Conference Realignment

[stinger78]

The collective fanbase. Only losing to UGA by 8 looks great on paper but im not sure we should convince ourselves that it means we are a significantly better team than Ole Miss or Tennessee who got the UGA full court press.

We are not. Individual game margin of victory is a very deceitful metric. Average or cumulative MOV can tell you more.

 

[CEB]

The collective fanbase. Only losing to UGA by 8 looks great on paper but im not sure we should convince ourselves that it means we are a significantly better team than Ole Miss or Tennessee who got the UGA full court press.

I don’t. Most don’t.
I also don’t think we should say that UGA wouldn’t have liked to put us away before halftime and coast with their second string the week before SEC championship…. I guess Kirby has a soft spot for Brent?

We aren’t where we want to be yet, but it looked like an improvement on the field too; not just on paper.

By the way, the only comparison that matters is GT yesterday vs GT today. You’re working really hard to dismiss that obvious improvement. If GT tomorrow doesn’t continue this trend, I’ll be here for your “I told ya so!”

 

[RonJohn]

The collective fanbase. Only losing to UGA by 8 looks great on paper but im not sure we should convince ourselves that it means we are a significantly better team than Ole Miss or Tennessee who got the UGA full court press.

I don't think anyone is saying that GT is better than Ole Miss, or even Tennessee. However, the we could have won that game by 20 if we had wanted to is something that mutt fans would say now. In the stands at the game, the mutt fans were not saying that. In fact just before the onside kick attempt a couple around me were wondering why the game had come to that point. The mutts were not playing the third string players because they knew they had the game under wraps.

The mutt fans said before and after that game that the mutts were just sitting their starters to rest them for the Alabama game, that they weren't really injured that badly. Then after the Alabama game the mutt fans were complaining that they hadn't rested the players more before the GT game. Some people, even on this forum, will not accept that the mutt team this year was just not as good as their teams from the previous years. They will not accept that GT played a helluva game.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

If who is being honest?
Maybe we oughtta give that a shot.

I’m beginning to think he is just a troll.

Unless one is severely cognitively limited everyone knows that if Georgia could have run up the score on Tech they would have. That’s how they’ve played it for as long as we’ve been rivals.

 

[stinger78]

I’m beginning to think he is just a troll.

Unless one is severely cognitively limited everyone knows that if Georgia could have run up the score on Tech they would have. That’s how they’ve played it for as long as we’ve been rivals.

The only thing they could have done was to try to push that last drive in. But they saw what happened to Miami and just ran out the clock. No need to pull the same stunt there.

 

[WreckinGT]

I’m beginning to think he is just a troll.

Unless one is severely cognitively limited everyone knows that if Georgia could have run up the score on Tech they would have. That’s how they’ve played it for as long as we’ve been rivals.

Yes, ive been trolling on this site for well over 10 years now. God forbid someone have a different opinion. Of UGAs top 5 receivers, one played against us. They also had a starting OL out and multiple defensive players out. Nearly all of these guys magically got healthy a week later. It's not hard to see that they were being as conservative as possible trying to get ready for the game after ours. Even with that approach they were never in any danger of actually losing although they messed around enough to make it closer than expected. If we went into that game with a top 15 team, do you personally think UGA approaches the game the same way that they did?

 

[stinger78]

It’s all in the presentation.

 

[yeti92]

Yes, ive been trolling on this site for well over 10 years now. God forbid someone have a different opinion. Of UGAs top 5 receivers, one played against us. They also had a starting OL out and multiple defensive players out. Nearly all of these guys magically got healthy a week later. It's not hard to see that they were being as conservative as possible trying to get ready for the game after ours. Even with that approach they were never in any danger of actually losing although they messed around enough to make it closer than expected. If we went into that game with a top 15 team, do you personally think UGA approaches the game the same way that they did?

Did you watch the SEC championship? Bowers and McConkey were clearly still injured.

Even if they weren't at full strength against us, it's silly to sit here and act like ugag was only trying to just barely win. Kirby Smart has repeatedly said Tech is ugag's #1 rival, and also said that if those guys were able to go they would have played.

 

[stingerman]

I'm not sure what you are saying in the second half of your post. There's a reason ESPN, Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, etc pay the Power Conferences a ton of money and pay the G5 conferences relatively no money. The general public is much more interested in the teams in the power conferences versus the G5 teams. I don't think the powers have missed that at all. UGA and Ohio State were the #2 teams in their conference this year. I don't think a game between Michigan and SunBelt Champion Troy would generate the same interest as Michigan v UGA. (or Bama v OSU).

I'm saying that the G5 currently is irrelevant to the FBS national championship. That's half of the teams that effectively start the season without any relevancy to anyone other than their alums. Just like Mach Madness, those teams become more interesting if they have a path to a championship, even if it's a long shot. And if they have that path, I suspect some of them would grow in power and prestige over the decades. Compare Gonzaga MBB. More interest leads to more eyeballs in the regular season.

 

[UgaBlows]

i haven’t noticed you crying for Tech when we have injured players out against uga, or when they have luck in their favor

 

[stinger78]

i haven’t noticed you crying for Tech when we have injured players out against uga, or when they have luck in their favor

1. I don’t equate stupidity with luck, it’s just stupidity.
2. Going 76 yards in 26 seconds in two fabulous plays is not luck, it’s execution.

 

[WreckinGT]

Did you watch the SEC championship? Bowers and McConkey were clearly still injured.

