What the Latest Batch of Early College Football Rankings Gets Wrong About Georgia Tech's Position In The ACC Race

Georgia Tech Football heads into the summer as one of several teams hoping to make a run at the ACC Championship game in the 2026 season.

There is a perception that is setting in that in the ACC, there is a large gap between Miami and the rest of the conference. When you look at the oddsmakers, the Hurricanes are a heavy favorite, but that is not the most noticeable thing to me.

The thing that stands out the most is that the teams behind Miami are bunched up with not much separation. There are plenty of teams that could make a run to Charlotte and play for the ACC Championship, but good luck picking from among the group that consists of the Yellow Jackets, SMU, Louisville, Clemson, Virginia, and others.

This brings us to the latest drop of the CBS Sports 138 rankings, which ranks every team in the FBS. Miami comes in at No. 7 in the rankings, but there is only one other ACC team in the top 20, and the next closest team in the conference to the Hurricanes is SMU at No. 20. Here is how each ACC team ranked:

1. Miami (7th overall)

2. SMU (20th)

3. Louisville (24th)

4. Clemson (26th)

5. Virginia Tech (36th)

6. Virginia (37th)

7. Pittsburgh (41st)

8. Georgia Tech (42nd)

9. Duke (43rd)

10. NC State (44th)

11. Wake Forest (45th)

12. Florida State (47th)

13. California (52nd)

14. Syracuse (68th)

15. North Carolina (78th)

16. Stanford (89th)

17. Boston College (98th)

SMU, Louisville, and Clemson are projected as the best challengers to the Hurricanes. Than their is a cut off before you get to a slew of ACC teams that consists of Virginia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, and Florida State.

I think that Georgia Tech is much closer to the challenger tier than most of these teams.

The Yellow Jackets have exceeded their projected preseason win totals and rankings in each of Brent Key's three seasons at Georgia Tech. He has gone 7-6 twice and 9-4 last season, the best season Georgia Tech has had since 2016. While he has not broken through with an ACC Championship appearance, Key has gotten Georgia Tech to a place of consistency that most of the other teams in the ACC have not. He also holds a 2-1 record against Miami, with the one loss being when he was the interim head coach.

The ACC race is expected to be a messy cluster of teams that are fighting to challenge Miami (who has only made the ACC championship game once in their 20+ years as an ACC member) and I don't think that Georgia Tech is getting enough respect for their program identity and consistenc that they have shown under Key.

Georgia Tech loves playing the underdog role under Key and this season is going to give them plenty of opportunity.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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