A long, strange trip: Tech is headed for the ACC title game
"Really? We're going to the ACC championship game? How'd that happen?" (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Updated 9:55 a.m.
A team that wasn’t sure until Saturday night that it could play in a bowl is now bound for the ACC championship game. Georgia Tech learned this morning that Miami has decided to forgo postseason play, thereby handing the Coastal Division to the Yellow Jackets, who started 1-3 in league play and who still might finish the regular season 6-6.
It’s a stunning turn for a program that was reeling only six weeks ago. The Jackets had lost two ACC games in overtime after blowing late leads and been hammered at home by Middle Tennessee of the middling Sun Belt. Two days after his team lost at Clemson to slide to 2-4, Paul Johnson moved to fire Al Groh, his defensive coordinator of 2 1/2 years.
At that point the season seemed all but lost, but the Jackets steadied — well, after another home thrashing, this at the hands of BYU — and the schedule eased and events coalesced. (Virginia Tech lost to Florida State in the final minute; Miami lost at Virginia in the final seconds.) And here, wonder of wonders, the Jackets are. They’ll play Florida State on Dec. 1 in Charlotte for the right to represent the ACC in the Orange Bowl.
A cynic would say that Tech backed into the title of a weak division, but that would, at least at the moment, be only half-true. At worst, Tech will tie for first place. True, Miami held the tiebreaking edge over the Jackets, but a Duke victory over the Hurricanes on Saturday would hand Tech the Coastal title outright. (There’s a chance North Carolina can also tie for first place, but the Tar Heels have long been ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA penalities — and the Jackets beat them anyway.)
As for the weak division … no arguments. At this moment, only two of the four remaining Coastal teams — not counting Miami and North Carolina, who aren’t going anywhere — are bowl-eligible. The two best ACC teams by far have been Florida State and Clemson, and both reside in the Atlantic Division, and Tech didn’t have to play the Seminoles. (Then again, Georgia won the SEC East without having to play any of the four best teams in the West. Stuff happens.)
It would be wrong to suggest that Tech has had a great year. Johnson himself conceded as much after his team beat Duke on Saturday, saying: “Has the season turned out the way we wanted? Not to this point.” But this strange season will leave the Jackets playing for the ACC title, which they’ve done only twice — losing to Wake Forest in 2006 in the worst game ever played, beating Clemson in 2009 in a victory since vacated by NCAA sanctions — since the conference split into divisions in 2005.
Oh, and since you asked: Even if the Jackets lose both to Georgia and Florida State, they’ll almost certainly play in a bowl. The loser of a conference championship game can petition for bowl acceptance even if it’s under .500, and Tech expects that the granting of its petition would be a formality. UCLA lost the Pac-12 title game last season to fall to 6-7 but faced Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. (It lost that game, too, setting the stage for Jim Mora, of all people, to ride to the rescue.)
We can’t yet call this Tech season a triumph. Only twice before in Johnson’s 16 years as head coach had one of his teams — Navy in his first year there, Tech in 2010 — lost five regular-season games, and these Jackets were widely considered the second-best team in the Coastal Division when play began on Labor Day in Blacksburg, Va. They lost to Virginia Tech that night, which augured badly: The Tech-Tech winner had taken the Coastal title every year there has been a Coastal Division. Not this time, though.
The road wasn’t straight or smooth, but somehow Georgia Tech has found its way to Charlotte, which was the idea all along. As quarterback Tevin Washington said Saturday: “We still have all our goals on the board.” And sure enough, it’s still possible for the team that lost at home by three touchdowns to Middle Tennessee to …
Beat Georgia for the de facto state championship.
Beat Florida State for the ACC title.
Win the Orange Bowl.
Not saying any of the above will happen, let alone all of it. But it wasn’t so long ago — 16 days, to be exact — that Georgia Tech was under .500 and guaranteed of nothing beyond a 12th game. Now it gets to play a 13th and a 14th. Now it gets a chance, as the late great Ernie Johnson Sr. used to say of the Braves, to give us a finish.
Further reading: Our weekly Heat Check – Hot ‘Dogs face a warm swarm of Yellow Jackets.
And further still: Can Tech ruin Georgia’s season? It’s possible. But probable?
And, not to say I told you so: Pigskin pickin’ — Tech wins its division; Georgia takes the SEC.
By Mark Bradley
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134 comments Add your comment
@eidsonb
November 19th, 2012
12:30 pm
Way to go CPJ…sorry he still is the man for the job…this year was just to set up the talent we have coming in next year…Lots of Red Shirts….who da thunk we could have 9 wins if we win out…not me…
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
12:30 pm
Just be men enough to show up back on the boards on Monday. That is all I ask.
Don’t worry. I will be here. I won’t be phased by the results of the game whether we win or lose.
