Technical Tidbits 11/24

The biggest question for Brian Gregory's Yellow Jackets this season was whether or not the team could develop enough chemistry to play effectively, especially during the early part of the season. The team, which is a largely just a mix of freshmen, transfers, and the occasional returning role-player, has played so few minutes together that just short of everyone had some serious concerns about chemistry and communication. The Jackets, however, came out firing on all cylinders (teehee) and have gotten off to a quick yet convincing 3-0 start to the season, including a huge win over uga. Trust has obviously been a huge part in all of that, and Tech will hope to keep the train rolling when they take on an always tough Marquette team on Thanksgiving.

There is nothing more refreshing than watching your favorite team sit idle for a week and still move up significantly in the polls, and that is exactly what happened for Georgia Tech -- the Jackets currently sit at No. 16 and No. 15 in the AP and Coaches Polls respectively. Both of those rankings are up from last week thanks to losses by Utah and a couple of other ranked teams, but Louisville remains right in the rear-view mirror with their victory of Notre Dame. We need them to stay put in order to maximize Tech's postseason fun with a trip to the ACCCG and the Orange Bowl. The dwags, on the other hand, continue climbing after another easy win. I still don't see them as a top 10 team -- their best win is against now three-loss Auburn and they have losses to a tragic Florida team and an equally tragic South Carolina team. They get the SEC boost despite playing in a terrible SEC East. And when I say terrible, I mean way bad. Like, Vanderbilt bad.

A new week means a new round of playoff projections, and this latest list has Georgia Tech going to the Orange Bowl to face off with the former No. 1 team in the nation, Mississippi State. The Bulldogs broke the golden rule of football when they peaked too early in the season -- quarterback Dak "Not For Heisman" Prescott has cooled off significantly, although I do maintain that Dak is a pretty awesome name. At any rate, that would be a total trap game for Mississippi State, which would likely be disappointed with a matchup against Tech and not a playoff team given their hot start.

As everyone knows, this is the first season of the new four team playoff in the NCAA. The format promised us all salvation from the dark, hate-filled days of the BCS era, but there has ironically been just as much controversy over which four teams would represent the nation as there was before. The proposed solution to this is, of course, an expanded playoff with eight teams, which sounds just beautiful to me. I mean, we could finally stop arguing over which four SEC teams to put in and just cruise with the entire SEC West and uga. It saves everyone some serious headaches that way.

What would this season be like if Georgia Tech played uga's schedule? I'd say that 9 wins is more than likely. What do you think of an eight-team playoff, or maybe an even larger one like in the FCS (which includes 24 teams)?

Have a great Monday!