This week in 'there is a chance'

GTJason

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,579
If i was calling the shots in GT's athletic department, I'm doing everything I can this week to create my own narrative. I agree with most people here, the rankings will be influenced by corporate profit interest (tangent - read manufacturing consent. will give you a good framework for understanding the media industry's incentives). But on the bright side, there's an inherent fairness to greed. "Greed is good." If money is all these cats really care about, let's feed them a story with mass appeal & that furthers the interest of the ESPN (/NCAA's) bottom line.

Why ESPN Might Benefit From 0 SEC Teams in the playoffs this year
It's ludacris to think that average american would care more about TCU than GT. It's like saying the average American would watch the Cardinals in the superbowl, but not the Vikings. People will watch NCAA playoffs just like they will watch the SuperBowl regardless of the teams, if it's marketed successfully (albeit not nearly as many people). Thus, give your average american, who doesn't care about college football, a "feel good" story / underdog team to cheer for. it's simple & a time tested strategy. ESPN's playoff tv contract provides incentive to maximize the # of viewers, not promote the SEC. ESPN could possibly even increase the # of general viewers by not having an SEC team in the playoffs this year. ESPN's SEC tv contract would provide incentive to expand the playoffs to 8, especially if 0 get in this year. . . that would make every SEC game "important" --> more viewers per game --> more revenue.

Possible Selling Points for GT's storyline
  • Cinderella Story - predicted to finish last in the preseason. Win the ACC Costal.
    • America's favorite plot
    • Zack Laskey is a poster boy for the NCAA. What more could you want from a student athlete?
    • Shaq Mason would be another great story. No name recruit to All ACC & proud father
    • Same with Deandre Smelter & PJ Davis. . . our star players are also outstanding people. Put them in front of the camera
  • Other teams lost star players because they received improper benefits. GT lost star players because of our STEM entry requirements
    • From a cynical standpoint, don't you think the useless people running the NCAA would rather keep profits, rather than redistribute the profits to the 85 players on 100+ teams?
    • But obviously you can't say that. So refocus the issue. Talk about the world class education the GT players are receiving. How could the current model be broken if a team like GT is succeeding in the classroom & on the field?
    • Let's highlight the miracle recovery of Jaylend Ratliff & our school's commitment to him (Okay, I feel bad about this. What he went through and the support from our fan base was genuine. I'm not willing to sell out here).
  • History / Legacy
    • It's the essence of college football. Remind people who the Heisman trophy is named after
    • Bobby Dodd Stadium (oldest stadium/field...which is it?)
    • Cumberland Ball (222-0) auction, purchased by your average GT millionaire alumni
    • World's best fight song
    • Atlanta - home of the college football HOF. NCAA Sports Hub.
  • GT's status as a world class research university
    • This is the age of the nerd. look at silicon valley. look at the WSJ (stories on Harvard & MIT football the past few weeks). Let's capitalize on the great research & contribution our school makes & our society's obsession with obtaining wealth.
    • Get the IE department to come up with some calculation to show how preseason rankings are biased & distort final rankings. Reach the conclusion that games late in the season should be weighted more to make the rating more fair.
    • Then, do whatever you have to do make that story/research go viral. I'm sure some CS whiz sitting in his dorm has a legion of twitter bots armed & ready for a task like this. Employ famous GT alum to spread the message. How many twitter followers does Megatron have?
    • ^^the point is, feed these national "experts" in the media an intelligent sounding, simple, slogan that supports GT's inclusion
  • Blow out FSU. 49-10.
To Hell with Georgia.
I do think its funny last year when Northwestern won their first 4 games they were all over the place. They had some player doing physics on TV, it was unreal how ESPN was covering them. If you don't know the ending to that fairy tale look up their final record. We get none of that
 

mistaben

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
31
Location
atlanta
The Stars Align? Cinderella, etc...
What impact from a convincing win in Charlotte?
Is it conceivable GT could leap the 10-2 and worse teams?
What needs to happen (records are as of 11/30):

There are six teams with one loss or less. IF GT beats FSU,
then one of following must loose, but not badly: AL, OR and OSU.
FSU 10-0 v. GT 10-2 GT wins convincingly
AL 10-1 v. MO 9-2 MO wins in underwhelming game, where both teams disappoint.
OR 10-1 v. AZ 10-2 AZ defeats OR for second time this year.
TCU 10-1 v. Bay 10-1 winner gets in.
OSU 10-1 v. MSU 9-2 MSU wins, but not impressively, because OSU lost their QB.

