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Getting to know U(niversities) Big 12 Expansion candidates: Georgia Tech

By HawkeyedFrog
Do Georgia Tech's future <em>Options</em> (yes, I went there) include the Big 12? (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images)
Do Georgia Tech's future Options (yes, I went there) include the Big 12? (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images)
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With the wheels of realignment kicking into gear once again the only conference that has been consistently linked with expansion is ours, the Big 12. What does this mean? Firstly it means that the Big 12 is seen as a solid enough to be desirable to other schools, despite being the victim of the last two realignment raids, which is all good news from the TCU standpoint. Secondly, it means that there are a lot of schools out there who may covet entry into the Big 12 conference- which is all well and good, but what do we really know about these ACC schools and how attached they are to their conference, or which ones would be the best fit for the Big 12? Fortunately Frogs O' War is here to enlighten as we share some basic information and interesting facts about the universities rumored to be interested in Big 12 membership. Make the jump if you will and learn what there is to know about the third school to be investigated: The Georgia Institute of Technology.

Tale of the Tape: Georgia Institute of Technology Yellow Jackets/Ramblin' Wreck/Engineers (They have a lot of nicknames)

Stadium: Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field

Championships: Four national championships (1917, 1928, 1952, 1990), 16 Conference Championships- 1 vacated (Five Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships, three Southern Conference Championships, Five SEC Championships, three/two ACC Championships)

Conference History: Founding member of the SIAA conference in 1894-1921, founding member of the Southern Conference 1921-1932, founding member of the Southeastern Conference 1932-1964, independent from 1964-1978, joined the Atlantic Coast Conference 1978-present.

Traditions: Drive a 1930 Model A Ford onto the field for home/bowl games, Stealing Ts from everywhere they visit- have to make sure they don't make us _CU, pretty much everything in their history from its founding to the choosing of its school colors to how alums greet each other is designed as an up yours to the Georgia Bulldogs.

Rivals: Georgia Bulldogs, Auburn Tigers, Clemson Tigers. Mostly Georgia though.

You may remember them from such TCU games as: Losses in 1967 and 1968, Georgia Tech has never played us in Fort Worth.

Are they interested in making the jump?: Maybe, maybe not. They weren't one of the schools our own Chris Del Conte mentioned as expressing interest in joining, if that means anything.

Insisting on bringing any rivals with them?: Clemson ideally, but as their eternal rivals are the Georgia Bulldogs who they play out of conference anyway, it's not likely to be a sticking point.

Is the Big 12 their dream conference?: No, but it's hard to say which conference really is. They were founding SEC members and despite their decades of removal they still have more SEC titles than Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and until this past decade, Auburn. Given the history, a lot of Tech alums have interest in returning to their historical stomping grounds, even though the reason they left (Alabama taking on a lot more players than anyone else) is still true today (just in a different way). That said a lot of Tech fans are comfortable in the ACC with its fine academic reputation, while others would be happier in the Big 10 where they have even finer academic reputations. Not appearing on that list is the Big 12, but if the ACC loses Florida State and it looks like the ACC could lose its national prominence as a football conference (well... more than it already has) then Georgia Tech is too proud a program to be willingly left behind.

Any factors we should count against them?: They will steal Ts from our stadium. That's a real thing.

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