Technical Tidbits 11/16: In which Paul Johnson’s seat couldn’t be cooler

The weekly matchup analyses by Campus Insiders have been very interesting and generally accurate all season long, but I’m finding it difficult to wrap my brain around the statement that the offensive units fielded by Georgia Tech and Virginia are equal in stature. That’s especially true given how CI likes to examine recent games when making such assertions; one team just put up 30 points on a top-15 team with its backup quarterback and center while the other benched its quarterback, and not because he had been too successful for their liking. Tech’s defense had a much-improved game against the Hokies, but those two units -- the Cavalier and Jacket defenses — would probably be the ones to call “equal” in this game. Both have been, for lack of a better phrase, consistently awful.

We may be amply concerned about Paul Johnson’s current job security, but at least one person from within the Tech program has no such qualms: Johnson himself. Denying that last weekend’s victory against Virginia Tech was a big moment as far as his own employment is concerned, Johnson cited his limited conversations with new athletic director Todd Stansbury as a principal reason that he feels he’ll be retained after this season.

Simply put, Paul Johnson’s job security is likely as good as if not better than that of any non Dabo/Jimbo/Petrino coach in the ACC. The last thing Tech needs to be doing is paying three buyouts at one time while attempting to provide competitive salaries to both head basketball coach Josh Pastner and a new football coach. That’s a lot of money, and it’s hard to argue that it would be well-spent.

Despite an upset-plagued week of college football around the nation, the week eleven College Football Playoff poll remains similar (at least at the top) to that of a week ago. Ohio State jumps all the way from outside the rankings to No. 2 following losses from the previous teams ranked second through fourth, reflecting the committee’s preference to consider recent performance over most anything else. Clemson remains in the top four despite a last-second loss to Chris Blewitt and the Pittsburgh Panthers, and Michigan actually leapfrogged the Tigers despite suffering a bigger loss to Iowa. That’s likely because the Wolverines have three victories over current top-10 teams (Wisconsin, Penn State, and Colorado) with the opportunity to beat Ohio State later this season, something that neither Clemson nor No. 5 Louisville can match.

The SEC love, meanwhile, remains a bit blatant. Texas A&M retains a spot, coming in at No. 25 despite losing for the third time in four weeks, and Florida jumps into the rankings at No. 23 after a win over South Carolina. LSU comes in at No. 16 despite a 6-3 ranking. I don’t know how many ways there are to say that Auburn is not a very good team, but they remain in the top-15 despite a hideous loss to Georgia. Tennessee, meanwhile, is No. 19. Should some of those teams be in the top-25? Absolutely. Putting all of them in, however, just seems to indicate some weird type of cycle where none are very good but the fact that they keep beating each other and losing to each other is somehow enough justification for the committee. I’m convinced that if the entire SEC went 6-6, the whole conference would be ranked just because they went .500 against each other. It’s never-ending.