Why would we preview Thursday night’sMiami/GT matchup in Atlanta? Well believe it or not, the Hokies are not eliminated from going to the ACC Championship game but the first crucial step is to have Georgia Tech upset Miami.

Basically the ACC has a bunch of tie-breaker rules and if GT can spoil the Canes on Thursday and then the Hokies win out against the Dookies and UVA they will (surprisingly) hold tiebreakers against all the remaining teams in the conference. If Miami beats Georgia Tech on Thursday, the Hokies will be eliminated. Because of key wins earlier in the season, Virginia Tech would win a head-to-head tie over Georgia Tech and UNC. They would also win three-way ties over Georgia Tech and UNC, and Georgia Tech and Miami and in the event of a four-way tie, VT wins over Georgia Tech, Miami and UNC. We should point out that none of this would have been possible if Maryland had lost on Saturday - so, thanks you Jersey toolboxes, you did something right.

So can Georgia Tech help us out and reopen the door to Tampa? Well Miami wasn’t particularly fantastic against Virginia Tech and they did have home field advantage in the win. The Hokies also contributed to their own demise with poor O-line protection and (once again) questionable offensive play calling from upstairs. Georgia Tech on the other hand uses the word “engineer” in their fight song:

I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer,
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer,
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear,
I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer.
Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I’d dress her in White and Gold,
And put her on the campus, to cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I’ll tell you what he’d do.
He would yell, “To Hell with Georgia,” like his daddy used to do.
Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three thousand pounds,
A college bell to put it in and a clapper to stir it around.
I’d drink to all good fellows who come from far and near.
I’m a ramblin’, gamblin’, hell of an engineer.

In all, Georgia Tech has never pissed me off as a school or athletic program and their fans were actually really nice to us when we went down to see the huge comeback in 2004, Georgia Tech also played a decent prank stealing our jerseys last year, and their “dumdumdumdumdum Goooo Jaaaccckkk-etttsss” has been stuck in my head for over 4 years. I’d say with all that going for them they have a good shot at this upset.

Score Prediction: Miami 14, Georgia Tech 25