DDT
November 19th, 2012
12:37 pm
UGA’s D will push you guys around like little girls. Wait till those LBs tee off on your QB. He’ll be lucky to leave the game standing upright.
DERP
November 19th, 2012
12:45 pm
Kudos for hanging in there…hopefully if you upset FSU, we won’t find out you cheated AGAIN.
Rick James
November 19th, 2012
12:46 pm
@GTBob
From personal experience, being in Sanford Stadium is one of the worst possible experiences for an opposing fan. If GT was favored by 50 points I wouldn’t even consider attending.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
I dont understand why the only fans who complain and playing in Athens are Tech fans.Why is it that there are not massive arrests or reports of bad behavior by UGA fans when the they playTech in Atlanta? My bet is that there wont be 2,500 Tech fans at the ACC championship game nor the Orange Bowl should you make it.Whats the excuse for Bobby Dodd not selling out regularly? Most Tech fans are like you Bob.They call themselves supporters in the blogs and watch the games at home..
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
12:54 pm
Most Tech fans are like you Bob.They call themselves supporters in the blogs and watch the games at home..
Sorry, but I have been to every Tech game this season. I probably wouldn’t go if the UGA game was at home this season though.
www
November 19th, 2012
1:00 pm
gtbob, what’s your deal with obsessing over/trolling uga? let it go man.
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
1:07 pm
gtbob, what’s your deal with obsessing over/trolling uga? let it go man.
Nah, its hate week. I am probably going to be worse than normal.
JB
November 19th, 2012
1:07 pm
Will the rope off half the stadium for the ACC title game to save money on clean up?
JB
November 19th, 2012
1:09 pm
How does Gtbob afford to go to the games being a full time blogger? Just a thought.
The Auditor
November 19th, 2012
1:10 pm
What kind of Asian is Vad Le? Good thing you will have an Asian QB leading your primarily Asian fan base haha
1990_Champs_GT
November 19th, 2012
1:24 pm
ACC Championship (and bowl eligibility) just means two more loses for CPJ and this terrible GT squad. No chance against the mutts either.
This shows why the ACC is getting ditched by teams like sorry @$$ Maryland. Let’s hope the new AD has sense enough to cut Johnson off at the knees during next season and get us on the road back to the SEC!
Seriously!
November 19th, 2012
1:28 pm
Good for Tech, bad for the ACC. It just shows how far down the ACC has fallen. A 6-6 team (after a loss to UGA on Saturday) and going to the Championship game. Pales in comparison to the SEC Championship game that will probably be sending the #2 and # 3 ranked teams in the nation to the game.
Seriously!
November 19th, 2012
1:31 pm
Maryland is dropping out of the ACC? Who will enter? I bet a team from the FCS Southern Conference is on their way. Georgia Southern, App. State?
1990_Champs_GT
November 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
But it is insane that both UGA and GT are playing for they’re championships in the same year. Of course the beat downs both will suffer will be about the same…
35-10 FSU over Jackets and 38-17 Bama over Dawgs.
1990_Champs_GT
November 19th, 2012
1:36 pm
Ha! “Their” not “they’re”. Common Bulldog mistake, lol!
dick eskew
November 19th, 2012
1:43 pm
let’s see how many bulldogs get arrested this week. it could have a big influence in the upset.
The Auditor
November 19th, 2012
1:57 pm
Given that Atlanta police have a lot more crime to worry about on the Tech campus, I’m gonna say that UGA alcohol-related arrests have a little more to do with the fact that Athens/UGA police have no real crime to worry about to go along with the fact that these arrests are a huge part of their income (outside of UGA, Athens is dirt poor). Police simply turn a blind eye to the alcohol-related issues at Tech (which is not necessarily the worst thing). College kids are going to be college kids regardless, so if you think that UGA student-athletes are really just “criminals and thugs” you are just plain mistaken or ignorant.
Can Tech ruin UGA’s season? It’s possible. But probable? | Mark Bradley
November 19th, 2012
2:08 pm
[...] changed Monday morning. With Miami’s decision to exclude itself from postseason play, Georgia Tech won the ACC Coastal Division outright. So now, for the first time, Tech and Georgia will meet with both having, to borrow Paul [...]
Jacket Man
November 19th, 2012
2:16 pm
Directly from the NCAA website:
Currently, there are 30 other bowl games that contractually tied to the FBS conferences. To become bowl eligible a team must have a winning record, which may include one win against a FCS opponent, or win their conference and the team must not be on postseason probation. The NCAA allows one victory per season over a FCS team to count toward an FBS team’s bowl eligibility, so long as the FCS team has supplied financial aid for football averaging out to at at least at 90 percent of the 63 scholarships allowed over “a rolling two-year period” that can include the current season.
