Projecting College Football's Final Top 25

[GlennW]

GA Tech # 8

What a turnaround season for Georgia Tech. Paul Johnson entered 2014 with many wondering if his tenure in Atlanta had gone stale. He ended it with 11 wins and an Orange Bowl victory over Mississippi State, only the second bowl win of his Tech tenure.

The Yellow Jackets defeated rivals Georgia and Clemson and put a major scare into Florida State in the ACC title game. Quarterback Justin Thomas was a revelation in his first season as a starter, throwing for 1,719 yards with 18 touchdowns against six interceptions while also serving as Tech’s leading rusher, going for 1,086 yards and eight touchdowns.

In one sweet season, Tech proved that Johnson’s system isn’t stale, and the Jackets must be reckoned with as ACC contenders.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2321696-projecting-college-footballs-final-top-25-teams/page/19

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I have a hard time with LSU and Auburn in the top 25 with an 8-5 record. Agree with us at 8 though.

 

[GlennW]

I have a hard time with LSU and Auburn in the top 25 with an 8-5 record. Agree with us at 8 though.

I agree that we'll probably end at #8, HOWEVER, if an SEC bias remains, and Oregon wins the Championship (closer over Ohio State than they did over FSU), then there's a slight chance we'll jump Baylor AND FSU as well and move up as high as #6 or #7 in some polls. I cannot see us being below #9, but since "politics" are involved, you just never know.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Those SEC juggernauts are loaded with quality losses. It's hard to argue against that.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I'm o.k. with this, although I believe we beat Michigan State and Baylor, the way we were playing at the end.....

 

[Sean311]

If we finish number 8 then we will probably be preseason 11-16 next season.

 

[GTRX7]

I agree that we'll probably end at #8, HOWEVER, if an SEC bias remains, and Oregon wins the Championship (closer over Ohio State than they did over FSU), then there's a slight chance we'll jump Baylor AND FSU as well and move up as high as #6 or #7 in some polls. I cannot see us being below #9, but since "politics" are involved, you just never know.

Lets be fair. No way we should jump FSU. Yes, they lost a bad game, but we lost two of those in Duke and UNC (who are much much worse than Oregon), and they beat us head-to-head. FSU should finish in the top 5, or I think it is total disrespect to the ACC.

 

[GlennW]

Lets be fair. No way we should jump FSU. Yes, they lost a bad game, but we lost two of those in Duke and UNC (who are much much worse than Oregon), and they beat us head-to-head. FSU should finish in the top 5, or I think it is total disrespect to the ACC.

Yeah, but people have just been waiting to drop FSU like a led balloon, and saw that the only way they beat us was by playing a PERFECT game, which they hadn't done the ENTIRE season, and then it was only by 2 points and we were a turnover or onside kick away of beating them.

And by the way, that was the first week after we had just lost our #1 Receiver, and then we lost one of our top A-Backs (Zenon) during the course of the game and still nearly beat them...

 

[forensicbuzz]

Yeah, but people have just been waiting to drop FSU like a led balloon, and saw that the only way they beat us was by playing a PERFECT game, which they hadn't done the ENTIRE season, and then it was only by 2 points and we were a turnover or onside kick away of beating them.

And by the way, that was the first week after we had just lost our #1 Receiver, and then we lost one of our top A-Backs (Zenon) during the course of the game and still nearly beat them...

I think we're a better team than FSU was this year. I think that showed on the field when we played them, everywhere but the score. I've had multiple conversations with non-biased observers up here make the comment that we were the better team. That being said, they only lost 1 game (to the #2 ranked team) and we lost 3 games (to two unranked teams and to them). If FSU is ranked below the Top 5, then there's a problem with the system. It's not about how pretty you win, it's about whether you won, and they did that.

All this being said, I'd put us at 6 or 7 instead of 8. I would rank us ahead of both Michigan State and Baylor, even though we have 1 additional loss. I think our body of work, especially in the second half of the season, backs that assertion up.

 

[DCSS]

Those SEC juggernauts are loaded with quality losses. It's hard to argue against that.

