GT over/under 5.5 wins in 2024

[Root4GT]

Just a reminder:

GT finished 4th in the ACC last season.

I don't think we talk about that enough.

playing 7 of 13 possible teams in conference makes the Conference standings not terribly meaningful unless the team gets to the championship game.

5-3 in Conference. 1-3 in non conference with zero wins against FBS teams. Kind of supports the perception the ACC is a weak foitball conference.

 

[Techster]

playing 7 of 13 possible teams in conference makes the Conference standings not terribly meaningful unless the team gets to the championship game.

5-3 in Conference. 1-3 in non conference with zero wins against FBS teams. Kind of supports the perception the ACC is a weak foitball conference.

Despite the perception of the ACC, it's always important to do well in conference. Bowling Green was an embarrassing loss, no excuses there, but the other two losses were to top 10 teams (that happen to be in the SEC). We had a shot at beating UGA who was clearly the #1 team up to that point.

Point is, GT was predicted to be in the lowest of the lower half of the ACC and we finished 4th. That was the first year with new coordinators, and a bunch of new players. GT is heading into a new year and most of our offense is returning, most notably, one of the best QBs in the nation. Defense is a concern, but the building blocks for this season is far ahead of the what we had last season.

 

[slugboy]

playing 7 of 13 possible teams in conference makes the Conference standings not terribly meaningful unless the team gets to the championship game.

5-3 in Conference. 1-3 in non conference with zero wins against FBS teams. Kind of supports the perception the ACC is a weak foitball conference.

Our FBS non conference was a top 15 Ole Miss, a #1 (at the time) UGA, and Bowling Green, plus UCF.

We deserve flak for Bowling Green, and demoted our DC because of it. The ACC doesn’t look weak because we lost to Ole Miss or UGA, or us going 1-3 out of conference. Only one of those games hurts conference perception (BG).

Fairly, we were “mid” last year, which is a helluva improvement. Saying we were 4th in the ACC is an overstatement—we wouldn’t have been ranked that high meaningfully.

I think your numbers are an overstatement in the negative direction.

There are a couple of reasons the ACC has been perceived as weak in football. VT and GT being down are factors. Bigger factors are Clemson being down for a couple of years, and Miami being lost in the wilderness for ages, and FSU having only last year in contention in a decade.

 

[g0lftime]

The only good thing about BG loss was the final nail in Thacker's coffin. Should have happened sooner but he was given plenty of chances.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

We had a shot at beating UGA who was clearly the #1 team up to that point.

We scored to bring the score within 8 with under 4 minutes left in the ball game and never got the ball back. We had an early lead on them and played them tougher than just about any other team last year outside of the SECCG but we never had a shot at beating uga in that game, at least, not after halftime anyways.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Point is, GT was predicted to be in the lowest of the lower half of the ACC and we finished 4th. That was the first year with new coordinators, and a bunch of new players. GT is heading into a new year and most of our offense is returning, most notably, one of the best QBs in the nation. Defense is a concern, but the building blocks for this season is far ahead of the what we had last season.

This I agree with wholeheartedly. We should be better this year. I am not convinced it will translate to more than 5-6 wins, but we should be noticeably better.

 

[Root4GT]

Our FBS non conference was a top 15 Ole Miss, a #1 (at the time) UGA, and Bowling Green, plus UCF.

We deserve flak for Bowling Green, and demoted our DC because of it. The ACC doesn’t look weak because we lost to Ole Miss or UGA, or us going 1-3 out of conference. Only one of those games hurts conference perception (BG).

Fairly, we were “mid” last year, which is a helluva improvement. Saying we were 4th in the ACC is an overstatement—we wouldn’t have been ranked that high meaningfully.

I think your numbers are an overstatement in the negative direction.

There are a couple of reasons the ACC has been perceived as weak in football. VT and GT being down are factors. Bigger factors are Clemson being down for a couple of years, and Miami being lost in the wilderness for ages, and FSU having only last year in contention in a decade.

Point being is several on thi board claim the SEC is simply hype and the ACC is their equal. We were in the same spot as Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri. Ole Miss handled us fairly easily. We battled them hard but it was clear who was a significantly better team.

