New ACC Schedule Format Reveal

[bobongo]

Outside of the playoffs, bowl selection is based on W/L placement within the conference, not by who you beat. So wins against better conference teams count the same as against lesser conference teams. For OOC, since we already play uga every year, we need to schedule to achieve bowl eligibility as well as maximizing wins. Thats how you get to a better bowl. Then, once we have rebuilt the program into a championship contender, we do need a good resume for our wins.

Boring. We won't build the program by beating patsies.

 

[takethepoints]

Interesting take.

Georgia Tech was a chartered member and in the SEC for 31 seasons. In those 31 seasons we NEVER played Mississippi State and only played Ole Miss once (1946). Both of those schools were also chartered members of the SEC and conference foes the entire 31 seasons we were there. Like now, the reason was money.

Well. … that and Johnny Vaught didn't want more then one tough game (Bama) on his schedule. 9 patsies and Bama. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[Techster]

My ugag in-laws went to the national championship game last year and they said a “**** Tech” chant started in the fourth quarter. We may be their little brother, but they still hate us. It’s a mutual rivalry. We haven’t sniffed a bowl in years and they are going out of their way to put us down at the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. Yeah, they see us as a rival.

Walmart mutts may not care, but actual ugag grads do. They don’t like Tech is still considered the more prestigious of the schools. They want to take it out on us where they know they can be better than us: on the field.

We have only beaten them six times since we won the chip in 1990. That’s absolutely awful, but you better believe if we were able to string together a few wins, you’d see the hate from everyone on that side of things. Hell, in 2017, after we had won two out of three, hate week was the least cordial with my ugag grad friends/family that I remember.

My UGA buddies, who I went to HS with, always want GT to be undefeated every year when we meet them so they can ruin our season. We all agree the rivalry is much more fun when both teams are doing well.

CPJ mentioned the 2009 game during UNC weekend interviews as a regret of his. It was a special season, but how much more special would it have been had we beaten UGA? Trust me, I still hear about that game.

 

[RonJohn]

Outside of the playoffs, bowl selection is based on W/L placement within the conference, not by who you beat.

Supposed to be based on placement within the conference. The 2010 Gator Bowl is an example of how the placement rules can be skirted if the bowl wants to and the conference will not do anything to protect the conference teams.

 

[Techster]

Well. … that and Johnny Vaught didn't want more then one tough game (Bama) on his schedule. 9 patsies and Bama. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I thought part of not playing the Mississippi schools was due to Bobby Dodd insistence against scheduling them. When GT wanted to get back into the SEC the first time, both Mississippi schools voted it down in part because of Dodd's treatment of those schools when GT was in the SEC.

 

[bigrabbit]

It’s been discussed on here, and I am in favor of keeping Uga for now, but play early in the season.

I’d rather have the Thanksgiving rival game be some school more at our level of academics and prioritizing athletics (neither school will sell their soul to buy a football team). I’m just not sure who that might be other than maybe Duke. Duke is playing Pitt this year on 11/25, kind of a “who cares” game.

We compete directly with Duke on all levels, for students faculty and athletes. At one time, us playing Duke as a big game would seem like a joke, but it doesn’t look that way right now.

 

[Root4GT]

But the embers of the rivalry glow just beneath the surface. Beat them and it flares right back up again. No, the Tech - Ugag rivalry is far from dead - it's just sleeping.

Rip Van Winkle like sleeping

 

[Root4GT]

Boring. We won't build the program by beating patsies.

We wont build the program by losing to better teams either. Beat some patsies for a few years then begin to take on higher caliber teams. We have UGA every year which is a top 4 team every year. We had Clemson which was a top 5 team every year for a decade. Vs Clemson the past decade 1-9. Vs UGA the past decade 2-8. Combined 3-17. GT needs to get MUCH better before we schedule any more super teams.

 

[billga99]

It’s been discussed on here, and I am in favor of keeping Uga for now, but play early in the season.

