bowl; the conference has made it known that the Hurricanes must declare their intentions before the conference-championship match is made.
There’s no consensus as to what Miami will do. Given that the program has never played in an ACC title game, some believe the school will see this opportunity as too prime to punt. Others believe that the Hurricanes, who figure to be very good next season, don’t want to find themselves in 2013 occupying the space Ohio State does now — having a team capable of playing in a BCS bowl but being hamstrung by a postseason ban.
Miami hasn’t been forced to declare: At 5-5, it’s not yet bowl-eligible. But we could see something like this: The Hurricanes beat South Florida on Saturday for their sixth win, Georgia Tech beats Duke and then, on Monday, Miami announces that will forgo postseason play, thereby ceding the Coastal title to Tech. How might the Jackets celebrate this bizarre achievement? By tearing down the goalposts in an empty Bobby Dodd Stadium before practice on Day 1 of Georgia Week?
On Sept. 29, Georgia Tech was beaten at home by a Sun Belt opponent. Today Georgia Tech faces the possibility of becoming the first team ever to lose to Middle Tennessee by 21 points and then play in the Orange Bowl. Crazy league. Crazy season.
By Mark Bradley
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211 comments Add your comment
Jackets 2012
November 12th, 2012
9:29 pm
Tech should give up football?
Maybe Dawgs should give up basketball.
Chihuahuas lose to Penquins in near empty Stegasaurus.
And those who were there wished they weren’t.
You know the Penquins.
That would be basketball powerhouse Youngstown State.
Dadgum....
November 12th, 2012
9:31 pm
Let’s get real here. Duke is not a good team. They have won over poor teams and a smoke and mirrors approach. Don’t fool yourselves and believe in some hype about Duke. They suck. Look what FSU hung on them in Durham. Compare our win at UNC against their last second win at home over UNC. Nuff said. If GT doesn’t win by about 30 something is wrong. Stop buying into thinking this game is gonna be harder than it should be. It won’t.
Also, VT isn’t losing to BC or UVA. They win out and become bowl eligible. They will go to the Music Bowl in Nashville. Bank on that. No way on this earth UVA beats VT in Blacksburg. Bet the ranch on that. The best chance GT has is to hope Miami declines the bowl chance. Can’t see them getting in any other way. Once Miami gets the 6th win they are obligated to inform the ACC immediately upon eligibility. It will all shake out on Saturday night if Miami and GT both win.
Paul in NH
November 12th, 2012
9:49 pm
“If UGA gets a 14 – 21 point lead then it is over”. Wow – Humphrey is a football genius.
Very few teams come back from a >2TD deficit. UGA hasn’t done it against anyone under Richt. GT has done it under Johnson.
savannah buzz
November 12th, 2012
9:51 pm
gt4ever, you got it most of it right…I would stop short of saying this GT team is an embarrassment though. If nothing else, they’ve fought back to get to this point when it looked like 2 or 3 wins was about it for the season.
Paul in NH
November 12th, 2012
9:51 pm
gt4ever thinks UGA’s first loss will be in the SECCG??? Must be a different UGA than the one who played SC.
NJ Dawg
November 12th, 2012
9:52 pm
Wow. The ACC really is that horrible. At least there’s basketball season.
Oh, wait: the SEC won the title in that sport, too.
UGA = Yawn
November 12th, 2012
9:54 pm
Please Mark and everyone else. Stop this silly talk. Geesh. We just need to beat Duke – forget about the rest. We don’t control that. Beat Duke, get 6 wins and keep are bowl streak alive . . . . and hope for a bowl win finally!!!!
miami came back from 17
November 12th, 2012
9:54 pm
down against a groh prevent d if my memory serves correct.