Conference records and standings in large conferences are not overall that meaningful anymore and will only be much worse this year with only having 4 very large P4 conferences. We play 8 conference games in a 17 team conference. The B1G will have 18 teams playing 9 conference games and the SEC will have 16 teams playing 8 conference games.

Getting to the Conference Championship Game is meaningful. Schedules can significantly help a team get there. Winning the Conference Championship Game is extremely meaningful as it gets you into the CFP. Being tied for 4th in a conference may or may not be meaningful as how the team played vs OOC opponents will carry more weight.

We were clearly a much improved football team in 2023. Being tied for 4th in the ACC was nice but not very meaningful.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Point being is several on thi board claim the SEC is simply hype and the ACC is their equal. We were in the same spot as Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri. Ole Miss handled us fairly easily. We battled them hard but it was clear who was a significantly better team.

Conference records and standings in large conferences are not overall that meaningful anymore and will only be much worse this year with only having 4 very large P4 conferences. We play 8 conference games in a 17 team conference. The B1G will have 18 teams playing 9 conference games and the SEC will have 16 teams playing 8 conference games.

Getting to the Conference Championship Game is meaningful. Schedules can significantly help a team get there. Winning the Conference Championship Game is extremely meaningful as it gets you into the CFP. Being tied for 4th in a conference may or may not be meaningful as how the team played vs OOC opponents will carry more weight.

We were clearly a much improved football team in 2023. Being tied for 4th in the ACC was nice but not very meaningful.

The SEC is good.

The SEC is overrated.

These two statements are not mutually exclusive.

The ACC is not the best conference.

The ACC is underrated.

These two statements are also not mutually exclusive.

Finishing 4 in the ACC was a fantastic accomplishment given the fact that most pundits picked us to finish last.

What am I leaving out and/or what am I missing?

 

[Root4GT]

The SEC is good.

The SEC is overrated.

These two statements are not mutually exclusive.

The ACC is not the best conference.

The ACC is underrated.

These two statements are also not mutually exclusive.

Finishing 4 in the ACC was a fantastic accomplishment given the fact that most pundits picked us to finish last.

What am I leaving out and/or what am I missing?

Finishing tied for 4th in the ACC was great considering where we have been.

Finishing 4th gets you the Birmingham Bowl except the Gasparilla didn’t want the same ACC team back 2 years in a row. Compared to the prior 4 years it was great.

With huge Conferences going forward anything below top 2 in conference doesn’t mean much. So much depends on who a team plays in conference. A team could play the bottom 7 teams in conference while another team could play the top 7 conference teams. Might as well be in different conferences for comparison.

OOC games now matter more. It will be interesting to see if there is value attached to more difficult OOC games going forward and if all P4 conferences go to 9 conference games.

 

[Techster]

Finishing tied for 4th in the ACC was great considering where we have been.

Finishing 4th gets you the Birmingham Bowl except the Gasparilla didn’t want the same ACC team back 2 years in a row. Compared to the prior 4 years it was great.

With huge Conferences going forward anything below top 2 in conference doesn’t mean much. So much depends on who a team plays in conference. A team could play the bottom 7 teams in conference while another team could play the top 7 conference teams. Might as well be in different conferences for comparison.

OOC games now matter more. It will be interesting to see if there is value attached to more difficult OOC games going forward and if all P4 conferences go to 9 conference games.

All games matter. A P4 conference team can make a New Years bowl game by winning the conference, and losing all the OOC games. You can't go to a NY bowl game if you lose all of your conference games and win all of the OOC games.

If you want to make the playoffs, especially from the ACC, you better win ALL of your games...and don't lose your QB the last few games. That's a whole other issue though...

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

All games matter. A P4 conference team can make a New Years bowl game by winning the conference, and losing all the OOC games. You can't go to a NY bowl game if you lose all of your conference games and win all of the OOC games.

If you want to make the playoffs, especially from the ACC, you better win ALL of your games...and don't lose your QB the last few games. That's a whole other issue though...

With the new format, it shouldn't matter anymore. The ACC champion will make the playoffs, the only question is will the committee rank a G5 champion higher than the ACC or Big-12 Champion to take away the bye?

 

[forensicbuzz]

playing 7 of 13 possible teams in conference makes the Conference standings not terribly meaningful unless the team gets to the championship game.