They pass the eye test,

 

[GlennW]

TD's/Drive vs. Power 5 teams:
GA Tech - 43.1%
Pitt - 30.8%
UNC - 30.8%
FSU - 28.2%
BC - 25%
Duke - 24.2%
UM - 23.9%
L'ville - 23.9%
NCSt - 23.5%

Highest % of plays gaining 10+ yards, Power 5 teams:
1. Oregon - 26.4%
2. FSU - 25.2%
3. OhioSt - 24.8%
8. Miami - 23.9%
12. GA Tech - 22.8%

Highest % passes completed for 10+ yds in ACC:
Thomas GA Tech 70.8%
Voytik Pitt 54.5%
Johns UVA 53.9%
Kaaya Miami 52.5%
Winston FSU 52.1%

 

[dmurdock]

I predict final AP:

1-Oregon
2-Ohio State
3-Alabama
4-TCU
5-FSU
6-Mich State
7-Baylor
8-Ga Tech
9-UGA
10-UCLA
11-Miss State
12-Ariz State
13-Missou
14-Wisconsin
15-Clemson

I think TCU will be very close to Alabama and might sneak ahead of them. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mich State move ahead of FSU; Mich State's only 2 losses (yes they were bad losses, but ...) were to the two teams playing for the national championship. Tech and Baylor will be very tight, but I think Baylor edges us with the 2 losses vs our 3 and a very close Bowl loss. Boise State might break into the top 15, but probably not - put them down at #16. Ole Miss is going to drop a lot, high teens if not in the 20-25 range.

And if these come true, then our final 4 games were solid W over #15 Clemson, OT W at #9 UGA, 2 point L to #5 FSU, & dominant Bowl W over #11 Miss State. What a performance down the stretch by the good guys.

 

[TheGridironGeek]

I think we're a better team than FSU was this year. I think that showed on the field when we played them, everywhere but the score. I've had multiple conversations with non-biased observers up here make the comment that we were the better team. That being said, they only lost 1 game (to the #2 ranked team) and we lost 3 games (to two unranked teams and to them). If FSU is ranked below the Top 5, then there's a problem with the system. It's not about how pretty you win, it's about whether you won, and they did that.

All this being said, I'd put us at 6 or 7 instead of 8. I would rank us ahead of both Michigan State and Baylor, even though we have 1 additional loss. I think our body of work, especially in the second half of the season, backs that assertion up.

FSU's OL dominated Tech's DL the entire game. Did Tech's offense dominate too? Yes, but not for 60 minutes.

 

[awbuzz]

Agree that GT will not climb higher than 8th.

Baylor, FSU and of course either Oregon/OSU are the only teams ranked higher that lost (will lose) a bowl game. Baylor barely lost to Mich St and none of them deserve to fall below us. (JMO)

 

[Boomergump]

GT is a good team, but let's face it, FSU was the better team. A pass rush IS part of a team, not just the offense. They played their game of the year against us because we couldn't get to their QB without numbers and/or we couldn't cover their guys without numbers back either. Winston guts teams without pressure. He gutted us.

Look, I love our team and we are/were not far off. They beat us head to head and they have the better record against a good schedule. I feel no shame. Could we beat them? Absolutely, but I doubt it would happen a majority of times with the rosters we had on the field the first week of December. I would not be in favor of GT being ranked higher than FSU. Results on the field have to matter. It doesn't mean I like them. I don't at all.

In addition to all this, I am not all that concerned about where we are ranked fwiw, although I can't think of 10 teams who produced better resumes. What really turns my crank is winning games and winning championships whether state, division, conference, major bowls, or national in scope. We managed to get 3 of those 5 done this year. Bravo. Many may argue that being ranked helps with prestige and a higher ranking helps in the pre-season etc. I get that, but you still have to win the games. Pre-season hype is worthless. Just look at what happened to the SEC west. There is no more BCS to fall back on.

 

[GlennW]

FSU's OL dominated Tech's DL the entire game. Did Tech's offense dominate too? Yes, but not for 60 minutes.

FSU only scored 9 points the second half of the game, and we should have intercepted a pass in the end zone, which would have capped that number at 6 (and those 3 points were the winning points for FSU).

Therefore, I wouldn't say they "dominated" after the 1st half whereas our offense continued tomove the ball (we scored 14 and should have scored at least 21 if Waller would have been on the same page with Thomas as he would have been wide open for a TD).

 

[TheGridironGeek]

GT is a good team, but let's face it, FSU was the better team. A pass rush IS part of a team, not just the offense. They played their game of the year against us because we couldn't get to their QB without numbers and/or we couldn't cover their guys without numbers back either. Winston guts teams without pressure. He gutted us.