UGA = Yawn
November 12th, 2012
9:57 pm
PS: I’m actually more invested in GT basketball now. We have good football players. Let’s hope they improve and win more next year. This year should be forgotten. Time to give coach Gregory some love!
sec vs acc
November 12th, 2012
10:01 pm
before we start annointing on how bad an acc is…. an acc that is more evenly balanced that from top to bottom than a stinkingly bad sec.
in 2 weeks we will have a better idea
uf vs fsu
ucs vs uc
gt vs uga
last time i looked there was a tiny team in la that has given the powers in the sec fits. that is why they play the games.
fish fry
November 12th, 2012
10:19 pm
9-5, it could happen.
your facebbok friend
November 12th, 2012
10:34 pm
The only thing CMR has been consistent at is kicking GTUs arse
your facebbok friend
November 12th, 2012
10:37 pm
Anyone remember when UGA and SC won the ACC championship? I do. You all suck.
Buzz 2011
November 12th, 2012
10:48 pm
Hey Mark, I assume GT will win in Athens!! Dogs can’t score 45 points..
You already know Tech can cut through them with not a lot of trouble..
Buzz 2011
November 12th, 2012
10:53 pm
Galling!!
wreckbone
November 12th, 2012
11:00 pm
The reason I think my Jackets can beat UGA….we have an offense that if it gets geared up, we can score as much as anybody. And if we are scoring like that, its a baqll game. You have had Johnson out of one game. Last years. Yes you got the most wins, but we had a shot at the other two losses with Johnson. You didn’t know until the end of the game who was going to win.
Dacusville Bill
November 12th, 2012
11:27 pm
Ya ain’t beat Duke yet–Remember back in the Glory Days, Tech led Duke 20-0 and lost 21-20? That’s was with the Best Coach of his era–Bobby Dodd—–and the Coach ya got now -ain’t the best at anything-
Gotta Beweave
November 13th, 2012
12:03 am
That Vad is best ever at Tech and we’ll steamroll Uga!
Drexel Gal
November 13th, 2012
12:50 am
None of you geek losers has mentioned the possibility of Georgia Tech’s backing into the ACC title game, and then facing Clemson, whose new athletic director is none other than Dan Rada-Moron.
Walmart Retards
November 13th, 2012
1:14 am
Drexel? ROTFLMFAO
fuzzybee78
November 13th, 2012
1:23 am
@Drexel Gal Moron
Clemson?????? Commmmoooonnn Man!!!!!!!!!!!
FSU won the Atlantic—- some people post and prove what we all were thinking!
clay
November 13th, 2012
4:14 am
There must have not been anything to do yesterday down at the AJC headquarters Mark, if you had a chance to sit down and think of all the IF outcomes that can happen with all of those sorry teams this year, and then have the time to write it all.
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November 13th, 2012
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BBQ MAN
November 13th, 2012
4:21 am
who cares? just BEAT uga. that will satisfy me and most GT fans this year! THWG
clay
November 13th, 2012
4:24 am
People also want to make fun of UGA’s schedule and how it’s so easy. Well Alabama has had a cupcake schedule as well. Dont give me “well the played Michigan to start the season.” Really?…Michigan? Enough said. They exposed Ms. st for having a soft schedule, that’s why they have lost 3 in a row now that they have played some real teams. So the two real teams that Alabama has played, they have struggled badly. Should have lost to LSU and got whipped by A&M on their own turf. I’m not saying Alabama is not a great team, but before you go knocking UGA schedule for being easy. They aren’t the only ones.
Buzz2011
November 13th, 2012
7:00 am
A GT team coming in at 7 – 5 deserves to be in ACC Championship game.
The two loses to Hoakies and Miami were both overtime loses that GT had won..
Time to add to our 2009 title…
Concerned
November 13th, 2012
7:33 am
All this, and Ga Tech sent back tickets to the game in Athens because they couldn’t generate enough interest in the game. Talk about band wagon fans.
Brent
November 13th, 2012
7:41 am
How pathetic is uga basketball? Not only was the steg 1/4 full for a night game, they lose to youngstown. For all the abuse tech takes from uga fans over attendance, they can’t even half fill a what, 6k seat arena for a basketball.
old dog
November 13th, 2012
7:47 am
To Hell with Tek, today, tomorrow and every other day!
goforit
November 13th, 2012
7:59 am
Rick james and 10 of 11. You Ga. fans need to remember that, had Ga punter not faked another “roughing the punter”, your great team would have lost to the worst Kentucky team in years. I believe Middle Tn. Tech could probably handle Kentucky, so do not be so sure about your thoughts. There really should be an unsportsmanlike penalty for “Punters” who fake getting hit. Georgia would have lost two additional games this year. How sad to be taught to cheat to win games. But, its all about couching!!!!!
