New ACC Schedule Format Reveal

[Techster]

Look through these two websites <jhowell.net> and <stassen.com> and look at who all else either weren't playing the MS schools or weren't playing them in MS and you'll notice that GA Tech was far from alone.

I didn't filter through the site...but would be interesting to see how many of those schools are SEC schools that didn't play the MS schools. The problem with GT is they were an SEC school, thus thumbing your nose at schools that are in your conference is an issue, which we saw when GT tried to get enough votes to return to the SEC.

 

[Techster]

The AJC article shows there’s nothing new - Coach Prime has just updated the 140 rule strategy to include the portal as a resource. Dodd wouldn’t flush players like that, GT ethics still preclude treating players that way.

Tough to compare that era to the era today. LOTS of changes with NIL, transfer rules, etc.

Bobby Dodd was a good person, almost too good of a person to be in the dog eat dog coaching profession. He definitely did his best to look after players, and he was a man of principle. That's rare in the coaching industry.

 

[TampaBuzz]

What the hell? Every other school in the conference (save Louisville) has protected matchups except for us. Former BE schools all play each other, Tobacco Rd all play each other, West Coast all play each other, FSU plays UM and clemson, leaving GT with nothing.

I read somewhere that GT and Louisville requested no protected matchups. Gave the league much more flexibility in putting this together.

 

[CEB]

I read somewhere that GT and Louisville requested no protected matchups. Gave the league much more flexibility in putting this together.

That’s the word on the street. I’m not convinced that we did it for the benefit of the league, even though some are reading it that way.

They claim each school was simply asked. They took the results and did what they could. I’d guess that’s 75% of the story.

ESPN also got a vote. Not that ESPN had a veto, but I fully believe they had influence on which matchups should be prioritized. VT/Miami was mentioned as one and FSU/Clem almost certainly was a focus. Maybe a couple others… who knows…

Total speculation… I’m guessing that if two schools requested each other they made it happen. If only one school requested the permanent rival, it only happened if ESPN said it was a priority. Logical conclusion, we requested no one and ESPN didn’t push for us to play anyone.

I have gone back and forth… part of me kinda hate not playing someone annually, but at the same time, I’m OK with it. The only reason it bothers me at all is because of the lopsided nature of scheduling some teams with 3 permanent opponents and other teams with none. I don’t see how its an advantage to take either approach, though, so I’ll just roll with it.

 

[GT33]

Hell, people on this forum still talk about the 1981 win against Alabama. A team that won 1 singular game is considered one of the most memorable and special games in Tech history. Why? Because it was against #2 Alabama. If we had beaten Furman or Navy or hell even somebody like Syracuse would anybody remember it? Hell no.

We also remember losing to 1-10 Memphis. 42 years later and nobody remembers what UF or Auburn or dook or Tulane’s records was that year but we damn sure haven’t forgotten what Memphis’ was.

Forgive me but I’d rather be 5-7 sitting home with no bowl game but beating 3-4 good teams than 9-3 and going to Shreveport or El Paso because we whopped up on Citadel, Furman, Northern Illinois and MTSU, etc and lost to every decent team on the schedule.

 

[Root4GT]

We also remember losing to 1-10 Memphis. 42 years later and nobody remembers what UF or Auburn or dook or Tulane’s records was that year but we damn sure haven’t forgotten what Memphis’ was.

Forgive me but I’d rather be 5-7 sitting home with no bowl game but beating 3-4 good teams than 9-3 and going to Shreveport or El Paso because we whopped up on Citadel, Furman, Northern Illinois and MTSU, etc and lost to every decent team on the schedule.

This is a topic where no one is wrong. Just different preferences for different people. I would rather be 9-3 than 5-7 regardless of our schedule. I understand others may feel differently.

 

[TooTall]

We also remember losing to 1-10 Memphis. 42 years later and nobody remembers what UF or Auburn or dook or Tulane’s records was that year but we damn sure haven’t forgotten what Memphis’ was.

Forgive me but I’d rather be 5-7 sitting home with no bowl game but beating 3-4 good teams than 9-3 and going to Shreveport or El Paso because we whopped up on Citadel, Furman, Northern Illinois and MTSU, etc and lost to every decent team on the schedule.

This is a topic where no one is wrong. Just different preferences for different people. I would rather be 9-3 than 5-7 regardless of our schedule. I understand others may feel differently.

As long as one of our victories is over the mutts, I don't really care either way.

 

[Root4GT]

As long as one of our victories is over the mutts, I don't really care either way.

Sadly that's a rare occurrence.

 

[stinger78]

I didn't filter through the site...but would be interesting to see how many of those schools are SEC schools that didn't play the MS schools. The problem with GT is they were an SEC school, thus thumbing your nose at schools that are in your conference is an issue, which we saw when GT tried to get enough votes to return to the SEC.

I would encourage you to browse those two sites. Howell gives you each team’s schedules and results back to the early 1900’s. Stassen queries Howell to get all sorts of head-to-head data, all-time record data, series data, etc. with specific time frames….
I have found them extremely informative and helpful over the years.

