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Friday, February 13, 2009
More on the 2009 football schedule
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good morning…
Ken Sugiura looked into the confusion that arose Thursday morning as various websites’ versions of the schedule seemed to present conflicts. He compiled this note:
Some websites had Mississippi State playing Georgia Tech in Starkville Sept. 19, even though the ACC and Tech released schedules that had the Jackets playing Miami two days prior.
I talked to the ACC’s associate commissioner for football, Michael Kelly, about it. This is how I understand what happened.
Tech and Mississippi State had originally contracted to play Sept. 19. However, as the schedule began to be put together, ESPN requested that Miami and Tech play in a Thursday night game Sept. 17. To do that, obviously, Tech, Mississippi State and their respective leagues had to be willing to move the date of the MSU-Tech game.
To make that happen, the Tech-Mississippi State game was moved to Oct. 3, which evidently was the date that the SEC had scheduled MSU to play Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt-MSU was then switched into the Sept. 19 slot. But Vanderbilt was supposed to play Ole Miss on that date, so Ole Miss-Vandy was moved to Oct. 3. Here is a mention of it on Vandy’s website.
I hope that makes sense. Basically, ESPN wanted Tech-Miami in Week 3, and the SEC and ACC (the SEC, mostly) moved games around to make it happen.
Kelly explained on the ACC’s website how he and the league put together the schedule.
Overall, Tech’s schedule looks tougher than last year’s. Instead of Gardner-Webb and Boston College, Tech is playing Wake Forest and Vanderbilt. Instead of two off weeks, there is one.
Last year’s schedule broke right for Tech. When Josh Nesbitt pulled a hamstring against Mississippi State, the Jackets had an off week, then Duke and Gardner-Webb. Nesbitt returned in time for the win at Clemson.
Later, after Tech looked worn down in a loss at North Carolina, the Jackets had 12 days to prepare for Miami. They came out fresh and energized and won big on national TV. Then they had nine days to prepare for Georgia. The Bulldogs had a full two weeks, but we all know what happened.
This year, Tech’s only off week comes before Georgia, while the Bulldogs play Kentucky the week prior.
So, what was your first reaction when you saw the 2009 schedule?
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