Time to Bury the Asterisk?

Is it time to bury the asterisk when looking at GT football?

  • Yes

    Votes: 164 67.8%
  • No, give CGC another asterisk year

    Votes: 48 19.8%
  • No, give CGC another 2 asterisk years

    Votes: 15 6.2%
  • No, give CGC another 3+ asterisk years

    Votes: 15 6.2%

  • Total voters
    242

D-man44

Helluva Engineer
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1,803
If you think a season with a 6 win team being in the playoffs doesn’t involve an asterisk I don’t know what to tell you. As far as next year goes, win 6/7 and recruit better, if not year 4 is his last chance.
funny you think tech can afford to fire a coach with ~10 million over 3 years still on the contract.
 

Deleted member 2897

Guest
Do you honestly think Ohio State wouldn't be undefeated if they played 3-4 more weak *** big 10 games?

Who knows? And that's the point. Michigan State is 2-5. Michigan is 2-4. Penn State is 4-5. Minnesota is 3-4. Nobody expected that out of these teams this year. But injuries and covid absences hurt them. Michigan State beat undefeated Northwestern...who had Ohio State on the ropes. Playing 5 more games is a huge difference than 6. Not only did they play only 6 games, but they had 3 weeks off along the way. You accumulate injuries and have more games where you're missing 20 scholarship players for contact tracing, and you just don't know. In the least, they'd have a lot fewer people available heading into the CFP too.

Think about how many players on our team have missed at least a game or two due to injuries (let alone COVID): Pressley Harvin, Jahmyr Gibbs, Djimon Brooks, Ahmarean Brown, Tre Swilling, Antonneous Clayton, Marquez Ezzard, Chico Bennett, Jordan Mason, Charlie Thomas, Jordan Domineck, Kenny Cooper, Avery Boyd, TK Chimedza, Curtis Ryans...
 
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SteamWhistle

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funny you think tech can afford to fire a coach with ~10 million over 3 years still on the contract.
Why does everyone think Tech is broke I’ve never understood it. Like didn’t we fire 2 basketball coaches and a football coach in the last 15 years? I guess McCammish, the lockerooms for Football and Women and Men’s Basketball, Rusty C upgrades and BDS upgrades all just fell from the sky in that time period as well.
 

lv20gt

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,580
Why does everyone think Tech is broke I’ve never understood it. Like didn’t we fire 2 basketball coaches and a football coach in the last 15 years? I guess McCammish, the lockerooms for Football and Women and Men’s Basketball, Rusty C upgrades and BDS upgrades all just fell from the sky in that time period as well.

You're close to getting there. Keep going.
 

Heisman's Ghost

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Well that’s not really a fair take. Do our fellow ACC teams have 6 transfers coming in? (5?, 4?, 3?...) If you factor those in, we’re a top 25 class right now.
No they don't but with the transfers, the proof is in the pudding. They do not always pan out. We need just about all of them to live up their high school hype and expectations.
 

Buzztheirazz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,393
Northwestern...who had Ohio State on the ropes.
Did you watch that game? Justin Fields player like garbage in the first half but OSU absolutely DOMINATED NW in the second half. TheIr defense is absolutely legit forcing 3 turnovers and their O ran the ball down NW throat with a guy that broke Eddie George’s 25 year old rushing record.

They have the “war daddies” on the DL an absolute stud LB (I think 47 is his number) and playmakers at CB and S. They INT by the safety was a play 95% of players don’t make.

OSU passes the eye test more so than any of the other teams you listed. They deserve to be in the top 4 if you’ve watched them play.
 

Augusta_Jacket

Moderator
Staff member
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8,093
Location
Augusta, Georgia
Why does everyone think Tech is broke I’ve never understood it. Like didn’t we fire 2 basketball coaches and a football coach in the last 15 years?

We are broke precisely because we have paid three former coaches absurd amounts of money to be unemployed by GT. We also don't give well as a program. In 2017 there was a ranking of all 65 P5 programs on football spending. We finished 61st. Only Wake Forest spends less than us in the ACC. You can call it broke or frugal, but either which way we are pinching pennies. Ask any STH about the emails monthly from the GTAA detailing how they need more money just to pay current expenses. We were broke before COVID, and we aren't any better since.


Edit to add another article:


"This past year’s $13.6 million debt service accounted for 15% of expenses in the past year’s budget, well above the ACC average of about 8%. For a $14 million annual debt payment (which is what Tech projects to pay in two years) to comprise 8% of expenses, Tech’s budget would have to be $175 million — about $84 million more than it is projected to be."
 