 

[yeti92]

Forgive me but I’d rather be 5-7 sitting home with no bowl game but beating 3-4 good teams than 9-3 and going to Shreveport or El Paso because we whopped up on Citadel, Furman, Northern Illinois and MTSU, etc and lost to every decent team on the schedule.

 

[Roswellgoldmember]

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.

I agree and I don't know why everyone assumes that we will win 1 or 2 out of every 10 with how good they've gotten and the overall talent gap trends between the true elites and the rest of college football. Us and a lot of teams could lose 15 or 20 games in a row. Most of the SEC will struggle to win 2 out of every 10 games against UGA unless they take a step back.

 

[bobongo]

I agree and I don't know why everyone assumes that we will win 1 or 2 out of every 10 with how good they've gotten and the overall talent gap trends between the true elites and the rest of college football. Us and a lot of teams could lose 15 or 20 games in a row. Most of the SEC will struggle to win 2 out of every 10 games against UGA unless they take a step back.

Will they stay that good forever? Remember, schedules are made a decade or more in advance.
Imagine dropping them, much to our deserved humiliation for doing so, only to see them start sucking just after they fall off the schedule.

 

[IronJacket7]

Why don't we or UNC get to play one of the three new teams? smh

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

We also remember losing to 1-10 Memphis. 42 years later and nobody remembers what UF or Auburn or dook or Tulane’s records was that year but we damn sure haven’t forgotten what Memphis’ was.

Forgive me but I’d rather be 5-7 sitting home with no bowl game but beating 3-4 good teams than 9-3 and going to Shreveport or El Paso because we whopped up on Citadel, Furman, Northern Illinois and MTSU, etc and lost to every decent team on the schedule.

You do realize that going 5-7 every year will net us an occasional 4 star and the rest 3 stars or PWO’s. Going 9-3 will get us a lot of 4’s, the occasional 5, and the rest 3’s. That’s the way high school coaches steer players. Have you noticed how our higher end commits decomitted shortly after Bowling Green and Ole Miss. No one with options wants to commit to a perennial loser even if that loser plays and loses to top 10 teams. There is no reward for moral losses.

 

[Randy Carson]

Forgive me but I’d rather be 5-7 sitting home with no bowl game but beating 3-4 good teams than 9-3 and going to Shreveport or El Paso because we whopped up on Citadel, Furman, Northern Illinois and MTSU, etc and lost to every decent team on the schedule.

Yeah, that looks good to recruits. And the extra practice time? Totally overrated.

Better to sit home and watch the bowl games than to play in one.

 

[roadkill]

You do realize that going 5-7 every year will net us an occasional 4 star and the rest 3 stars or PWO’s. Going 9-3 will get us a lot of 4’s, the occasional 5, and the rest 3’s. That’s the way high school coaches steer players. Have you noticed how our higher end commits decomitted shortly after Bowling Green and Ole Miss. No one with options wants to commit to a perennial loser even if that loser plays and loses to top 10 teams. There is no reward for moral losses.

Your point, which I agree with, highlights what I think is the primary reason for the disparity in opinions on this topic. Some fans are evaluating it based on personal preference for game experiences, while others (and I’m one of these) are thinking more strategically along the lines of what’s best to build back our program. Different ways of looking at the same issue, and both opinions are valid within their respective contexts.

 

[GT33]

Your point, which I agree with, highlights what I think is the primary reason for the disparity in opinions on this topic. Some fans are evaluating it based on personal preference for game experiences, while others (and I’m one of these) are thinking more strategically along the lines of what’s best to build back our program. Different ways of looking at the same issue, and both opinions are valid within their respective contexts.

What those in favor of a weak, boring schedule that will trick uneducated recruits into thinking we’re better than we are essentially are saying that we’re going to struggle mightily for another 10 years. We’re going to need an extraordinarily weak schedule because Key just doesn’t have what it takes and neither can anyone else with a normal schedule.

But if years 11-16 we can schedule 4 patsies per year and win them all plus go 4-4 in conference plus win a bowl game against a vaunted SEC team to make us 9-4 then we’ll be ranked and high ranked recruits will descend upon us from the heavens and propel us upwards.

If we get lucky and can get hot at the end of the year, say we win 6 of our last 7 our only loss on the road against a ranked conference opponent, damn we could be Top 20 at 9-4 easy peasy, maybe as high as 15.

We’d be raking in the recruits!

 

[roadkill]

What those in favor of a weak, boring schedule that will trick uneducated recruits into thinking we’re better than we are essentially are saying that we’re going to struggle mightily for another 10 years. We’re going to need an extraordinarily weak schedule because Key just doesn’t have what it takes and neither can anyone else with a normal schedule.

But if years 11-16 we can schedule 4 patsies per year and win them all plus go 4-4 in conference plus win a bowl game against a vaunted SEC team to make us 9-4 then we’ll be ranked and high ranked recruits will descend upon us from the heavens and propel us upwards.

