Looking ahead to our 2010 football schedule shows a complete flip of 2009's grand home stand. In 2009, we had our three favorite opponents at home in VT, Clemson, and Georgie. The combined record of our home opponents against I-A competition was 37-21 (excluding GT games) and included two teams within 2 hours drive of campus. The average attendance was 4,000 more people per game than in 2008.
In 2010, things look to be a little bit different at home. We welcome a group that went 27-27 against I-A teams and only 11-18 against conference foes in 2009 (excluding GT). Only Miami and Middle Tennessee made it to bowl games from the 6 teams on our home slate. South Carolina St. made the I-AA playoffs but is still a I-AA team, which will probably only muster up a little bit more resistance than Jacksonville State did the past two years.
The road is where the fun is. In 2009, GT's road schedule went 24-36 against I-A teams (excluding GT). This upcoming season, we'll see a group that went 41-26 in I-A play including a 15-6 ACC conference record (excluding GT). Kansas is probably the only gimme as their program will be in a state of disarray for the 2010 season. GT defeated the 2010 ACC Road opponents by a combined 33 points in four games (+8.3 margin/game). Georgie was Tech's only home loss.
I think a lot of fans will scrutinize their season ticket renewal for the 2010 season as the average road trip for Tech fans in 2010 will be about 4.5 hours (minus Kansas) and the schedule is a helluva lot better on the road. My average road trip will only be about 3.5 hours so it's even more tempting for me to go ROAD all season rather than renewing. It takes about 4.5 hours to get to ATL from my current residence.
What do you all think?
In 2010, things look to be a little bit different at home. We welcome a group that went 27-27 against I-A teams and only 11-18 against conference foes in 2009 (excluding GT). Only Miami and Middle Tennessee made it to bowl games from the 6 teams on our home slate. South Carolina St. made the I-AA playoffs but is still a I-AA team, which will probably only muster up a little bit more resistance than Jacksonville State did the past two years.
The road is where the fun is. In 2009, GT's road schedule went 24-36 against I-A teams (excluding GT). This upcoming season, we'll see a group that went 41-26 in I-A play including a 15-6 ACC conference record (excluding GT). Kansas is probably the only gimme as their program will be in a state of disarray for the 2010 season. GT defeated the 2010 ACC Road opponents by a combined 33 points in four games (+8.3 margin/game). Georgie was Tech's only home loss.
I think a lot of fans will scrutinize their season ticket renewal for the 2010 season as the average road trip for Tech fans in 2010 will be about 4.5 hours (minus Kansas) and the schedule is a helluva lot better on the road. My average road trip will only be about 3.5 hours so it's even more tempting for me to go ROAD all season rather than renewing. It takes about 4.5 hours to get to ATL from my current residence.
What do you all think?