What if this happens...

[Treb1982]

Yes that would be a good season

 

[Captain killem]

Not real fond of a 3-9 but ANY season of GT football is good un to me.

 

[GTFLETCH]

8-4 YES...Plus Bowl when for 9 wins...

 

[Sideways]

Typical GT season: Win a game or two against teams we are not supposed to beat (hopefully UGA this year), and lose a game or two against teams we should beat.

As it stands, the rest of our schedule:

Should beat:
GA Southern
Duke
UVA

Will not be favored:
Pitt
UNC
VA Tech
UGA

Hopefully we can sweep the "should beat" teams, and go at worst 2-2 against the "will not be favored" teams (with UGA being one of them). That would put us at 8-4. At worst, we should be 7-5 and going to a bowl game. The key is to sweep the "should beat" teams. If we trip up against one of them, it may not be a pretty ending.

This is a good analysis except that each of the "will not be favored" teams is beatable. None of them, in my estimation are the caliber of either Clemson or Miami. Pitt, UNC, VPI and UGA are all good teams but have issues of their own that can be exploited by our team. Of the "should beat" trio none of them seem to be quite as good as they have been in the past. UVA may be starting to put it together but we will see. I think we will be 6-6 or 7-5 which is acceptable for what has become basically a rebuilding year.

 

[TampaBuzz]

ESPN sportswriters Schlabach and McMurphy think GT will play South Florida in the St Petersburg Bowl.

I hope the team qualifies for a much better bowl, but the St. Pete Bowl would be fun and convenient for me.....

 

[Yaller Jacket]

For me, 8-4 is somehow more than a single step up from 7-5. I'm not sure why, but it is. 8-4 is a pretty good year, while 7-5 is mediocrity. 8-4 usually gets you a more respectable bowl. The desire to get to 8 is the main reason I was upset over the loss to Miami. If it had come later in the year I might have been better able to get past it. I just hated to take a second loss so early in the year with a number of tough games left.

Rebuilding? I don't know. I would like to call last year the rebuilding year. But we do still have a very young team. PJ made reference to it again last night concerning the devastating missed assignments. But it might be a while before another Justin Thomas emerges. All offenses are dependent on the quarterback, but I would say ours is way more so than others.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

If we beat ugag then the season is a huge success period, end of discussion.

Beating uga this year would carry double bonus points given how much angst it would create over the firing of Richt and the hiring of Smart. The entire state would have a melt down and the yahoos in the state house would be trying to pass some kind of legislation to punish somebody/anybody because these things just shouldn't happen and God is offended.

 

[AE 87]

For me, 8-4 is somehow more than a single step up from 7-5. I'm not sure why, but it is. 8-4 is a pretty good year, while 7-5 is mediocrity. 8-4 usually gets you a more respectable bowl. The desire to get to 8 is the main reason I was upset over the loss to Miami. If it had come later in the year I might have been better able to get past it. I just hated to take a second loss so early in the year with a number of tough games left.

Rebuilding? I don't know. I would like to call last year the rebuilding year. But we do still have a very young team. PJ made reference to it again last night concerning the devastating missed assignments. But it might be a while before another Justin Thomas emerges. All offenses are dependent on the quarterback, but I would say ours is way more so than others.

I actually disagree about qb fwiw. Obviously, it's important, but I think it's much harder to find a qb to make a passing attack effective than it is to find one for our O.

 

[AE 87]

Lolvl has duke and uva cross division. They have Houston near the end of the season, which they could match up well with.

CU has Pitt as their other cross division and FSU left.

I think they both have a really good shot at winning out, 11-1, 12-0, with quality wins. Both likely top 5, top 7.

If a 10-2 GT beats CU in acccg, who if any goes to playoffs?

 

[SidewalkJacket]

I believe that GT has provided their student athletes the opportunities to do the most with the talents they have been given, both on and off the field. We have not had an instance where we have regretted the decisions made by either boy, and feel that GT was the best way to steward all their talents.
I have met fine Men who were part of the GT program, whose talents on and off the gridiron were impressive.
It pains me over the last 5 years to see the effort it takes to be competitive as a GT student-athlete be dismissed because of W-L, or Bowl Wins. The inability of former players to recognize that Graduation Rates and GPA's also need to be taken into account in the success of a program. We as GT supporters should more than any other school not fall victim to the Win-Loss trap. The Losses to FSU in ACC title games for example, a picture of student-athletes pulling together, battling against overwhelming odds, and coming through it, bloody, beaten, yet unbowed.

So, yeah there is some exceptional talent on these GT teams, and sometimes they go 3-9, sometimes they go 11-3.

But, hey if you need wins and losses, well...Alabama has a huge stadium.

PIN THIS POST TO THE TOP OF THE BOARD!!!

Absolutely spot on, and what makes being a GT fan a noble pursuit!