Fantasy Playoff Participants:
GT (Cinderella)
TCU/Baylor (winner)
plus two of these three: AL, OR, OSU

The Hell, you say? The Surge/GT's Big Finish:
Pitt +28
UVA +25
NCST +33

climpson +22
UGA + 6 (arguably more)
Free Shoes ?
____________________________________________
and it's not just the Jackets....

November 29, 2014
Andy Johnson - ACC’s huge final weekend boosts undefeated FSU
http://collegefootball.blog.ajc.com/2014/11/29/accs-huge-final-weekend-boosts-undefeated-fsu/

FSU is not only deserving of its No. 3 ranking in the College Football Playoff, it received a boost when ACC teams went 4-0 against their SEC rivals today.
David Hale ✔ @DavidHaleESPN
Follow

FWIW, Jimbo Fisher is now 6-1 vs. the SEC in his career as #FSU coach.
7:05 PM - 29 Nov 2014
___________________________________________
An added Benefit: Is FSU the new Miami?
December 1, 2014
Steve Hummer - Everyone a Georgia Tech fan this week?
http://furtherreview.blog.ajc.com/2014/12/01/everyone-a-georgia-tech-fan-this-week/

We also see new respect building for Paul "the Truth" Johnson.
 

GTech63

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,145
Location
Flower Mound, TX (75022)
I was at the Baylor/Texas Tech game in Dallas Saturday with family and of course all Baylor fans are rooting for us. But the article is right in that we will be America's team Saturday night because of the character or rather lack of it for FSU.
I wore a GT shirt and was told by many after the game we are rooting for you against FSU. Being undefeated is another reason.
 

AE 87

Helluva Engineer
Messages
13,026
I was at the Baylor/Texas Tech game in Dallas Saturday with family and of course all Baylor fans are rooting for us. But the article is right in that we will be America's team Saturday night because of the character or rather lack of it for FSU.
I wore a GT shirt and was told by many after the game we are rooting for you against FSU. Being undefeated is another reason.

Yep. Sometimes, you gotta know when "rooting for you" really has nothing to do with you. It's like us rooting for UNC a couple weeks ago.
 

iggymcfly

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
73
I don't see any way we pass Alabama, even if they lose, and if Arizona beats Oregon, we definitely don't pass Arizona while we might not pass Oregon either. The key games for us are Kansas State/Baylor and Ohio State/Wisconsin. As long as both of those games go right for us, we can easily end up as the 4th team in the playoff along with Alabama, Oregon, and TCU.
 

cuttysark

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
580
If the selection committee's goal is to put the best four teams into the playoff then provided the Yellow Jackets take care of business and snap FSU's 28 game undefeated streak to win the ACC Championship Game, tell me what other school in the entire Power Five Football Conference deserves to be in the big show after defying All of the pre-season pundits by winning their conference after being picked to finish last or a smidgen above it? The Yellow Jackets up to this point have defied all of the odds and have earned their shot.

That is what this playoff system was intended to achieve by putting the best four teams into the playoff based on their record, who they have defeated, and how they are CURRENTLY performing, not just those that have started off higher rated and are hanging on by their fingernails and toenails beating teams they should beat by a few points.

We not only beat # 21 Clemson as an underdog, but slammed them and held them to their lowest point total ever under Dabo; followed that up by beating the # 9 Mutts at their place in a game for the ages as a two TD underdog; then hopefully breaking the longest winning streak in the FBS by knocking off the reigning BCS Champion # 3 Seminoles and their Heisman Trophy winner?

GT's resume' in closing out the season is better than anyone else vying for the final playoff berth.
 
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