Contenders?
Couldn't help but notice who Sports Illustrated college-football writer Stewart Mandel included in his list of national-championship contenders this week.
Sure, Notre Dame - sure, Ohio State.
USC - gotcha.
Florida State, Michigan, Miami, Nebraska - right, right, right, right.
But ... Georgia Tech?
Seriously?
OK, so they have the best wide receiver not getting paid, Calvin Johnson.
Other than that, though, they have ...
A quarterback in Reggie Ball who looks great on paper - he's a four-year starter, he's mobile, has a strong arm.
But Ball doesn't seem to have progressed the way everybody assumed he would when he took over as the starter coming out of camp in 2003.
Neither has the rest of coach Chan Gailey's program, quite honestly.
It's great being known for having the most imaginative defensive schemes in the game under defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta - but the primary goal on that side of the ball should be to stop the other team from scoring, and the Yellow Jackets were in the middle of the pack in the ACC last year in that stat.
Throw in a brutal schedule that includes an opener with Notre Dame and tough road tests at Virginia Tech, Clemson and in-state rival Georgia, and ... there's absolutely no way in Hades that Georgia Tech is going to do anything other than be one of the top contenders for being sent out to Boise in late December.
- Chris Graham