The 5-4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets remain a win away from bowl eligibility after losing to the Virginia Tech Hokies Thursday night. With a 3-3 conference record and a tiebreaker loss to the Clemson Tigers, Tech sits at eighth in the conference. This puts them in line for the Military Bowl on Dec. 29 in Washington, DC, if another ACC bowl hasn't picked them already.
The bowl's other tie-in conference is -- wait for it -- Conference USA. Taking on a Conference USA team in something called the Military Bowl in our nation's capital? Why does Paul Johnson hate America? We know the real reason why you left Navy, coach.
It's not clear exactly which Conference USA spot the bowl gets to pick, so let's say they get third or fourth choice. At the moment, this would be the 5-4 East Carolina Pirates or 5-4 Houston Cougars. While Tech has a large international student population, it's certainly more 'Merican than a pirate school, though it's hard to outMerica the home of NASA.
If Tech moves up a single spot in conference, which is entirely within reach with the suddenly explosive Duke Blue Devils still on the schedule, they could reach the Independence Bowl on Dec. 27 in Shreveport. Which would be hilarious, after Tech fans spent months making fun of Georgia for going to Shreveport last year. Potential opponents would include the San Diego St. Aztecs, BYU Cougars, or Air Force Falcons. The last would be a case of option-on-option violence, as Air Force runs an offense very similar to Tech's. Despite their name.
Tech could move higher than that, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.