Alex
November 13th, 2012
8:07 am
Alabama lost to a big 12 team. Haha. Yeah the sec is soooo good.
And how empty was the uga steg last night. Like 1/4 full. Talk about pathetic.
gLENN
November 13th, 2012
8:21 am
If Tech plays in the Orange bowl the NCAA I would hope would at that point would step in and try to put something in place to stop that kind of nonsense from happening again . Maybe say if your not ranked you can’t play in a BCS bowl . I don’t know . That would be wrong on so many levels and I actually have nothing against Tech . They don’t deserve to be playing in a bowl like that though .
Don
November 13th, 2012
8:37 am
Well mr Bradley,
If wisconsin loses to osu this week, then they will be 4-3 and 7-4 in big 10 play and would go to the champ game because psu and osu with better records can’t. Take out a couple of teams from any conference and you’re left with slim pickings.
Vince
November 13th, 2012
8:50 am
The techies playing in the ACC championship game——can anyone out there think of anything more irrelevant than that????
tooltime234
November 13th, 2012
9:01 am
Any Tech fans making grand projections of us beating UGA for sure are crazy. Let’s worry about Duke first. The only way we can maybe even remotely have a shot a beating UGA, and I don’t believe we will, is if the game is a shootout. I cant really see that either though because even if we put up a whole lot of yards and points, their d is too good not to get a few stops. And there is no way we can stop or tackle anybody. I want us to win obviously but from an objective point of view I just don’t see it happening. If we beat Duke and could keep the UGA game close I would be happy. But UGA fans if you’re not slightly concerned after seeing Vad Lee play, you’re lying.
Go Jackets
November 13th, 2012
9:01 am
I would go 1-11 every year if that win was the last game of the season.
GT GRAD
November 13th, 2012
9:20 am
ACC is a “crazy league”…….Mark Bradley’s attempt to degrade the ACC again!
What would definitely be crazy is IF the 6-5 (or even 5-6 team if we lose to Duke……good gravy let’s hope not) GT team beats the UGA bulldawgies. A “superior” SEC team who won the SEC East losing to a team Mark Bradley has deemed “pitiful” from the lowely ACC……………wouldn’t that be absolutely wonderful????
All I can say is Go Tech!!
observer
November 13th, 2012
9:28 am
I don’t find Tech winning the Coastal any more bizarre than uga going to the sec title game and being highly ranked after playing the crappiest schedule in the country and being blown out by SC.
GT GRAD
November 13th, 2012
9:29 am
Easy schedule discussion: it is a sad state that NCAA football has become a competition to see who can develop the easiest schedule in the land……this is because of the BCS crap. The SEC teams have mastered this approach.
I still say games against teams ranked outside of the Top 100 should simply not count in polls or computer rankings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boise State would be 3-1, Florida would be 6-2, Alabama would be 8-1 at the end of most seasons IF we excluded games against teams ranked outside of the Top 100.
Dadgum....
November 13th, 2012
9:32 am
I’ve posted on several blogs with almost unanimous agreement that no way in hell can Duke beat GT. Duke is a pathetic team. Their record has been achieved with smoke and mirrors and beating bad teams and barely escaping with quasi wins. Lets face facts. Duke got pasted at home by about 50 against FSU. It took a last second miracle at home to squeeze by UNC who we laid 68 on at UNC. Maybe Duke is better than past years but don’t fool yourselves into thinking Duke is some great hurdle. They are terrible and when they are bowl eligible that speaks volumes about the ACC quality of teams.
Rock on…..Duke can’t stop anyone. Tech can’t either but Tech has an offense. Tech will win 59-30 on Saturday. Lay the points. Duke ain’t getting near enough.
A previous poster queried that the BCS should not allow an ACC team with a putrid record into their game. Well, I have two responses. First, the BCS no longer exists so after this year that’s a moot and stupid point. The Orange Bowl just signed a contract with the ACC for extension on their automatic tie-in with the conference champion. They will always play some team from SEC, Big 10, or ND. The Orange Bowl has no say so in who they get. Good record or not. The team that represents the ACC has earned it. The other ACC teams had their shot and couldn’t prevent the winner from going. Why trash the team that gets the BCS slot?
