Conference Misalignment

As an environmental engineer I like to look at pollution numbers, energy efficiency, consumption, waste, etc.. So something that has interested me as of late is the distance-to-travel for ACC/SEC teams. I took Atlanta as a central point for ACC comparisons while Athens (the cesspool) is the center of the SEC world. Just for the Hell of it, I also came up with an interesting scenario.

ACC-SEC comparison
Looking at the ACC, GT is approximately 474 driving miles from all other 11 ACC foes. GA is 348. This means that at a rate of 60 mph, Georgie is 2 hours closer driving distance to all of its SEC brethren than Tech is to its ACC foes. That sucks. Comparing divisions, Tech's Coastal Division average drive is only 4 miles less than the ACC average at a whopping 470 driving miles. Georgie, in contrast, is 279 driving miles from Eastern Division foes making the average driving distance a ridiculous 3 hours less than Tech's average driving distance. That's pretty terrible, too.

Obviously, Miami, BC, and MD don't help Tech fans with driving times. But then again the ACC is spread so thin across the East Coast that removing those three teams only makes the ACC slightly worse than the SEC's actual average driving distance. When arguing conference supremacy, the SEC can definitely state proximity as a huge plus. Hell, I would've gone to almost every game if the average drive was only 4 or so hours. Then again, you can't really fly into most SEC cities anyways so you better be willing to drive.

Regional/Dream/Ridiculous Scenario
I've kind of been toying with the idea of a playoff that involves MASSIVE conference realignment across the board. Regionals divided up by proximity. The goal is to save energy, reduce transport time, and ultimately save money. I don't have the regions completely sectioned up but I think by 2050 or whenever gasoline has to be rationed, we'll be seeing something similar to this. Like the 1910's schedules where Tech would only go to one road game and teams would only play 5-6 games a year. I'll work up a post on this when I have more free time.

If Tech were to take its 11 closest I-A opponents to form a new ATL-centralized conference, the conference would include: Tech, Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, UAB, Troy, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, MTSU, Vandy, and FSU. Think about that. That's a lot of natural rivalries that could be reborn. Georgie, Auburn, and Clemson are obvious. Alabama brings back images of the epic Bryant-Dodd danceoffs. FSU is always close and ridiculous. Tech fans generally trust UT about as far as we can throw Phil Fulmer. The others are good fillers. The average drive time would reduce from the ACC's staggering 8 hours to a manageable 3 hours. Damn, that would be nice.

Interestingly enough, in the 50's an "Airplane Conference" was proposed by members of the current Pac 10, the Service Academies, and other dominant East Coast teams (like GT). The idea, at the time, was to create a super conference but the Pentagon didn't like the idea of flying college football teams back and forth across the country all season.

The Georgia Tech Universe Schedule

Now, I've been trying to explain to people why you can't use season stats to explain college football teams. I like using NFL stats generally moreso because of the parity and talent depth at the pro level. To me, college football is much more reliant on individual game performances and matchups less so than the NFL, which is moreso about warroom coaching and consistency.

In college football, you have many factors that lead to the rise and fall of college football teams. A major factor is "Who have you played?" or "Who have they played?" A look at the GT Universe Schedule shows the intracacies of the GT schedule. Momentum can be garnered or totally lost merely a game before someone plays us (read: one loss in CFB can ruin a season). The Universe Schedule also shows how comparable teams are to one another through the idea of "common opponents." That's a big time NCAA basketball buzzword but I like the idea for CFB as well since no one ever really likes to stray out of their region.

Any thoughts out there? I'm thinking the entire US should be broken down into 12-16 regionals to coincide with a major playoff configuration.

ACC vs. SEC in 2009 baseball season

The ever constant debate in the Southeast revolves around tradition, national titles, and conference superiority. This season the ACC and SEC have met 16 times and will meet once more (with three rainouts). Currently, the ACC holds a 9 to 7 edge over the SEC with Tech playing the last SEC game against uga at Turner Field.

The proximity of the two conferences lends itself to constant interconference danceoffs and league comparisons. Here are the results thus far in 2009:

1. Miami swept UF in a 3 game series.
2. FSU took 2 of 3 from Auburn.
3. UF took 2 of 3 from FSU.
4. Georgia swept Clemson in a 2 game series.
5. GT beat Georgia in Athens.
6. South Carolina/Clemson won 2 games a-piece.
7. GT-Tennessee game rained out tonight, which ends any chance of the SEC tying the season series.
8. Tech-Georgia finale at Turner Field.

