CBS Sports CFB Experts Predict the Order of Finish In the ACC; Where Did Georgia Tech Land?

Georgia Tech is going to be in the first game of the upcoming college football season and the Yellow Jackets are going to face a big challenge against Florida State, the defending ACC Champion, and the preseason pick in the ACC Media poll to do so again. The Yellow Jackets are returning nine starters from one of the top offenses in the ACC and they are hoping that a new coaching staff and influx of transfers will help fix their defense. Georgia Tech was picked to finish 9th in the ACC Preseason Media Poll.

Today, CBS Sports had their college football analysts pick the most overrated team, most underrated team, and order of finish and there were some interesting results when it came to Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets did pick up a vote for most overrated team from CFB analyst Tom Fornelli and here is what he had to say about his pick:

“The Yellow Jackets went 7-6 last season but finished with wins in four of their last six, including a close loss to Georgia and a bowl win over UCF, and I think that late momentum has caused people to be a bit too optimistic about their chances. Yes, the Georgia game was tight, but the Bulldogs may have been more focused on the SEC Championship Game. Also, QB Haynes King turns the ball over far too often for me to have too much faith in them. Over Tech’s six losses, four were by double-digits. Oh, and if not for a Mario Cristobal clock management masterpiece, this team finishes 5-7 and the sentiments are much different heading into 2024.”

CFB analyst Will Backus had Georgia Tech as the most underrated team in the ACC:

“Four of Brent Key’s 11 career wins, including in his time as interim coach, have come against teams ranked inside the AP Top 25. The Yellow Jackets gave top-ranked Georgia a run for its money late in the season last year and went on to win their first bowl game since 2016. They had one of the ACC’s most efficient scoring offenses in 2023 and return an overwhelming amount of production on that side of the ball. The defense was a letdown in a majority of the losses, so Key went out and hired defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci, who engineered the ACC’s top scoring defense at Duke last season. Not saying that the Jackets are going to win the conference, but don’t be surprised if they beat some teams that they shouldn’t.”

When it came to predicted order of finish, Backus was the highest on Georgia Tech, picking the Yellow Jackets to finish 6th in the ACC behind Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Miami, and Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech got a vote to finish 7th, 10th, two votes for 11, one for 12, and the low pick was 15th, ahead of only Duke and Virginia.

Miami got four votes to win the ACC, Clemson got two, and FSU got one.

Georgia Tech vs Florida State will be Saturday at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN.