Chapel Bill?
gtbadcarma: With the current state of the portal, does it really make sense to play the bowl games? (Team on the field is not the team it was during the season). Since the players are being paid, would you support a rule requiring a player to participate in a bowl game in order to be eligible to enter the portal and to receive their full nil money?
Ben: I think Bowl Games are still fun, and if nothing else, teams are getting the 15 extra practice sessions, which is beneficial. There’s not a ton of regulation with player payment/NIL, but I’d be shocked if there were not clauses for sitting out games.
Logan: If people don’t want to play then let them. I want to see the players trying to make themselves, or the guys who are going to be starting next year, or the guys who won’t get drafted but want to get one last chance to shine. I love bowl season, and just because people transfer or choose not to play doesn’t mean it won’t be fun to watch.
Frodo Swagginz: I just finished up my first semester of grad school which was my first college class since 2019. What are some effective techniques that you used for studying alone?
P.S. Please send all spare energy my way, thoughts and prayers will also be gladly accepted as I have an infant, a full-time job, grad school, and I’m obviously a GT fan. I will have a stress-induced heart attack by 30, I’m 28 and my birthday is in January.
Ben: You picked a helluva time to do all of this. My best advice would be to set aside specific time to work on assignments/study. That’s easier said than done, sure, but if you can manage the time well, you’ll get through it a lot easier.
Logan: best luck I had was getting a good soundtrack and isolating myself in a room with no tv. But it’s been years now, so I’m not the best person to ask for advice.
Jellopacket98: Why wasn’t UGA downgraded to a lower seed since their QB got hurt? That’s the precedent the committee set last year. They earned the automatic bid, but they should have been bumped from a top 4 team.
Ben: Because nothing bad ever happens to that team.
Logan: Ben beat me to it.
DressHerInWhiteAndGold: Which first round games that are must see for you? Buckeye vs. Rocky Top? The battle of/for Indiana? Too much ORANGE on one field? A White Out home game?
Power Rank them?
Ben: I generally don’t care for college football outside of Georgia Tech, so I probably won’t be watching many (if any) of the games, unless I’m at my in-laws’ house (My FIL LOVES watching college football). That being said, I hope SMU wins it all, and all the SEC teams lose as early as possible.
Logan: All of them, assuming I’m not doing something else. I think they’ll all be fun. As far as my power ranking I’ll go:
1) Clemson @ Texas because I feel like that will be the most likely upset.
2) Indiana @ Notre Dame because it’s the battle for Indiana and I’ve love The Hoosiers season. I don’t think they’ll win, but they could put up a good fight.
3) SMU @ Penn State because I think SMU could surprise some people but I also like the whiteout environment. These are also the two teams I’ve seen the least of this season so I’m hoping to see both teams in their best shape.
4) Tennessee @ Ohio State because it’ll be a fun game, and if it’s not I can’t wait to see how Ohio State fans will act one way or the other.
chilidogringsFO: It looks likely we will have a new nemesis guiding the light blue team we’ve owned the last few years. Thoughts?
Ben: Lol. I honestly didn’t think they’d do it. But not only did they do it, but they gave him $10 million a year to do it. I think it’s going to be a glorious train wreck to watch. Just remember, there’s a reason NFL teams didn’t want to hire him.
Logan: Based on what I’ve heard so far Bill is behaving more like a GM at UNC than a Coach. Bill seems to be bringing a pro management mentality to the college game. Things are still vague but it seems that Bill wants separate groups in the staff to act purely as “recruiters” and use loads money to draw in top talent while the coaches act purely as coaches. Honestly it’s pretty progressive for a guy in his 70s. It’s a big gamble, but it could be a huge success. I think he will struggle his first year and then be pretty good but not championship level good in his 2nd year, similar to Deion. I don’t think Bill will get UNC over the hump, but he might get them back to being a dark horse in the ACC.
Yeller Bug: How structured is NIL money? Can it be written with stipulations (i.e. golden handcuffs) that if you leave early, you forfeit much of it?
Ben: It’s not. There’s like no regulation on NIL money right now, and yeah, that’s kind of a problem.
aknartrebna: I just got word today that YoutubeTV is raising their rates and I will be canceling come January. With that, are there any good alternatives for streaming TV with respect to being able to watch GT Football and Basketball?
And, as an addendum/suggestion in lieu of this, I only really watch Tech sports and I would be fine with getting a subscription to watch the games online sans other streaming service (kind of like NFL Ticket) — has there been whispers of such a thing happening?
Ben: Yeah, the price hike for YTTV is absolutely ridiculous. My personal advice would be to find a friend/family member that pays for cable and use their sign-in information to sign in to the WatchESPN app. Well, you definitely shouldn’t do anything that’s probably illegal. If all you’re really watching is sports, ESPN+ is probably the way to go.
Logan: I’m waiting to see what this deal is for the upcoming streaming service that specifically covers a single given sport. I don’t know all the details but I’m excited for that one. In the short term espn+ is the best option for the remaining bowl games.