The discussion of GT and B1G reminds me of the saying about conference expansion: Fans pick their favorite schools, school presidents pick conference members. School presidents have totally different requirements for conference memberships than fans.
B1G school presidents invited GT to join a decade ago (from 2010-2012). Not much has changed since then. If anything, there are factors that have moved even more in GT's favor.
GT is still the same athletic program, but with better leadership. Football, we're still a 7ish win team with special seasons of 10+ wins every 4-5 years. Basketball is still the same program that's still trying find our glory years of the 90's and early 2000's. Both programs are now looking at far brighter days than what's been going on the last few seasons.
B1G wants to be in the South. Period. The Southeast is quickly becoming an economic powerhouse for the US. Which means the population is shifting to this area. Atlanta has the biggest concentration of B1G alumni in the South, and that has grown even more since 2012. Think about that when you talk about carriage fees and subscribers to the B1G network. Oh, did anyone mention that Atlanta is the biggest media market in the South? The value of the ACC media contract would plummet without GT and Atlanta. The ACC knew that and talked our shortsighted President out of leaving the ACC (seriously, read the AJC interview with former President Peterson...it will make your blood boil). Since 2012, the Atlanta media market has grown, economic value has grown, population has grown. All of which made GT attractive in 2012 has gotten even stronger in 2023, and will continue to get stronger over the next few decades.
You think Media networks think about that?
New York and Chicago have each declined more than 70% since the early days of the Fortune 500.
finance.yahoo.com
From an athletic standpoint, speaking specifically about football (it's the main driver of expansion), as bad as were under CGC, GT is still one of the better programs in the ACC:
View attachment 15401
Think about that graphic. Even with the CGC years, GT is still within a striking distance of the same winning percentage of FSU...that team making all the noise right now. Also, look at the discussed B1G targets (GT, FSU, Miami, UNC, UVA). Outside of FSU, GT has more conference championships than all of them, and has a better winning percentage than all but FSU and Miami.
School Presidents understand that a school's athletic fortunes can change. GT has historically been an above average to good program:
Winsipedia - List and chart/infographic of schools and teams with the best ALL-TIME RECORD (WINNING %) (*minimum 100 games) in college football history
www.winsipedia.com
In terms of the B1G, GT is in the same winning band as Wisconsin/UCLA/Mich State/Minnesota. We've been a better program than Iowa/Minnesota/Maryland/Purdue/Illinois/Northwestern/Indiana. For those that don't think GT can be competitive in the B1G, I suggest you look closer. GT will continue to do what GT has always done: win 6-8 games a season, and enjoy a special season every 4-5 years.
There's also the intangible quality of a school that B1G Presidents look at, and for the B1G, it's an important issue.
This is one of the big reasons B1G Presidents have coveted GT for years. Combine that with all of the above, and you don't have to go far at all into the wish bag of what makes a school attractive to the B1G conference. GT checks all the boxes...even if our own fans don't think so.
There's a reason why GT was invited a decade ago, and you don't have to look too hard to see why GT may actually be in a stronger position now than we were then.