I’d rather have the Thanksgiving rival game be some school more at our level of academics and prioritizing athletics (neither school will sell their soul to buy a football team). I’m just not sure who that might be other than maybe Duke. Duke is playing Pitt this year on 11/25, kind of a “who cares” game.

We compete directly with Duke on all levels, for students faculty and athletes. At one time, us playing Duke as a big game would seem like a joke, but it doesn’t look that way right now.

I agree that keeping UGA on Thanksgiving weekend when students are out of school certainly reduces the number of GT fans. I also think it would help to not have that game a week ahead of the ACC (and SEC) championship game if we ever get back to that point. Even it GT is winning and would have more fans in the stands, Thanksgiving weekend is a huge travel weekend and students are out. I would rather give us a better chance of increasing our attendance with an earlier date and not having the stigma of losing to UGA as the last game of the season if we don't make a bowl game. But UGA probably looks at Thankgiving as good timing since they generally win and currently they are normally going to the SEC championship game.

 

[bobongo]

We wont build the program by losing to better teams either. Beat some patsies for a few years then begin to take on higher caliber teams. We have UGA every year which is a top 4 team every year. We had Clemson which was a top 5 team every year for a decade. Vs Clemson the past decade 1-9. Vs UGA the past decade 2-8. Combined 3-17. GT needs to get MUCH better before we schedule any more super teams.

Schedules are made out a decade in advance. To schedule four OOC patsies ten years hence would be pretty well saying it's because you plan on still being mediocre ten years from now. If you can't beat anybody of consequence out of the conference, you're not going to be able to beat anybody of consequence within it, either. If I were ready to give up, I'd join the Southern Conference. For the record, I'm neither for toughening up the schedules we have in place going forward, nor am I for dumbing them down. I think they're about right - Ugag, another P-5, a G-5, and okay, one patsy, but no more. I don't think we need to lower our aim from that.

 

[Techster]

Schedules are made out a decade in advance. To schedule four OOC patsies ten years hence would be pretty well saying it's because you plan on still being mediocre ten years from now. If you can't beat anybody of consequence out of the conference, you're not going to be able to beat anybody of consequence within it, either. If I were ready to give up, I'd join the Southern Conference. For the record, I'm neither for toughening up the schedules we have in place going forward, nor am I for dumbing them down. I think they're about right - Ugag, another P-5, a G-5, and okay, one patsy, but no more. I don't think we need to lower our aim from that.

Also, someone that's a patsy today may not be a patsy 10 years from now. I remember UCF being a homecoming game. UCF turned into one of the better non-P5 programs before joining the Big 12. Boise State use to be one of the best programs in the country, but have fallen off lately.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

We wont build the program by losing to better teams either. Beat some patsies for a few years then begin to take on higher caliber teams. We have UGA every year which is a top 4 team every year. We had Clemson which was a top 5 team every year for a decade. Vs Clemson the past decade 1-9. Vs UGA the past decade 2-8. Combined 3-17. GT needs to get MUCH better before we schedule any more super teams.

I checked uga’s schedule to see who they like to play when they are not up against SEC teams like Missouri, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Over the last six years these are the non-SEC teams they like to play:
Kent State, Samford, UT Martin, Ball State, Austin Peay, Middle Tenn, U Mass,
Murray State, Arkansas State, East Tenn State, UAB, Charleston Southern.

The fact that a lot of these teams have shown up more than once over the years means something but I know what uga apologists will say. The truth is, uga likes a certain number of breather games / practice games on their schedule. Auburn did this a lot back in the day. CPJ liked to begin every season with a couple of practice games but a lot of fans were merciless on him about this and the schedule makers seemed to make this harder and harder for him over the years.

People will all make of this whatever they will but for me it is an open question. Does padding the schedule with cupcakes help a team? All I know is that uga is a shoo-in to win another natty because this year they not only have the usual cupcakes but everyone in their division is playing like an FBS team and the SEC as a whole is down this year.

I still contend that this year the hardest conference to play in is the ACC.

 

[takethepoints]

I thought part of not playing the Mississippi schools was due to Bobby Dodd insistence against scheduling them. When GT wanted to get back into the SEC the first time, both Mississippi schools voted it down in part because of Dodd's treatment of those schools when GT was in the SEC.

