Georgia Tech Basketball: Sad Explanation For Yellow Jackets Not Participating in 2015 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

If you read Ken Sugiura’s article on ajc.com about why the Yellow Jackets will not be participating in the Big Ten/ACC challenge this fall, you came away from it with understanding, yet feeling nauseated at the same time.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets /

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The reasoning for Tech’s absence made complete sense and no one can dispute it.

This is how it was explained in the ajc.com article:

“The reason is fairly simple. The challenge does not have set rules about which ACC team sits out of the event. The league works in conjunction with ESPN to create a mutually agreeable lineup. In other words, Duke will always be in the challenge. But in general, teams that make the NCAA and NIT tournaments the previous season are in. For the 2015 event, that left Clemson, Florida State, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Tech. Florida State may have been a team that was “mutually agreed” should stay in the field. The other four schools had sat out of the challenge more recently than Tech had. Hence, the league determined that the fair result would be for the Jackets to not participate.”

-Ken Sugiura

That explanation makes perfect sense. The ACC and ESPN basically want to have the best teams the league has to offer on television because it is about putting the ACC’s best foot forward for the national audience and ESPN being able to get the best ratings.

But if you read between the lines, the unspoken part of this equation is that the garbage teams in the ACC are on rotation therefore it is Georgia Tech’s turn to sit it out.

Wake Forest sat out in 2012, Virginia Tech and Clemson in 2013, and Boston College last season. Those are pretty much who have been the bottom feeders over the last few seasons.

This is the part where “the barf bag” gets grabbed. It is sickening to think that the Georgia Tech Basketball program has deteriorated to the point where it is in rotation with the bottom feeders for an event that could help recruiting for the school.

Being able to say to prospective recruits that their talents will be on display on nationally televised platforms has to be a selling point of recruiting.

Georgia Tech Basketball has played itself into a situation where national visibility is not in demand for ESPN or the ACC.

Call it what you want, but this is not a good look for Georgia Tech Basketball at all and is a total indictment on the state of the program.

When you think about it, saying that it was Georgia Tech’s turn to be left out was being polite.

What are the commentators going to say about the state of the Georgia Tech hoop program that would be positive?

No one wants to watch a game and hear commentators talk about how the Tech program allegedly could not afford to part ways with Coach Gregory. That he might be canned after this year regardless of how the team performs.

Do we really need to have it explained during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge that the team had to cut ties for good with Chris Bolden?

Right about now the best thing might be for the program to look like ” The Unknown Comic” for a season and wear a paper bag over it’s head.

Sometimes going through troubles incognito can be healing.

Here is the Big Ten/ACC Challenge slate via the ajc.com article by Ken Sugiura:

The 2015 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Monday, Nov. 30

Clemson at Minnesota

Wake Forest at Rutgers

Tuesday, Dec. 1

Maryland at North Carolina

Virginia at Ohio State

More from Yellow Jacked Up

Michigan at N.C. State

Purdue at Pittsburgh

Northwestern at Virginia Tech

Miami at Nebraska

Wednesday, Dec. 2

Indiana at Duke

Louisville at Michigan State

Notre Dame at Illinois

Wisconsin at Syracuse

Florida State at Iowa

Penn State at Boston College