The 2025 College Football Season is still six months away, but with spring practice is right around the corner for most programs around the country and that will give the first answers about how some teams may look this season. For Georgia Tech, they know how a large portion of their team is going to look in 2025. Haynes King is back, Jamal Haynes is returning to lead the backfield, the offensive line should always be a strength under Brent Key and Geep Wade, and Buster Faulkner is returning to call plays for the third straight season. Georgia Tech made a new defensive coordinator hire, but there is enough returning experience to hope that there will not be a massive dropof with Tyler Santucci off to the NFL. Is it too early to make predictions for which teams will make the conference championship games in 2025? Probably, but one of the top voices in the sport released his way-too-early ACC Championship prediction and has Georgia Tech playing Clemson. Josh Pate, host of “Josh Pate’s College Football show” has the Yellow Jackets playing the Tigers in Charlotte with a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line:
“Give me Clemson over Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game. I have Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game. Why? Because it is risk free and nobody is going to hold me to this. This is an all-in year for Clemson, I have made it known how I feel about the short-term and the long-term about the future of Clemson football, but I have no problems buying into the intermediatefuture and I have Clemson winning the ACC this year and I think Georgia Tech has a good chance to meet them in Charlotte. I think Miami has a decent shot to do that, Louisville is going to be in the mix, no clue what to expect from Florida State, but Georgia Tech is no joke. Had they beaten Georgia in that multiple overtime game, I think a lot more people would be serious about them, in reality it would have made no difference. I like Georgia Tech a significant amount this upcoming year. I think they could make some serious headway and by that I think they could go to the conference title game.”
It is safe to say that this would be a huge step forward for Brent Key and this program if it did happen. The Yellow Jackets have posted back-to-back 7-6 seasons against challenging schedules, but they are looking to take a step forward this season. If they make it to the ACC Championship game, it would likely mean that a college football playoff bid would be on the line as well against the Tigers.
Clemson (+270) has won eight of the last ten ACC Championships and is the early front-runner to do so again in 2025 at Fanduel Sportsbook. Dabo Swinney is bringing back a lot of key players from this past year’s CFB Playoff team and will be tough to beat. Miami (+310) has arguably the most talented roster in the conference after three straight recruiting classes that topped the ACC, but they still have to replace some of their best players from this past year’s team. SMU (+440) was the surprise of the ACC in 2024 and looks to keep that momentum going, while Louisville (+500) looks to make their second ACC Championship in three years under Jeff Brohm
Guess who is 5th in the odds though at +1300? That would be Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have made steady improvement under head coach Brent Key and 2025 could be the year for a big breakthrough in the conference.
Coming into the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Georgia Tech has not had to face high pre-season expectations. The win totals in Vegas had them falling short of a bowl game in each of Brent Key’s first two seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, but the Yellow Jackets exceeded expectations both times and ended up in a bowl game. Georgia Tech has played the underdog role pretty well, but with talented players returning, one of the program’s best recruiting classes getting on campus, and a pretty solid transfer portal class, the Yellow Jackets could enter the 2025 season ranked in the top 25.
There is still plenty of time between now and August, but there is certainly a case for Georgia Tech to be ranked in the preseason top 25. Quarterback Haynes King is returning, and running back Jamal Haynes is also back, joined by Penn transfer Malachi Hosley, a talented receiving corps, an offensive line that returns All-ACC guard Keylan Rutledge, and talent from a defense that was much better in 2024 than 2023. Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is slated to be back and Key just hired Texas assistant Blake Gideon to take over for Tyler Santucci as the new defensive coordinator.
The pieces are in place for a potential special season in 2025 and while Georgia Tech always plays a tough schedule, next year’s schedule is not as tough as years past. Yes, they play Georgia and Clemson, but no other team on their schedule is likely to start the year ranked. That is not to say that it will be a cakewalk, but Notre Dame is not on the schedule, nor is Miami or SMU. The trip to Colorado to start the year could be tough, but the Buffaloes are losing likely top-10 picks Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. As far as schedules go, next year’s looks to be breaking in favor of Georgia Tech being able to contend in the ACC.
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This content is reposted from the source: https://www.si.com/college/georgiatech/football/georgia-tech-football-josh-pate-predicts-yellow-jackets-to-make-acc-championship-game-in-2025-01jmx1ajsf29
