Brethren in White and Gold,
Baseball is doing well, and this keeps me happy. However, let us talk football.
By now you may have seen some of the post-spring/pre-season rankings that are beginning to come out. Tony Barnhart of the AJC has us right ahead of U(sic)GA at #13 while others have us slightly lower or higher.
There are big questions here, though, as the team and fans have not been here for a while. Plenty of you say rankings don't really matter. "Focus on winning games" is what I hear "we don't want/need the hype." And it's all fair point, no doubt. But to say the rankings don't matter? Well, I'm just not sure.
Obviously there are arguments to prove that rankings don't ensure anything. That farm school in Athens had a team ranked #1 nationally at the beginning of last season, and look where it got them. So surely we can't expect that our Jackets will perform just under the top ten teams simply because reporters and coaches SAY they will.
But to say the rankings don't MATTER. Well, I'm not on that bandwagon. It seems to me in the topsy-turvy BCS, rankings are a function of national attention generated by wins, respect, and history. You NEED them to win Championships. The #1 and #2 teams in the BCS poll are the ONLY ones last I checked that get into that NC game at year's end, and all I'm saying is that neither of those teams begins the season unranked. Usually, they've started in the top 10.
What does this mean for Georgia Tech? I think it means this: In order to win a National Championship we need to be CONSISTANTLY breaking into the preseason Top 25 rankings for multiple polls. Then, in time, we need to break into the Top 10 and perform dominantly all season long against the most important opponents, win our conference, and do it all with style points to spare.
Now, for this 2009 season I'll say it's very possible to follow this formula to success in a BCS bowl, but because of media bias that swings in favor of nationally famous, well-followed (SEC, Big 12 and USC) teams we will probably not get into the NC game even if undefeated. We have not made enough of a name for ourselves...yet.
What steps do we need to take? We need to take a page out of Les Miles' book from the CFA Bowl. LSU was up on us, and decided to break our will with faked kicks. Paul Johnson needs to be this kind of bully against rivals that threaten our bid for ACC dominance. VT, FSU, Clemson, UNC, and Miami all need to feel the pain not just of being beaten but being utterly silenced. At season's end a victory over Georgia would act as icing on the cake and a crucial ranking-booster, and then an ACC Championship followed by an Orange Bowl victory would finish us in the top 5.
Do this for 2 years coupled with decent recruiting classes and we'll be enjoying consistant preseason top 10 rankings that give us the perfect launch pad for a long-awaited look at a fifth National Championship. Falter along the way, and expect to wait even longer.
In the ACC it takes dominance and consistancy. Right now, before the season starts I see ONE team in our conference that has achieved the feat of consistancy. If we do not silence them and their growing media following then we will play a very frustrated second fiddle for a long time. This season we need to put that particular team and fanbase on notice. Target? Virginia Tech
Your comments please.
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3 comments:
I disagree on us not making it to the MNC game if we are undefeated...
I think an undefeated season (which I don't expect, but still) would give us an 80-90% chance of making it to the MNC game.
The only reason we don't make it is if there are 2 other big name undefeated teams..
Even then, though, assuming we go 13-0 after the ACCCG, we would have beaten more ACC or SEC teams than other teams have played BCS teams (9ACC teams including CG, and 3 SEC teams...2 Away).
Thats one heck of a schedule... A point of comparison is WVU who would have been in the MNC game a couple of years ago, if they hadn't lost their last game.
Otherwise, thats a great post.
Good point. I'd be curious what WVU's season was like before that one and where they started in the rankings.
I agree if we go undefeated we will go to the National Championship game.
If we are a one loss team we still could go it just depends on the rest of the field.
If we are two loss team we likely will not go.
Furthermore you are absolutely right that VT is the team to silence.
One thing I think that it is in our favor is that almost every team will be gunning for VT this year because every team believes they have a legitimate chance of winning the ACC.
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