If we get lucky and can get hot at the end of the year, say we win 6 of our last 7 our only loss on the road against a ranked conference opponent, damn we could be Top 20 at 9-4 easy peasy, maybe as high as 15.

We’d be raking in the recruits!

After previously allowing that your opinion is valid, I didn’t expect such a snarky response.

But I’ll take the bait. You have completely missed the mark in your interpretation of what those of us in favor of more wins are suggesting. No one is proposing anything close to your strawman position, and I’m sure you know this. What is the actual point of your post?

 

[GT33]

After previously allowing that your opinion is valid, I didn’t expect such a snarky response.

But I’ll take the bait. You have completely missed the mark in your interpretation of what those of us in favor of more wins are suggesting. No one is proposing anything close to your strawman position, and I’m sure you know this. What is the actual point of your post?

I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just don't get all the opinions which apparently are contrary to mine:

a. Brent Key needs a "training wheels" schedule because he will never win more than 7 games (my number based on comments) without it. If we had 4 crap games we would sometimes win 8 or 9
* I don't think he will in a year or two and 9 wins against crap (see 2016) with 3 crap SEC wins still leaves you on the outside looking in.

b. Bowl game of any type, Shreveport or El Paso or SMU, etc every year is better than Orange Bowl one year, no bowl the next, then Gator Bowl, then no bowl, etc
* I've been to SF, San Jose, Boise, El Paso, Birmingham, etc and frankly outside of extra practice time for the players it sucks
* Yeah PJ Daniels set a record, CPJ wore a funny sombrero, skiing in Idaho is cool, Carmel and Pebble Beach are nice.
I enjoyed the Orange Bowl WAY more than all of those combined

c. Playing gimme games which have backfired on us lately and not only have not enhanced recruiting but caused our program to be ridiculed is better than lining up against Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina which would have some regional if not national interest because we may get beaten badly, but who know may result in getting significant good coverage if we upset
* We just knocked off UNC and first comment out of people's mouths is how did you lose to BC and BG at home no less.

d. Gettting gimme games with reduced revenue plus playing teams to come to GT ($2M gate at 25k fans minus $500k fee- $1.5M net) is better than getting 45-50k fans with a $4M gate. It's better for concessions, parking, etc too. How does any of this help anything?
* We need money. Sc St, NI, Citadel do not help at all.

There's more relevant arguments but it appears some can't even get to 1st order efefcts, much less 2nd or 3rd or 4th, etc. Just short sighted, defeatist, etc. We're supposed to be a problem solving school & our strategy is to dumb down. My God, how out of step with who we're supposed to be. Key gets it thankfully, so does Batt and Cabrera.

If we don't want to play P5 football, let's drop down to the Patriot league or Ivy or something. You can't become a successful, relevant program by ducking competition. Again, thank God our leaders are not quitting like many suggest. They're attacking the many challenges head on like GT Men are supposed to do.

 

[Root4GT]

I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just don't get all the opinions which apparently are contrary to mine:

a. Brent Key needs a "training wheels" schedule because he will never win more than 7 games (my number based on comments) without it. If we had 4 crap games we would sometimes win 8 or 9
* I don't think he will in a year or two and 9 wins against crap (see 2016) with 3 crap SEC wins still leaves you on the outside looking in.

b. Bowl game of any type, Shreveport or El Paso or SMU, etc every year is better than Orange Bowl one year, no bowl the next, then Gator Bowl, then no bowl, etc
* I've been to SF, San Jose, Boise, El Paso, Birmingham, etc and frankly outside of extra practice time for the players it sucks
* Yeah PJ Daniels set a record, CPJ wore a funny sombrero, skiing in Idaho is cool, Carmel and Pebble Beach are nice.
I enjoyed the Orange Bowl WAY more than all of those combined

c. Playing gimme games which have backfired on us lately and not only have not enhanced recruiting but caused our program to be ridiculed is better than lining up against Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina which would have some regional if not national interest because we may get beaten badly, but who know may result in getting significant good coverage if we upset
* We just knocked off UNC and first comment out of people's mouths is how did you lose to BC and BG at home no less.

d. Gettting gimme games with reduced revenue plus playing teams to come to GT ($2M gate at 25k fans minus $500k fee- $1.5M net) is better than getting 45-50k fans with a $4M gate. It's better for concessions, parking, etc too. How does any of this help anything?
* We need money. Sc St, NI, Citadel do not help at all.

There's more relevant arguments but it appears some can't even get to 1st order efefcts, much less 2nd or 3rd or 4th, etc. Just short sighted, defeatist, etc. We're supposed to be a problem solving school & our strategy is to dumb down. My God, how out of step with who we're supposed to be. Key gets it thankfully, so does Batt and Cabrera.

If we don't want to play P5 football, let's drop down to the Patriot league or Ivy or something. You can't become a successful, relevant program by ducking competition. Again, thank God our leaders are not quitting like many suggest. They're attacking the many challenges head on like GT Men are supposed to do.

How do you really fell about schedules for GT Football. It’s really hard to tell. LOl