5-3 in Conference. 1-3 in non conference with zero wins against FBS teams. Kind of supports the perception the ACC is a weak foitball conference.

Unless you unpack it an look at the teams played (sans BG).

 

[Buzzforlife]

 

[takethepoints]

With huge Conferences going forward anything below top 2 in conference doesn’t mean much. So much depends on who a team plays in conference. A team could play the bottom 7 teams in conference while another team could play the top 7 conference teams. Might as well be in different conferences for comparison.

All this is true. But let me change the subject a bit.

What worries me now about college football is that the non-CFP bowl games may be in big trouble going forward. The Ugag v FSU debacle is, I think, a harbinger of the future. If players transfer out before bowl games or sit out because they are fearful that injury will hurt their NFL chances (small though they may be for most of them), then the season record of teams will mean next to nothing. The bowl games may be reduced to an early spring practice to the extreme detriment of the communities involved. Not to mention the loss of tv recipes for non-CFP teams. This is another reason why I think he'll show up sooner or later. You know:

 

[Root4GT]

All this is true. But let me change the subject a bit.

What worries me now about college football is that the non-CFP bowl games may be in big trouble going forward. The Ugag v FSU debacle is, I think, a harbinger of the future. If players transfer out before bowl games or sit out because they are fearful that injury will hurt their NFL chances (small though they may be for most of them), then the season record of teams will mean next to nothing. The bowl games may be reduced to an early spring practice to the extreme detriment of the communities involved. Not to mention the loss of tv recipes for non-CFP teams. This is another reason why I think he'll show up sooner or later. You know:

True. Can’t blame the players for doing what’s in their best interest. Only the fan bases of the schools playing generally care about any Bowl prior to NY Day now. Will 3rd tier Bowl Games be missed? Likely not.

 

[takethepoints]

True. Can’t blame the players for doing what’s in their best interest. Only the fan bases of the schools playing generally care about any Bowl prior to NY Day now. Will 3rd tier Bowl Games be missed? Likely not.

Like I said, except for the communities involved. A lot of them are medium sized cities that really made money out of the bowls. They won't like this one little bit. The bowls will die if the product is adulterated.

And I'll miss them since those are the bowls that Tech often goes to and I like watching Tech football. A win is a win, you know.

 

[stinger78]

With the new format, it shouldn't matter anymore. The ACC champion will make the playoffs, the only question is will the committee rank a G5 champion higher than the ACC or Big-12 Champion to take away the bye?

I believe it is quite likely that they would. But… we shall see.

 

[g0lftime]

True. Can’t blame the players for doing what’s in their best interest. Only the fan bases of the schools playing generally care about any Bowl prior to NY Day now. Will 3rd tier Bowl Games be missed? Likely not.

Coaches will miss the extra practice days.

 

[g0lftime]

These percentages feel about right, for now. My thoughts:

-I might give us a small bump vs FSU because we get them early, and that roster will be practically brand new. I'm calling it 35%

- Cuse might be better just because of their quarterback. McCord is the real deal. That's 50/50 for me.

- I'll buy UNC hype when they actually have something to sell. 50/50 at worst, imo.

- ND looked good but was inconsistent last year. Gave tOSU all they could handle, but struggled with a mid Duke team and lost to the worst Clemson team in almost a decade. We don't know what '24 ND looks like yet but I'd guess better than 20%.

ND beat Duke on a last minute run for a TD. Duke had pretty much outplayed them until then.

 

[g0lftime]

Despite the perception of the ACC, it's always important to do well in conference. Bowling Green was an embarrassing loss, no excuses there, but the other two losses were to top 10 teams (that happen to be in the SEC). We had a shot at beating UGA who was clearly the #1 team up to that point.

Point is, GT was predicted to be in the lowest of the lower half of the ACC and we finished 4th. That was the first year with new coordinators, and a bunch of new players. GT is heading into a new year and most of our offense is returning, most notably, one of the best QBs in the nation. Defense is a concern, but the building blocks for this season is far ahead of the what we had last season.

We have to avoid injuries in the DL. We have upgraded the defensive coaching staff so I figure game prep will be improved. Need our big guys to stay healthy. I attended a few Duke games when Elko was there. The defensive secondary was very solid and made tackles in space. I expect us to be better but will it be enough?