There's not much to draw from this season's small sample of games other than bragging rights across the cubicle but it's still important in the grand scheme of things to consistently beat your rival and your rival conference.

And in case you bought tickets to the Tech game, you can exchange them for Chattanooga Lookout tickets! Woohoo! What a deal! Anyone keeping a tally on rainouts would note this is the sixth rainout of the season. I'm sure there's a stat book out there somewhere proving this be a GT single season record.

Anyone out there hate the SEC more than me? I doubt it. Bring on the dogs!

Chattanooga Lookouts host GT in TN

Baseball
GT is playing the first of two neutral site games on Wednesday night against the Tennessee Volunteers. Tech is playing in Chattanooga, TN at AT&T Field the current home of the Chattanooga Lookouts. The game is slated for 7:15pm and follows an earlier game with the Lookouts hosting the Jacksonville Suns.

The game's importance comes from the fact that it's on a neutral site in GT recruiting areas as well as SEC recruiting areas. Increased exposure to kids that don't normally get to see GT will definitely help out Danny Hall's TN footholds. And Southeast TN is not that far for anyone looking at a possible relocation to Midtown ATL (e.g. high school seniors).

UT is led offensively by Cody Hawn and Blake Forsythe. Both are the only two Vols with double-digit homers at 18 and 13 dingers, respectively. The team is batting 0.284 as a unit. Defensively, the Vols aren't too terribly impressive with a team ERA of 6.05 (compared to Tech's 4.62). If my real fast and rough math is correct, Tech has played UT 78 times and has won 45 of the games including the last meeting in February of 2006. Tech is 1-0 against the SEC this year and a win would definitely help out the ACC come tourney selection time.

Football
Also, here's a link to an article about Darryl Richard from the Boston Herald. Seems the Bostonians appreciate a little GT intellect.

Any thoughts on GT baseball this season? I'm hoping for a seed in the 8-16 range.

Peach Bowl interesting numbers

LSU has officially accepted its invitation to get its ass kicked. GT fans should be stoked 'cause it's our first big time opponent in a bowl since WVU in '06. It's our first ACC-SEC matchup in a bowl since the 2000 Peach Bowl against LSU. Tech is 12-6 all time against the Tigers.

Here's some more breakdown of the history of the Peach Bowl:
1) GT is 0-3 all time
2) LSU is 4-0 all time
3) ACC is 10-17 all time
4) SEC is 12-13 all time
5) The SEC is 10-9 versus the ACC
6) LSU played in the 1968 inaugural game while Tech's first appearance was 1971

ACC football demands respect

I was driving to Atlanta on Wednesday through Columbia. Columbia is diehard Cock country and is one of the few metros that is 100% SEC. A particular radio host (who I don't remember the name) spoke about why the SEC > ACC. He simply said the ACC cannot win the big game and I tend to agree with him. We won the season series 6-4 but a battle (or small string of skirmishes) does not make a war.

Let's look back at BIG ACC-SEC matchups over the years that would've really solidified us as a premier conference and equalled the playing field against the SECers. And let's keep it restricted to the BCS Era:

1999 - UT defeats FSU (National Title)
2000 - LSU defeats GT (PB)
2002 - UF defeats MD (OB)
2003 - ugag defeats FSU (SB)
2005 - AU defeats VT (OB)
2006 - ugag defeats GT
2006 - UK defeats CU (MCB)
2006 - ugag defeats VT (PB)
2007 - AU defeats CU (PB)
2008 - Bamma defeats CU

The national stage and we fall flat on our faces. Not to mention our 1-9 mark in the BCS games. Now, why was it that we got beat in our game of the year ever since FSU's 2000 season? Coaching.

We haven't had premier coaches (besides Bowden) since the 90's. Bowden finally began to rust after his '03 Sugar Bowl debacle. That left us with a conference full of has been or never was coaches.

Expansion added Beamer. The Amato, Bunting, Roof, and Gailey departures improved the conference's coaching talent astronomically. And look what we have to show for it in 2008: a 6-4 record against our primary rival of a conference. I expect continued success against the SEC as we've shown in the NFL draft that we've had comparable talent all these years. Now, we have comprable if not superior coaching. What do you all think about the conference debate?