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Championships/Postseason+Football/Overview
Jacket Man
November 19th, 2012
2:17 pm
Last Updated: Oct 8, 2012
35-7
November 19th, 2012
2:19 pm
Both Teams have opportunities…. both will miss out………
Jacket Man
November 19th, 2012
2:23 pm
The NCAA’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved a new selection process for bowl games that includes a possibility for teams that finish 5-7 to be selected to bowls.
Under the new measure, if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams, or if a bowl cannot be filled by its conference affiliations, the open spots would be filled through a six-tier tiebreaking process.
The 5-7 teams, if they have a top-five score on the Academic Progress Rate, can enter at the bottom of the process.
Ordinarily, teams need to finish with a minimum .500 winning percentage with at least six wins — five against other Football Bowl Subdivision teams — to be bowl eligible. A sixth win against a Football Championship Subdivision team only counts if the FCS school meets scholarship requirements.
Now, first consideration will go to 6-6 teams with a win against any FCS teams, regardless of scholarships, then 6-6 teams with two wins against FCS schools.
A team that finishes 6-7 and loses in a conference championship would be next, followed by 6-7 teams that normally play a 13-team schedule, such as Hawaii and its home opponents.
Then bowls could then invite FCS teams making the move to FBS, if they have at least a 6-6 record.
Finally, a team with a top-five APR that finishes 5-7 could be selected.
Jacket Man
November 19th, 2012
2:26 pm
So, if there aren’t any 6-6 teams eligible for Bowl games, then Tech WOULD go to a Bowl game even if they lost the next 2 games.
GT
November 19th, 2012
2:52 pm
Strange team, Georgia may be the first team that should beat Tech, on paper that they have played this year. Looking back Va.Tech was not as advertised, Clemson was pretty good by we led going into the 4th, surely you think we would beat Middle Tenn. if we played them again and if Miami, overtime, had known they were caving at the end you think they wouldn’t have played that hard. The game I cannot figure out is BYU that team was just better but we did some really stupid stuff, like having trouble getting plays into the game and not reacting to their speed up offensive. I think no one reacted worse to 50 plays a half than us, and against BYU our offense didn’t bail us out. First team of Johnson’s to never to score a touchdown in a whole game, here at home where they suddenly don’t play well anymore.
GT
November 19th, 2012
2:54 pm
First Tech team coached by Johnson not to score a offensive touchdown.
Ellijay
November 19th, 2012
2:57 pm
@GT:
You just successfully explained every loss. Gtu should be undefeated right now based on your excuses.
Put in Timeout by Ken Suguira,Filtered by Mark Bradley, Banned by Bill King, Chip Towers & only slightly loved by Jeff Schultz.
November 19th, 2012
3:57 pm
dWag fans…..Bobo & MURRAY are 3-9 against top 25 teams but somehow those 2 are going to almost double that win total in 2 games to win the BCS MNC? HAHAHAH………………….Bet the HOUSE……..Take it to the BANK………….or is it more like WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR again?
PTCFlyer
November 19th, 2012
4:07 pm
C’mon “Steve”…..Talk about backing in a conference championship game, UGAg did not have to play Bama, LSU, A&M, Miss State! Are you kidding me?
And GT did not play...
November 19th, 2012
6:33 pm
…FSU, NC State, Wake Forest or BC, so what’s your point? That is just the luck of the draw for having new teams join a conference as far as UGA is concerned…
Wal-Mart Retards
November 19th, 2012
8:40 pm
“this strange season will leave the Jackets playing for the ACC title, which they’ve done only twice — losing to Wake Forest in 2006 in the worst game ever played”
AMEN to that! Good grief, that was a horrible game.
playmeortrademe
November 19th, 2012
9:33 pm
This ACC Championship will set RECORDS for lowest attendance ever. Tech fans won’t travel to Charlotte to see them get clown-stomped by F$U. And F$U fans won’t travel up to the cold to see F$U when they can take a trip to Miami in a month for a better game. RECORDS. I bet Swofford is peeing his pants knowing how bad the game will look on TV.
On another note, Tech is about to be the southern most school in the ACC again. FSU will bolt to the SEC or Big 12, (whoever calls first), Clemson will follow FSU. Miami will be isolated and looking for a way out, may join USF to the Big 12. The ACC will truly be a basketball conference after they go get the remains of the Big East: UConn, Louisville, Temple (yes), Georgetown (football ready in 2015), and UMass. Carolina and Duke must be giddy….
His Jackets pull a no-show, and Paul Johnson is not pleased | Mark Bradley
November 24th, 2012
9:05 pm
[...] two snippets of good news for Georgia Tech on an otherwise wretched Saturday: The Jackets still get to play for the ACC Championship, and the Georgia Bulldogs will be occupied [...]
His Jackets pull a no-show, and Paul Johnson is not pleased
November 26th, 2012
10:39 am
[...] snippets of good news for Georgia Tech on an differently unlucky Saturday: The Jackets still get to play for a ACC Championship, and a Georgia Bulldogs will be assigned [...]