When talking about sleeper teams in the ACC, Virginia Tech, NC State, SMU and Louisville are the ones that get talked about. Georgia Tech doesn't often come up in that discussion, but that's mostly because the Yellow Jackets' schedule includes games against Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Miami, NC State and Georgia. The team once again features most of the best offenses in the conference, but has just 5.5 wins to start the season.
I've written before that Georgia Tech is one of the most underrated teams in the nation and a sleeper in the ACC heading into the 2024 college football season. On the latest episode of Late Kick With Josh Pate, he discussed whether Georgia Tech should be a sleeper team while also calling the school a rapidly growing program.
“What if Georgia Tech was actually a sleeper team in the ACC? Their over/under wins is 5.5. You might be wondering why I'm talking about them as a sleeper when they're not even bowl eligible. Remember, in college football, not only are records not what they show, but wins are not what they always show in the preseason, because some of us play really tough schedules. Georgia Tech is in the Irish this year playing Florida State, playing Notre Dame, playing Louisville, Virginia Tech, Miami, NC State, and then going to Georgia. What would your over/under wins be if they had that schedule? I mean, their over/under wins is low, and it's adjusted for the under, so it'd probably go down to 4.5. I wouldn't care, because I think they're a program that's growing fast. Brent Key and the team had their first winning season in five years last year, but the games against Georgia, Louisville and Ole Miss were close. They were in the fourth quarter and then Ole Miss pulled away.”
This isn't the first time this offseason that Georgia Tech has received praise from Pate, one of the leading experts in college football.
During an episode of Late Kick, Pate called the Yellow Jackets one of the most underrated teams in the country coming into the year.
“I would say Georgia Tech is a little bit underrated as well. The difference with Georgia Tech is their schedule is a lot tougher. I'm not going to lie. They play Georgia every year. They were 7-5 last year with 5.5 wins, but I think that's mostly because of the tough games. They still have Haynes King at quarterback. Their offense is in the top 10 this year with the guys that are returning. They have a great wide receiver corps. Their defense was bad last year, I think they were 123rd in yards allowed last year, but they revamped their defensive staff, they revamped their defensive roster. They're the opposite of Nebraska, and if they play a C+ or B- defense, they should be able to win 5.5 or more games.”
Georgia Tech is by no means a perfect team, but the progress they've made under Coach Key and the amount of talent they have returning this season hasn't been talked about enough. It may not be long before the Yellow Jackets make their presence felt this season, with the entire nation watching in Week 0 against Florida State, nationally televised on ESPN. This could be their chance to show why they're one of the most underrated teams in the country heading into 2024.