Deleted member 2897

Guest
Did you watch that game? Justin Fields player like garbage in the first half but OSU absolutely DOMINATED NW in the second half. TheIr defense is absolutely legit forcing 3 turnovers and their O ran the ball down NW throat with a guy that broke Eddie George’s 25 year old rushing record.

They have the “war daddies” on the DL an absolute stud LB (I think 47 is his number) and playmakers at CB and S. They INT by the safety was a play 95% of players don’t make.

OSU passes the eye test more so than any of the other teams you listed. They deserve to be in the top 4 if you’ve watched them play.

Right, they are a great team. But a lot can happen if you play 5 more games and a month and a half extra of football.
 

ibeattetris

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,604
We are broke precisely because we have paid three former coaches absurd amounts of money to be unemployed by GT. We also don't give well as a program. In 2017 there was a ranking of all 65 P5 programs on football spending. We finished 61st. Only Wake Forest spends less than us in the ACC. You can call it broke or frugal, but either which way we are pinching pennies. Ask any STH about the emails monthly from the GTAA detailing how they need more money just to pay current expenses. We were broke before COVID, and we aren't any better since.


Edit to add another article:


"This past year’s $13.6 million debt service accounted for 15% of expenses in the past year’s budget, well above the ACC average of about 8%. For a $14 million annual debt payment (which is what Tech projects to pay in two years) to comprise 8% of expenses, Tech’s budget would have to be $175 million — about $84 million more than it is projected to be."
Hey we aren't 64th anymore, that's promising.
 

Vespidae

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Auburn, AL
This year has revealed just how bad the current system is. Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State are always there every preseason and look where we ended up .. again.

Recruits want to play for these teams, money flows to these teams, and the disparities get ever bigger.

We may as well realign the FBS such that conference champions play for the NC. Otherwise, we will have Bama play Clemson every year for the title. That’s what the NCAA has created.
 

Vespidae

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Auburn, AL
For a $14 million annual debt payment (which is what Tech projects to pay in two years) to comprise 8% of expenses, Tech’s budget would have to be $175 million — about $84 million more than it is projected to be."
This is the key problem. Eighty percent of athletic programs are break even. To even be competitive today, you have to generate at least $100M ... more if you finance via debt.

Auburn has billionaire alumni that write insane checks. Alabama has fundraising operations throughout the state at a massive scale. FSU generates more from the Seminole Club than through ticket sales.

Something new is coming, I just don’t know what it is. Yesterday, I heard a recommendation to create a National Intercollegiate Football Association as an NCAA spinoff to take the Top 25 (I think) teams a form a new league/system.

Bottom line ... this cant continue.
 

Northeast Stinger

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10,711
Cincinnati is 9-0hio.
Coastal Carolina is 11-0hio.

BYU is 10-1 with their only loss being to Coastal Carolina on the road at the very end.
Liberty is 9-1 with their only loss being to NC State on the road by 1 point.

San Jose State is 7-0hio.
Louisiana Lafayette is 9-1 with their only loss being to Coastal Carolina by 3 points.

Texas A&M is 8-1 with their only loss being to Alabama on the road.

Plenty of good options to take! 39 FBS teams with at least as many wins. At least 3 other undefeated teams I can find with more wins.
All of which is why the playoff should be expanded. Some want 8 teams but even 6 would be a huge improvement (4 conference champions and 2 open slots, with two highest ranked teams getting 1st round bye).
 

Deleted member 2897

Guest
All of which is why the playoff should be expanded. Some want 8 teams but even 6 would be a huge improvement (4 conference champions and 2 open slots, with two highest ranked teams getting 1st round bye).

My only disagreement is that in many years the big 4/5 conference champions don't deserve to be invited. The Pac12 champ this year had 4 wins and the Big10 champ had 6 wins.

Last year the AAC's champ had 2 losses, the Big12 champ had 2 losses, C-USA had 3 losses, mid-American had a ton, Mountain West had 2 losses, Pac12 had 2 losses, Sun Belt had 1 loss.

So last year you could do ACC champ, SEC Champ, Big10 champ and Sun Belt champ to get 4 teams who all had 1 loss or fewer. Last year the Big10 had 2 teams with 2 losses and the SEC had 3 teams with 2 losses. So if you go to 6-8 teams, you're going to end up right back where you started - 3 to 4 teams arguing that they should be in the top 8.
 

lv20gt

Helluva Engineer
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5,580
Does anyone actually think Cinci or Coastal Carolina is one of the best 4 teams in the country?
 

