Technical Tidbits 2/25

Georgia Tech played game one of a home-and-home with one-time rival Auburn yesterday, falling by a final score of 7-1 after a fantastic pitching display by Tigers starter Keegan Thompson. The Jackets allowed 5+ runs for the sixth time this season and have not allowed less than three runs in any game all season long as the pitching staff continues to struggle mightily. Auburn will return the favor by playing a game in Atlanta exactly one month from yesterday on March 24th at Russ Chandler Stadium. In the meantime, Tech will take to the diamond next against Indiana State this weekend; their scheduled matchup with Georgia State has been cancelled due to what I hope becomes Snowpocalypse 2015.

The AJC's Ken Sugiura has published his three takeaways from Tech's devastatingly close loss to the Louisville Cardinals on Monday. His final point about Georgia Tech's close games against RPI top-50 teams is especially true; the Jackets are an amaizing 1-9 against said teams despite being right in every single game (minus the loss to Virginia). I bring this up a lot, but I just can't believe how Tech has managed to consistently lose every close game against quality opponents. It is almost like the Jackets play above their heads for 35 minutes and then completely crumble in the final few minutes of each game.

Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson has been named a finalist for the Atlanta Sports Awards, given annually to outstanding teams, players, and coaches from around the city. Johnson is coming off of his most successful season at the helm of the Georgia Tech program, having guided the Jackets to an 11-3 record including wins over Georgia and Clemson, a berth in the ACC Championship, and an Orange Bowl victory over former AP number one Mississippi State. Man, it's been way too long since I've talked about football and I'm pretty sure I talked about it two days ago.

Yesterday was one of the most exciting, upset-filled days of college basketball all season long -- three top-15 teams fell to lower ranked opponents. Perhaps the biggest of these upsets was Maryland's win over No. 5 Wisconsin, followed closely by Syracuse's win over that pesky Notre Dame team and an NC State upset of rival UNC at the Dean Dome. With March Madness just around the corner, these are exactly the type of things that complicate tournament berths and make everything more exciting for people like us, whose teams are out of contention. Bring on the upsets!

What's to blame for all of these close losses?

Have a great Wednesday and stay out of the ice!