DinoE
November 13th, 2012
9:33 am
Tech will win the division and upset fsu for the ACC title–book it! fsu is overrated and lost to a terrible nc state team.
GT Bobs Male Lover
November 13th, 2012
9:38 am
We have no shot vs Georgia and its really gonna be a blowout.If we get invited to a bowl game thats played before christmas on a tues afternoon like we usually do I say we dont go.Bob abd I are tired of going to bowl games in Detroit.
Admiral Obvious
November 13th, 2012
9:45 am
Hey Nerds! Please sign Paul Johnson to a LONG TERM contract!
Glass House Rocker
November 13th, 2012
9:46 am
I recall the controversy at Tech over the QB position–Pepper Rogers or Wade Mitchell? UGA had once had two pretty good players at QB–Charlie Britt and Fran Tarkenton–and won the SEC Championship, beat Tech and won the Orange Bowl. Stan Gann was a senior who had started every game at Tech since he became eligible. Tech trailed Clemson and Dodd inserted Billy Lothridge. Lothridge became THE QB. Sometimes two players at QB works. Most often it does not. I appreciate Johnson’s “loyality” to Washington and hope Washington sets the TD record. I do not believe he can do it against UGA’s defense. Based on his performance vs UNC Lee does seem to run the offense better by providing a real threat to throw the deep pass accurately.
clay
November 13th, 2012
9:46 am
I have this question to all GT fans. Let’s say even if you ended up beating duke and all of these other miracle things happen for you to get to the ACC championship just to get drug by FSU. Are you happy with your season?
Albany_Jacket
November 13th, 2012
9:47 am
lol, GO JACKETS!
Dadgum....
November 13th, 2012
10:04 am
While I’m thinking about bowls, since Duke has qualified already they are going to the Belk Bowl in Charlotte. That is all but official but can’t be official until Dec. If VT beats BC and UVA, which they will-easily, then they are headed to the Music Bowl in Nashville. Clemson looks destined for the Chicken Bowl in Atlanta or as an at large in the Sugar if they beat the Gamecocks. Notre Dame is a lock for the Orange Bowl to play their new step sibling from the ACC assuming they don’t back into the National title game.
GT looks to get a lower tier bowl based on their FBS ranking. Even if they make the ACCCG the Chicken Bowl would be under no obligation to take Tech if they lost. Tech will go to Orlando or perhaps out west. I don’t like Tech’s chances to make the ACCCG. Miami isn’t losing to Duke and UVA isn’t beating VT. So even if there is a 3 way tie Tech doesn’t advance. The only way GT advances is if Miami self-sanctions their school amid the NCAA probe. Miami will become bowl eligible on Saturday and they must declare after the game to the ACC. I can’t see Miami heading to Duke for the final game without the ACCCG game in tow. Miami will forego the sanctions believe me.
LawDawg
November 13th, 2012
10:05 am
A three way tie of UM-UNC-GT is interesting, since that is probation-probation-conference title stripped and despite all this cheating, all would likely be 6-6.
The ACC is hilarious.
Beast from the East
November 13th, 2012
10:05 am
GT GRAD
November 13th, 2012
9:29 am
Easy schedule discussion: it is a sad state that NCAA football has become a competition to see who can develop the easiest schedule in the land……this is because of the BCS crap. The SEC teams have mastered this approach.
I still say games against teams ranked outside of the Top 100 should simply not count in polls or computer rankings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boise State would be 3-1, Florida would be 6-2, Alabama would be 8-1 at the end of most seasons IF we excluded games against teams ranked outside of the Top 100.
————————–
UF has played the toughest schedule in the land and sits at 9-1. 3-1 against top 10 teams. How do you figure they would be 6-2? Pure BS!!!!!!
Beast from the East
November 13th, 2012
10:08 am
The ACC has exactly 2 teams that are any good….FSU and Clemson. The rest are just plain bad. There is no other way to spin it.