re: I don't see any way we don't take Georgia Tech if we expand

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(Still talking to UGA fans)

I know you hate Tech, but them going to the Big 10 could be very beneficial to the conference. They are already spread coast to coast, so being present in the South would be beneficial to them imo.

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Again... they have no fans.

GT going to the Big 10 is not all that different from Emory or Kennesaw State going to the Big 10. The schools don't have a large local fanbase, don't have an invested alumni fanbase and students are largely not that interested in sports.

You're looking at this by looking at a map. GT isn't Auburn or NCSU where they aren't the state school but still have a large fanbase to sell to another conference.

They have less than 35,000 a game in attendance at football games. GT relies on visiting fans for much of that. I remember one season where UGA was playing at Tech and they were selling 3 game packages of home tickets that UGA fans bought up to get the UGA game. It was funny because there was another game where UGA had a bye... so about 15,000 UGA fans showed up and cheered for Maryland or NCSU or whoever it was since they had already bought the tickets.

GT's attendance will get much worse without regionalism fueling visiting fans easily being able to attend. They aren't a catch.

I was in college when GT pulled out of the conference. They thought by being indepenent they were going to be the Notre Dame of the South. Most of us said good riddance at the time, and have no interest in seeing them back.

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Again... they have no fans.

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So neither does Vanderbilt, but they are a pretty integral part of the conference and having them in Nashville is pretty great right now. And if they hired the right coach and became competitive, the fans would come out of the woodworks to follow them just like what happened to Miami. And there is as much talent in ATL as there is in Miami.

It would be similar to Duke in the SEC if North Carolina went to the Big 10.

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Only 60% of GT's students are in-state. UGA is 87% in-state.

Conference expansion is all based on dollars, and you just don't see "sidewalk" fans for GT.

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With a name like that you should understand it is the tv money that swings the big stick. Just like TCU got competitive, so can Ga Tech with the right coach, and people want to watch the hot thing, fan or no fan.

Georgia Tech is an easy add for any conference, and the travel to and fro would be a piece of cake with the busiest airport in the world in their back yard. Being in the Big 10 would raise their brand and in turn being in ATL would raise the Big 10's brand.

The powers that be in the Big 10 would make a spectacle of it when Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State travel down to ATL to play a conference game. Or even USC and Oregon playing there.

The Big 10 is the old man conference and having conference teams on the West coast and in the South would refute that sterotype.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see GT drop football all together and go to Big East as a bball school with some other sports when the ACC falls. As a Georgia native, I don’t hate GT, and am quite proud of its academic standing. At this point, athletics is just a drain on their finances. As a top STEM school, research dollars is what drives the bus. They could put that land the stadium currently sits on to good use for other things.

It will be Kennesaw State or possibly Georgia State in the next decade that are likely to climb ladder because both have massive enrollments in recruiting rich environments.

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So neither does Vanderbilt, but they are a pretty integral part of the conference and having them in Nashville is pretty great right now.

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If Vandy wasn't in the SEC, they'd never get an invite. Neither would they get invited by the Big 10 to get access to Tennessee. Memphis is a better draw.

The thing about markets is there are two parts of it.

1 - How big the market is.
2 - How much of it a team brings.

If you get distracted by #1, you can miss #2. New York is a huge market. But Rutgers despite being near New York doesn't bring any of it.

GT is the same way in Atlanta. Yes, Atlanta is a huge market. But GT is behind UGA, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Clemson, UNC, Tennessee, South Carolina and FSU when it comes to the Atlanta TV market. Probably some other teams too. Wouldn't be surprised if Ohio State and Michigan have more of the Atlanta market than GT does.

They are useless in terms of delivering anything in terms of sports.

Vandy is the same way... they just happen to already be in the SEC so they luck out.

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Georgia Tech is an easy add for any conference, and the travel to and fro would be a piece of cake with the busiest airport in the world in their back yard. Being in the Big 10 would raise their brand and in turn being in ATL would raise the Big 10's brand.

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I don't see any evidence of what you suggest.

The Big 10 could get more from playing two random Big 10 teams in a game in Atlanta every other week than adding GT.

If GT had a fanbase, it would be different. They simply don't though. The fans all come from the visiting team.

GT played Virginia tech last season in front of 29,000 tickets sold (much less actually IN the stadium). UVA isn't close enough for fans to drive like from Clemson or the tobacco road schools.

You're making the same argument that people made when Rutgers was added to the Big 10 or BC was added to the ACC. Oh, the fans will go to see New York or Boston.

But it just doesn't happen. And people don't watch on TV either because it's Rutgers. Heck, OSU broke their streak of 100,000+ attendance games last season when Rutgers came to their stadium.

Location of the school doesn't matter if they don't deliver anything from the market. GT doesn't deliver Atlanta. There are probably 10 schools who can sell tickets better in Atlanta.

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Vandy is the same way... they just happen to already be in the SEC so they luck out

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At least Vandy is relevant in other sports, financial solvent and investing
in FB. None of that is happening at GT and their athletic department is in a very bad place financially.

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It’s not about what they being. It’s about who they keep out.

The last thing we need is B1G in ATL.

Invite the nerds from North Ave and shut out trouble.

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What about Georgia State? Kennesaw? Mercer?

All of those are the same as GT... a school located in Atlanta that doesn't have a fanbase. But we're not worried because adding them won't bring Atlanta any more than adding Rutgers brought New York to the Big 10.

If the Big 10 wanted to target Atlanta, they would do better to add Clemson and FSU and have them play a neutral site game in Atlanta every year. That would bring 10 times the interest that 4-5 conference games in Bobby Dodd would bring.

I'm absolutely fine with GT joining the Big 10. I'm more upset when Alabama plays in Atlanta to start the season when it comes to a recruiting loss for UGA than GT somehow coming back to prominence to impact UGA's recruiting or northern teams recruiting Atlanta better.

When GT sells their 3 game ticket packages at Costco and UGA buys them up because the game is in Atlanta that year... then shows up and cheers Wisconsin or Indiana on to a win over GT, we'll get more in portal transfers from Big 10 schools where their players see what UGA fans are like than we'll lose to anything in the Atlanta market.

GT brings almost no tv viewership. UGA vs GT and Clemson vs FT last year were their only games above a 1.0 in terms of neilsen ratings. Their other games? .37 vs UNC. .54 vs UVA. .07 vs UCF. .8 vs Ole Miss. All of those numbers are essentially ZERO from the GT side... it's all the fans of the other team that drive viewership.

The big 10 can get the same thing they get with GT if they invite Mercer into the Big 10. A stadium in Atlanta. That's all they bring. There's nothing the SEC needs to block.