Burdell’s Building Bracket: The First Four

Before we get to the opening slate, we have to finalize the field of 64 teams with these four play-in games.

It would have been easy to, in the immortal words of Jon Bois, ignore these games because I simply don’t care about them, but I’m nothing if not faithful to the idea of my ridiculous project. If nothing else, as Bois notes, it gives us all an excuse to remember what channel Tru TV is every year.

For a refresher, here’s the bracket: Tech Buildings.pdf

First Four:

North Campus:

No. 16 James K. Luck Jr. Building vs. No. 16 President’s House

Luck Building:

I went looking for the ACC Network Studio, because that’s fun and new, but it wasn’t on any official map yet, so this was close enough. The home of Track and Field and several other locker room and support facilities is also adjacent to the brand-new facility that used to house Facilities before they were booted in favor of our corporate overlords friends at the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. The building is named for a former Tech track coach who died in a wreck in 1986 and is a serviceable building part of the McCamish Pavilion and Zelnak Complex, as well. A solid 16 seed, if nothing particularly special, in my opinion. Though, last time I walked by, for the record, the ACC Network Studio was looking pretty sharp itself.

President’s House:

The Georgia Tech Archives, a good friend of us here at From the Rumble Seat, concisely describes the President’s House as such: “The current President’s House was constructed in 1948 after an anonymous $100,000 donation made the project possible. President Van Leer’s wife, Ella, designed the home. The President’s House sits on the highest point on Georgia Tech’s campus.” The reason a new house was needed is that the only man ever to formally hold the “President Emeritus” title, Marion Brittain, was still living in the old house, which sat along North Avenue closer to Center Campus, now demolished, but the Van Leers needed somewhere to live. Recently, the entire backyard, a ravine, was filled with water due to extremely heavy rainfall, so that’s nifty.

East Campus:

No. 16 Bill Moore Student Success Center vs. No. 16 L.W. “Chip” Robert Alumni House

Bill Moore Student Success Center:

This used to be the site of the Knowles Building, originally known as the Knowles Dormitory. The original building, along with Swann, formed the historic core of Tech’s student housing. Later, as the school grew, more administrative offices were needed outside of Tech Tower, and the Knowles Building was pegged to be their host, including the office of the President, for a time. The building, long in the shadow of the growing Grant Field complex, was old and increasingly cumbersome to use, before it was torn down in favor of the current structure. This allowed Tech to add valuable luxury boxes to the stadium, along with better press support facilities, and the structure doubles as a very capable host of tours, companies, and student organizations the other 358 days of the year it is not overrun with some of the 55,000 spectators of the Georgia Tech football program, and is the elegant first impression of many a visitor.

Chip Robert Alumni House:

This building was originally known as the Rockefeller YMCA, after the man who funded its construction. When it was completed, the YMCA was Tech’s only option for extracurriculars, as the Student Center would not be completed until Tech’s massive postwar growth spurt. In those early days, few considerations like food, housing, and well-being were made for students other than providing classroom and shop space. After the opening of the Wenn Building, the YMCA drastically declined in relevance and now operates from a building off of Luckie Street nearby. In its stead, the Alumni Association has taken over the old Rockefeller building and named it after one of the more prodigious and fascinating graduates of Georgia Tech, Chip Robert.

No. 11 Richard Peters Park Parking Deck vs. No. 11 Archibald D. Holland Heating and Cooling Plant

Peters Parking Deck:

I know this is a skeptical pick to wind up in the top 68 list of anything except subpar Atlanta parking structures, but even then, the city is so full of them, that even that might be a stretch. Rather, the fact that Tech still considers it a park, even though throwing a tennis court on top of a giant concrete platform is a very loose definition of a park. Apparently, the gift of land from the notable Atlanta land developer was contingent on it remaining recreation space for the student body, which, at the time was horrifically lacking, unsurprisingly to those who read the previous blurb, and Tech’s ideal long term plan involves returning it to a natural-like state. Also, that’s the campus master plan update from 2004, which alone is worth the read if given the chance.

Holland Heating and Cooling Plant:

I leave you with a simple haiku for the importance of the Holland Plant to one of my favorite traditions:

“Shreeeeeeevoooooooooo goes the whistle,
Midtown hipsters get real mad.
Who cares? Class over.” (Anonymous)

West* Campus:

No. 10 Georgia Tech Shenzhen vs. No. 10 Georgia Tech Lorraine

*Yes, I know neither of these are on West Campus, but what’s Georgia Tech without someone talking about their #studyabroad at GTL? This is the best fit in the bracket for two places you have to go really far west (or east) to get to.

Georgia Tech Shenzhen:

To be quite honest, I know very little about Georgia Tech Shenzhen. It’s a newer campus, with fewer students that go there, compared to programs like Oxford, the LBATs, or, of course, its opponent, GTL. But, hey, it seems to be the up-and-coming one, so it at least deserved a chance to make a Cinderella run through the somewhat soft West Campus bracket.

Georgia Tech Lorraine:

[in very affected speech] GTL? [clears throat] Oh my gosh, my time in Metz was so unique. Taking trains, sorry TGVs, if you know you know, to, like, all the best cities in the world every weekend was life changing. Weeknights at the Comedie Club were, just, so awesome, and I felt like one of the locals when I went there or walked to Paul after class. In Paris, we took the Metro, you know, I think in America they call it the subway, sorry, all around town on Bastille Day. Seeing France win the World Cup was incredible! Allez les bleus! I had such a wild time in Amsterdam. And Barcelona. And Prague. And Brussels. You know? Just go on the bar crawls everywhere, they’re all great. Oh, and the nightclub in the Munich bus depot. Of course, I took four electives and got all As. Work hard, play hard, am I right? I really developed my wine palate over the excellent win on the bottom self at Cora. Now, when I sit in the CULC studying, I just find my mind wandering to plan trips or remembering that tent hostel in Interlaken. What a special place and life changing summer abroad with my besties. Like, five-ever.

Cast your vote for your favorite by Wednesday night at 9:00 PM so I can finalize the first round brackets! For real European recommendations, comment below. There’s so much more than partying. Allez les Jackets!