If I remember right it was an iterative process. Vaught didn't want to schedule Tech, so Dodd didn't schedule either Mississippi schools. There wasn't much in it for either coach at the time. And this led to trouble later.

But maybe I'm not remembering correctly. I mean, I was wrong just last month …

 

[bensaysitathome]

Outside of the playoffs, bowl selection is based on W/L placement within the conference, not by who you beat. So wins against better conference teams count the same as against lesser conference teams. For OOC, since we already play uga every year, we need to schedule to achieve bowl eligibility as well as maximizing wins. Thats how you get to a better bowl. Then, once we have rebuilt the program into a championship contender, we do need a good resume for our wins.

This isn't entirely true. The bowl slotted for "ACC#3" is actually the third bowl to select from the pool of ACC teams. While there are some restrictions (conference winner to the orange bowl) there is a good amount of latitude the bowl may take to pick a compelling matchup or a team that travels well. There is something to be said about a team that won with a strong schedule being more appealing than a team that sleepwalked to 9-3, and we've been "picked over" in the past when it comes to bowl pecking order.

 

[LT 1967]

It’s been discussed on here, and I am in favor of keeping Uga for now, but play early in the season.

I’d rather have the Thanksgiving rival game be some school more at our level of academics and prioritizing athletics (neither school will sell their soul to buy a football team). I’m just not sure who that might be other than maybe Duke. Duke is playing Pitt this year on 11/25, kind of a “who cares” game.

We compete directly with Duke on all levels, for students faculty and athletes. At one time, us playing Duke as a big game would seem like a joke, but it doesn’t look that way right now.

Agree for several reasons:

GT will be more injury free early in the season. Normally, we are not as deep as UGA in talent and by the end of the season we are in a weaker position depth wise.

If we lose to UGA early in the season, we have a chance to recover. Early loses can be overcome if we have a good run afterwards, at least in fan's perception. I recall driving to Miami
for the 2010 Orange bowl. The UGA loss still hoovered over the trip.

Early UGA game allows players to refocus and try to win the ACC championship. The last game should be a conference game which will elevate the importance of the ACC. When we were in the SEC, the UGA game could possibly determine who would be the SEC Champion. As much as we get frustrated with the ACC about scheduling and other things, they are the ones we run with for now at least. We need to make the ACC championship the most important goal for the season.

GT fans will be more excited early in the season and will show up for the game. If we lose several games prior to the November UGA game, our fans will not show up due to likely lose.

Also, as you said, there is the Thanksgiving Weekend problem with no students on Campus and family travel.

 

[JacketOff]

I agree that keeping UGA on Thanksgiving weekend when students are out of school certainly reduces the number of GT fans. I also think it would help to not have that game a week ahead of the ACC (and SEC) championship game if we ever get back to that point. Even it GT is winning and would have more fans in the stands, Thanksgiving weekend is a huge travel weekend and students are out. I would rather give us a better chance of increasing our attendance with an earlier date and not having the stigma of losing to UGA as the last game of the season if we don't make a bowl game. But UGA probably looks at Thankgiving as good timing since they generally win and currently they are normally going to the SEC championship game.

Thanksgiving is rivalry weekend. It’s been that way for damn near 100 years, maybe even longer. Alabama plays Auburn. Ohio State plays Michigan. Florida plays Florida State. Oregon & Oregon State, Ole Miss & Mississippi State, Clemson & South Carolina. Used to be Texas vs. Texas A&M before politics got in the way.

However, there’s still Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. It’s Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate for a reason. I can’t believe there are actual Georgia Tech fans who would consider moving the game from Thanksgiving weekend, much less dropping the game altogether!?!? Are you high? No matter what state the Georgia Tech football program is in, the game vs. UGA gives us a shot at relevancy. It’s going to be on national TV damn near every year, and will at least have some spotlight just because Georgia is involved. The game gets played on RIVALRY week because Georgia is our RIVAL. Based on what just happened with ACC scheduling, they’re the only one we have left. Take that game away and Georgia Tech might as well be Rutgers. Who are Rutgers’ rivals? I don’t know, and I also don’t give a ****. That’s how the rest of the country would view us. I’m honestly astonished that some of y’all are ready to chicken out of the UGA game just because we’ve gone through some rough years.