Even if they weren't at full strength against us, it's silly to sit here and act like ugag was only trying to just barely win. Kirby Smart has repeatedly said Tech is ugag's #1 rival, and also said that if those guys were able to go they would have played.

They weren't 100% obviously but three of UGAs top 4 receivers in the Alabama game (including Bowers, and McConkey) didn't even suit up against us. Surely you know the reason for that don't you? I wouldn't say they were just barely trying to win against us. They were trying to safely win against us. They knew they didn't need their best effort in that game and they needed to be conservative and rest important players for the game after.

 

[orientalnc]

They weren't 100% obviously but three of UGAs top 4 receivers in the Alabama game (including Bowers, and McConkey) didn't even suit up against us. Surely you know the reason for that don't you? I wouldn't say they were just barely trying to win against us. They were trying to safely win against us. They knew they didn't need their best effort in that game and they needed to be conservative and rest important players for the game after.

I'm not sure what the point is that you are trying to make. None of this has any relevance to this thread.

 

[jgtengineer]

They weren't 100% obviously but three of UGAs top 4 receivers in the Alabama game (including Bowers, and McConkey) didn't even suit up against us. Surely you know the reason for that don't you? I wouldn't say they were just barely trying to win against us. They were trying to safely win against us. They knew they didn't need their best effort in that game and they needed to be conservative and rest important players for the game after.

The reason the game was close was due to our success in the ground game. Kirby flat out said in an interview later that we just whipped their defense. If we had a defense you'd have seen those players go in for a few plays. The reason they lost to bama was their run defense not being able to stop the same plays two weeks in a row.

 

[WreckinGT]

I'm not sure what the point is that you are trying to make. None of this has any relevance to this thread.

It spiraled out from other conversations earlier. My apologies for the derail.

 

[yeti92]

They weren't 100% obviously but three of UGAs top 4 receivers in the Alabama game (including Bowers, and McConkey) didn't even suit up against us. Surely you know the reason for that don't you? I wouldn't say they were just barely trying to win against us. They were trying to safely win against us. They knew they didn't need their best effort in that game and they needed to be conservative and rest important players for the game after.

Yes, it's been stated numerous times they were INJURED. It's standard operating procedure literally everywhere to have injured players who can't play not suit up.

 

[cpf2001]

If we are being honest, if UGA wanted to blow us out that day then they would have blown us out that day.

Look at what they did to TCU and FSU.

Kirby understands style points and he understands that it’s a beauty pageant.

But sure, he decided to cut his in state rivals a break two weeks before the playoff selections because…. Why, exactly?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Yes, ive been trolling on this site for well over 10 years now. God forbid someone have a different opinion. Of UGAs top 5 receivers, one played against us. They also had a starting OL out and multiple defensive players out. Nearly all of these guys magically got healthy a week later. It's not hard to see that they were being as conservative as possible trying to get ready for the game after ours. Even with that approach they were never in any danger of actually losing although they messed around enough to make it closer than expected. If we went into that game with a top 15 team, do you personally think UGA approaches the game the same way that they did?

“It’s not hard to see” yet no one seems to have the same eagle eye that you have when it comes to seeing that uga was just half trying against us. Shoot, even the uga fans I know weren’t able to see that.

With all the ways you keep downplaying some of Tech’s best efforts last season it’s like if you aren’t a troll you are only missing it by the skin of your teeth. But I’ll take your word for it that you are just sharing an opinion. I confess I just wish that all of your opinions didn’t feel like you are denigrating the fine effort and accomplishments of our student athletes.

 

[WreckinGT]

Look at what they did to TCU and FSU.

Kirby understands style points and he understands that it’s a beauty pageant.

But sure, he decided to cut his in state rivals a break two weeks before the playoff selections because…. Why, exactly?

I wouldn't call it cutting anyone a break as much as trying to get his team in the best possible position to win against Alabama. You guys are acting like this is the first time a coach has done this. It's a fairly normal strategy to rest guys in games you are likely to win so that you are healthier for more important games later. Happens in every sport, every year. Against TCU and FSU he didn't have to worry about this. There were no games after those.

 

[cpf2001]

I wouldn't call it cutting anyone a break as much as trying to get his team in the best possible position to win against Alabama. You guys are acting like this is the first time a coach has done this. It's a fairly normal strategy to rest guys in games you are likely to win so that you are healthier for more important games later. Happens in every sport, every year. Against TCU and FSU he didn't have to worry about this. There were no games after those.

Why'd they rest some of those guys against Bama too then?

You can say "lucky" that they were injured, then... but they only forced 2 punts all game and I don't think TEs/WRs help with that much. It's hard to just sit back and cruise to an easy victory at half speed when you can't get the other team off the field consistently.

What UGA did was more of a "let's try to avoid giving this away" strategy instead of a "we are clearly better and can toy with them strategy." They found their matchup that worked out best for them - the ground attack - and they pounded it relentlessly. And they had a clear advantage there. Of course, that's slower and makes it harder to drop 50 points, but that wasn't because they were holding things back, it's because going away from that would've been higher risk. But for most of the game they led by 1 or 2 scores, which isn't a "take it easy" situation at all. (When they did get a bit more aggressive in the 4th, after briefly leading by 3 scores and trying to get back there, they threw a pick - unfortunately for GT they were otherwise smart enough to not go away from what was working.)