Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech's identity has always been the argument that a school full of engineers can out-prepare programs with more talent. John Heisman coached here. Bobby Dodd built a dynasty here. The 1990 national championship under Bobby Ross — 11-0-1, a share of the title, the crown jewel of the modern program — is the proof that the engineering school can win the biggest game. Then three decades of mid-tier ACC drift made it feel like a relic, and the argument got harder to make with a straight face.

Key restored it. The alum-turned-head-coach has Georgia Tech finishing fourth or better in the ACC in each of the last three seasons, and the 2025 team went 9-3 in the regular season before falling to BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. QB Haynes King was ACC Player of the Year and finished 10th in the Heisman vote. The eight-overtime classic against Georgia in 2024 — the one Tech finally won — is already canon. The program is no longer making excuses for being two miles from the recruiter who gets first call on every blue-chip prospect in the state; it's making cases for itself.

The 2026 season was supposed to measure whether the Key era has a ceiling, and the opener didn't wait for the rest of the schedule to answer that. A 6.5-point favorite at home, Georgia Tech lost to Colorado 14-13 — the one-score, should-have-won game that either reads as a shrug by November or as the first data point in the familiar story about a program that talks itself into contention before the results catch up. 'To Hell With Georgia' runs every year regardless; 2026 now needs an answer, not just a scoreboard.