Look, I love our team and we are/were not far off. They beat us head to head and they have the better record against a good schedule. I feel no shame. Could we beat them? Absolutely, but I doubt it would happen a majority of times with the rosters we had on the field the first week of December. I would not be in favor of GT being ranked higher than FSU. Results on the field have to matter. It doesn't mean I like them. I don't at all.

In addition to all this, I am not all that concerned about where we are ranked fwiw, although I can't think of 10 teams who produced better resumes. What really turns my crank is winning games and winning championships whether state, division, conference, major bowls, or national in scope. We managed to get 3 of those 5 done this year. Bravo. Many may argue that being ranked helps with prestige and a higher ranking helps in the pre-season etc. I get that, but you still have to win the games. Pre-season hype is worthless. Just look at what happened to the SEC west. There is no more BCS to fall back on.

Agreed, but being ranked in the top 10 in the pre-season helps the program in crucial ways. For recruiting, the more you are ranked highly the better (and the media will be forced, kicking and screaming, to notice you even if you're not in the SEC). And being ranked to begin the season is the easiest way to grab and hold onto a high ranking.

In the BCS era the polls definitely meant more, but I'm convinced some members of the selection committee only watch top-10 teams play every week, if that.

 

[LongforDodd]

Where we get ranked matters little to me. I'm most excited about how we turned things around after the UNC game, that we beat ugag, and took take of business in the Orange Bowl. What is particularly satisfying is the way the Defense stepped it a few notches in spite of the talent deficit, and how the Offense took two of the better SEC defenses to the woodshed and left them both wondering what hit them and looking like they were both uttering "no mas", Roberto Duran style, in the 4th quarters.

I sure hope we keep the "team" momentum going into next year.

 

[redmule]

What a finish. Beating two top 10 teams in the last three games was amazing. There are some teams that don't have two wins over top 10 in the last couple of decades. Never take for granted what you've seen in football at Tech. There have been many, many ugly games, but I think our history of huge exciting games, even dominating wins over solid big name programs when they were playing well would stack up against almost anyone in the country. Have you forgotten our '95 team that took preseason #1 Arizona to the wire? Or the win over NC State's undefeated top 10 best team ever in 2002 on the road? South Carolina in 1988? #3 Miami on the road in 2005. How many times has Clemson brought their juggernauts into the Tech game and watched them die? Some of those are years we would probably rather forget, but still were amazing wins. Bill Curry was without a doubt the best at getting the team ready to play a higher ranked and physically superior opponent. Not so much against a lesser opponent. And I think the next few years we will expose several more pretenders.

One last thing we might be overlooking in our amazing finish is that over the next year when our coaches go head to head with the schools from Mississippi to South Carolina for a recruit, they have wins over many of those teams to bring with them. Not to get to far ahead of ourselves, but a preseason Top 10 ranking will get us looks from players this summer that might have passed us by before. We will have a schedule next year that is a publicist dream. Games with ND, FSU, Miami, Clemson, uga, some of whom will be in the Top 10 when we play. Keep our noses clean academically and off the field, win three or more of the big games next year, and our momentum will be hard to stop after that.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

GT is a good team, but let's face it, FSU was the better team. A pass rush IS part of a team, not just the offense. They played their game of the year against us because we couldn't get to their QB without numbers and/or we couldn't cover their guys without numbers back either. Winston guts teams without pressure. He gutted us.

Look, I love our team and we are/were not far off. They beat us head to head and they have the better record against a good schedule. I feel no shame. Could we beat them? Absolutely, but I doubt it would happen a majority of times with the rosters we had on the field the first week of December. I would not be in favor of GT being ranked higher than FSU. Results on the field have to matter. It doesn't mean I like them. I don't at all.

In addition to all this, I am not all that concerned about where we are ranked fwiw, although I can't think of 10 teams who produced better resumes. What really turns my crank is winning games and winning championships whether state, division, conference, major bowls, or national in scope. We managed to get 3 of those 5 done this year. Bravo. Many may argue that being ranked helps with prestige and a higher ranking helps in the pre-season etc. I get that, but you still have to win the games. Pre-season hype is worthless. Just look at what happened to the SEC west. There is no more BCS to fall back on.

Just curious how many wins out of 10 would you give us with Smelter on the field?