Georgia Tech Ranked No. 9 In CBS Sports Post-Spring Power Rankings

With spring football wrapped up around the country and the spring transfer portal window now closed, the rosters are more or less set for the upcoming season. Georgia Tech added some defensive talent in this window, with Penn State defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg, Illinois cornerback Zachary Tobe, Cincinnati safety Jayden Davis, and USC defensive end Romello Height all joining the program. The defense is arguably the biggest question mark on the team heading into the season and how it performs might dictate this team’s ceiling.

Now that spring football is over and the portal is closed, how does Georgia Tech stack up against the rest of the ACC? According to CBS Sports Chip Patterson, the Yellow Jackets are in the middle of the pack in the ACC, as they checked in at No. 9 in his post-spring ACC power rankings. Georgia Tech comes in behind Florida State, Clemson, Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, SMU, and Cal. The Yellow Jackets come in ahead of Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Pitt, Virginia, and Stanford.

Here is what he had to say about Georgia Tech:

“I really like Georgia Tech’s offense heading into 2024. Haynes King is back in his second season as the Yellow Jackets’ starter, and he’s joined by 1,000-yard rusher Jamal Haynes and three of the top four receivers from last year. King needs to get better about avoiding the costly errors after leading the ACC in both touchdowns (27) and interceptions (16), but it’s a group that could be very prolific. But we’re not power-ranking offenses here, and the Yellow Jackets were last in the ACC last season in both yards per game allowed and yards per play allowed. If Georgia Tech wants to improve on last year’s seven-win season, there are obvious spots to start with limiting mistakes and getting stops.”

I think being No. 9 going into the season is fair, though you could make the argument for Georgia Tech being above Cal and SMU. The offense has a chance to be one of the conferences best again this year if they can cut down on the turnovers, this could be an even better group than last year. The defense is the biggest question mark. Georgia Tech had one of the worst defenses in the country last year, but they have made changes to their defensive staff and added some talent through the portal to try and change that. The schedule is brutal yet again, but Brent Key has shown the ability to get wins that you would not expect him too.