A good and important question GTRambler. One that is multifaceted and without easily assessable data to base clear cut conclusions on. However, one that as an OF that has witnessed, supported, and has made GT football a much more important aspect of my life than is probably justified for the past 50 years, I can offer opinions to you (some supported and others that are simply my opinion).
I'm struck by Tech's President's comments in the late 60s as we withdrew from the SEC with wtte: NOBODY is attempting to do what Georgia Tech is in major college football. This was true then and is even more so the case today. Iirc, the AJC wrote an article titled something like--Georgia Tech football program has highest SAT scores among public schools competing in major college football in the Nation. This was in the 90s and our regular student scores have skyrocketed since and our football graduation rates have too, so it is very likely the situation has gotten worse since the article. Btw, any of you research types who can locate said article, would shed a lot of light on this topic.
The APR issue was a major blow to Tech's comparatively little use of "exceptions" (versus Tech's AA standards--not regular students). It wasn't designed to do so, as it was the NCAAs cover-up to a lot of public uproar about low grad rates. Of course where there is no place to hide, it was crippling. To put it in perspective, if uga were forced to have a large % of their signees qualify for and survive their Terry School of Business, they would struggle to compete with Vandy and Wake Forest. And as good as Terry is, it's rated below our Biz Program! So the playing field is more un-level than is commonly imagined.
I believe it would shock and embarrass uga to have their academic credentials of their 2-deep on D listed for the last several years. Without their D-line recruits from South Georgia, their records would not be the same. This supports the misconception that we recruit the same players--we don't. Of course there is overlap, but I'd guess that we don't even bother for obvious reasons on half of their classes, and yes our coaches know who the best players are.
STEM is not cool with the bulk of the better (by far) players. When more parents like Calvin Johnson's exist, we will have a more even chance. I won't get to see such, but some of your grandchildren may.
There is a LOT more to this, but the TLDR monitor is watching! THWG