InsideLB

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1,896
Didn't vote in the poll because I don't conceptualize what's going on that way.

I want to see a program that is getting better.

1. My belief (and yes it's plenty debatable) is that RECRUITING is getting better. Gibbs, Williams and Sims started most games on offense. Tr-fr DL like Kennard, Ivey, & Stone were pressed into service on D in this depleted year. Yes they struggled, but they also showed flashes of raw talent and athleticism that have me excited. Just need physical maturation and consistency. Rankings were good on the class last year, and this year it depends on what service you look at. For me, the 247 composite is garbage in/garbage out. IMO ESPN is garbage and for this COVID year 247's rating are also garbage. After being a member of each service I personally trust Rivals WAY more. Again that's just MY opinion, you don't have to believe it. This year Rivals had us at 31st despite not hitting 20 recruits in the class. However two of the six transfers coming in are likely NFL draft picks and they are an OL & DL—where we need help the most. And we are not done with recruiting/transfers yet for this year. So for me at least, it's a big improvement.

2. On OFFENSE we looked a lot better both running and passing. Is it still rough? Yep. But I see the improvement and I see the young star power. OL is what's holding us back, that takes time and they were improved from last year. Cochran coming in will help a bunch, as will a year of development for Jordan, and across the board for what was a good & deep OL class last year.

3. On defense we looked improved at times and worse at others. However as a LB I understand the lack of depth, attrition, and resulting youth we played on the DL made for tough sledding—particularly at the end of the year. Hopefully Chimedza, Clayton, and Ryans all return from injury and return strong. Mature bodies are on the way in Makius Scott from USCe, Harris from Bama, & White the elite pass rusher. Then we have another year of development for Ivey, Stone, Domineck, Kennard, Johnson, etc. Also some highly regarded frosh coming in. So on D for now all I can say is I'm excited about the guys we have coming in.

4. ST's. Punting/coverage/fake punts = A. Kick off / Coverage = C (got a fair number of touchbacks, coverage by a young team IMO better than last year but still rough). KOR had a few big plays/improved but still needs work =C. FG/XP = F (Main problem was we brought in a bunch of young kickers and none of them could get the ball up quick. Some protection screw ups as well. Stewart was the first kid who figured out how to get kicks up kicking off the ground, so we did improve some by the end of the year). All in all I would say the only thing that keeps me from saying we got better.

As for how we will do next year? Who the hell knows. Really good teams can end up being .500 teams with a tough schedule. I just want to continue to see improvement. Eventually the W's will come with continuous improvement.
 

Northeast Stinger

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My only disagreement is that in many years the big 4/5 conference champions don't deserve to be invited. The Pac12 champ this year had 4 wins and the Big10 champ had 6 wins.

Last year the AAC's champ had 2 losses, the Big12 champ had 2 losses, C-USA had 3 losses, mid-American had a ton, Mountain West had 2 losses, Pac12 had 2 losses, Sun Belt had 1 loss.

So last year you could do ACC champ, SEC Champ, Big10 champ and Sun Belt champ to get 4 teams who all had 1 loss or fewer. Last year the Big10 had 2 teams with 2 losses and the SEC had 3 teams with 2 losses. So if you go to 6-8 teams, you're going to end up right back where you started - 3 to 4 teams arguing that they should be in the top 8.
Yeah, it would be an interesting experiment but the equation would include ranking, won/loss record and conference championship. If the top 6 ranked teams only had 3 conference champions you would be forced to drop down in the rankings, perhaps taking an AAC undefeated or one loss team. Central Florida some years might have gotten in. Likewise if UGA or Alabama is not the conference champion, but are highly ranked, they are an at large team and have a play-in round. In theory it becomes harder for a conference like the SEC to lobby for getting 3 teams in.

There are some years this format would have let in some deserving teams while making it harder for other teams that get in by virtue of their name. To be sure the arguments would continue but my guess is there would fewer major injustices.
 

dmel25

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
478
I think they need to change the system to make the playoffs be the 4 best P5 teams versus the 4 best G5 teams. 8 teams total, the final 4 end up in the playoffs the way we have now, this gives the little guys a chance at least and the committee can't snub them like they do every year.

The big issue now is the committee bases their decisions on ratings, money, and recruiting class. If you bring in more money and have higher recruits you are getting ranked higher. The system is corrupt.
 
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