 

[Randy Carson]

Boring. We won't build the program by beating patsies.

Not immediately. Nor will we build the program by losing by double-figures to ranked teams every week.

C'mon, man...think this through. We're not going to win any recruiting battles with a 3-9 record year after year.

We start off with more teams that are at our level, and as we improve, we can level up the opposition, also.

 

[JacketOff]

Not immediately. Nor will we build the program by losing by double-figures to ranked teams every week.

C'mon, man...think this through. We're not going to win any recruiting battles with a 3-9 record year after year.

We start off with more teams that are at our level, and as we improve, we can level up the opposition, also.

Since 2019 we’ve lost to an FCS team, 2 different MAC teams, Temple, and UCF twice. How much more “on our level” can we get? The program was in a horrible state being led by poor management with poor coaches. Our scheduling is fine the way it is

 

[bobongo]

Not immediately. Nor will we build the program by losing by double-figures to ranked teams every week.

C'mon, man...think this through. We're not going to win any recruiting battles with a 3-9 record year after year.

We start off with more teams that are at our level, and as we improve, we can level up the opposition, also.

As if we're locked in to 3-9 until we water down the schedule. It's a depressing, and I believe erroneous assumption. Especially since we're 4-4 this year, and probably going bowling - this year.

 

[Randy Carson]

Thanksgiving is rivalry weekend. It’s been that way for damn near 100 years, maybe even longer. Alabama plays Auburn. Ohio State plays Michigan. Florida plays Florida State. Oregon & Oregon State, Ole Miss & Mississippi State, Clemson & South Carolina. Used to be Texas vs. Texas A&M before politics got in the way.

However, there’s still Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. It’s Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate for a reason. I can’t believe there are actual Georgia Tech fans who would consider moving the game from Thanksgiving weekend, much less dropping the game altogether!?!? Are you high? No matter what state the Georgia Tech football program is in, the game vs. UGA gives us a shot at relevancy. It’s going to be on national TV damn near every year, and will at least have some spotlight just because Georgia is involved. The game gets played on RIVALRY week because Georgia is our RIVAL. Based on what just happened with ACC scheduling, they’re the only one we have left. Take that game away and Georgia Tech might as well be Rutgers. Who are Rutgers’ rivals? I don’t know, and I also don’t give a ****. That’s how the rest of the country would view us. I’m honestly astonished that some of y’all are ready to chicken out of the UGA game just because we’ve gone through some rough years.

Let me just say this...the Dogs have more more alumni, more money, a bigger stadium, more media coverage, easier majors...EVERYTHING in their favor. And you want to hold onto your memories of Bobby Dodd and the Golden Tornado while getting your @** handed to you every year just so you can enjoy "a shot at relevancy" and the thrill of a win once every decade or so?

I don't blame you for that...we all like to reminisce. I'm second-generation Tech alum. Lots of folks in my family tree went to Tech, okay? But I'm also a realist. Losing 9 of 10 or even 8 of 10 to UGA every decade isn't especially appealing to me. And since I don't live in Georgia, I don't have yahoos in their pickup trucks screaming "Go Dawgs!" in my face every 15 minutes. Without that constant irritation (and after a few decades removed from campus), the irrational need for an annual grudge match has died down.

We can achieve relevance by going 9-3 or 10-2 and being ranked every year...but that doesn't happen by loading up our schedule with programs like UGA, Clemson, Ole Miss, ND, and FSU year in and year out. We have enough to worry about with Wake, Miami, and UNC - against whom we are 3-0 this season, btw. Don't tell me we didn't achieve some "relevancy" in the national media after those last two wins.

Consequently, I'd rather see Tech climbing into the ring with teams that are closer to our punching weight. 8-4 or better. That's my happy place.