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Here’s a few news tidbits to start your weekend with.
It was reported on Wednesday that one of the conditions from ESPN for the upcoming ACC Network was for the conference to alter its football scheduling, mandating either a 9-game conference schedule and a Power-5 opponent out-of-conference (not including Notre Dame), or an 8-game conference schedule and two out-of-conference Power-5 opponents. After a teleconference this morning to discuss the proposed changes and which method to go with, the conference’s Athletic Directors have elected to push back their final decision to a future date. The original article indicated that the conference was generally split, with eight members (including Georgia Tech) preferring the 8-plus-2 model, with six preferring the 9-plus-1 model. Stay tuned for more.
As far as scheduling changes that were actually decided on, Georgia Tech announced that it would be adding Bowling Green to its non-conference slate in 2018, hosting the Falcons in the first-ever match-up between the two programs. The two teams are set to play September 29th, 2018. Additionally, the Yellow Jackets announced various other future schedule changes:
- The home-and-home series with USF, originally scheduled for 2021-2022, has been moved up to take place in 2018-2019. The game will be played in Tampa in 2018, and Atlanta in 2019.
- Georgia Tech’s chance to host Notre Dame has been pushed back from 2019 to November 14, 2020.
- The Yellow Jackets’ 2018 game with Tulane has been cancelled, while the 2019 game is under evaluation.
As of now, the future slate of Georgia Tech’s non-conference games is as follows:
| Year | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | vs. Tennessee | Jacksonville State | at UCF | georgia |
| 2018 | at USF | Bowling Green | at georgia | ---- |
| 2019 | USF | georgia | at Tulane | ---- |
| 2020 | UCF | Notre Dame | at georgia | ---- |
| 2021 | Kennesaw State | at Notre Dame | georgia | ---- |
| 2022 | Ole Miss | at georgia | ---- | ---- |
| 2023 | at Ole Miss | georgia | ---- | ---- |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | at georgia | ---- | ---- |
| 2025 | at Colorado | georgia | ---- | ---- |
| 2026 | Colorado | at georgia | ---- | ---- |
Finally, after a search committee was named on Thursday in seeking out a new Director of Athletics, the committee gained a member on Friday when it was announced former Yellow Jackets baseball star Mark Teixeira (who recently announced that the 2016 season would be his last in pro baseball) would be joining the group previously announced. The announcement represents just the latest act of charity from Teixeira, who has been incredibly generous towards Georgia Tech since his departure. His presence, perspective, and contributions will be extremely valuable for the search, and it’s exciting to know that he’ll be a part of it.
Have a great weekend!