Let’s look at some of our upcoming opponents.
It’s been a while since we’ve talked football. That time of year is coming back around so we need to ease our way into things. Many of our readers may be familiar with Georgia Tech’s status coming off of last year but not fully aware of where our upcoming opponents stand. While we have detailed analyses of our opponents coming up later in the year, I set this up to give a brief overview of our upcoming opponents and where they stand following their 2024 seasons. Let’s go down the list in order.
Colorado Buffaloes:
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 9-4
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Travis Hunter won the Heisman Award
2025 O/U for wins: 6.5
Colorado is certainly a controversial team. Coach Prime brings a lot of media attention for better or for worse. After how he handled his son’s draft last month it’s mostly been for the worst. Still the Buffalo had a great season last year with a Heisman winner and a run at the BIG 12 championship that fell just shy of the championship game. Colorado has lost quite a bit of talent through the transfer portal and to the draft but they have also pulled a lot of talent in to replace what they have lost. You can make fun if you like but Coach Prime is a good coach and a road game up in the Rocky Mountains is always going to be a challenge.
Gardner-Webb Bulldogs:
2024 Record: 4-8
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Whipped Presbyterian Blue Hose 42-21
2025 O/U for wins: 5.5
Gardner-Webb returns 11 of their starters. Despite the record of 4-8, 5 of their 8 losses were by 1 score so they were at least competing at the FCS level. Gardner-Webb could have an improved season this year. I don’t really have much else to say, it’s hard to research FCS teams.
Clemson Tigers:
Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
2024 Record: 10-4
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Won the ACC Championship
2025 O/U for wins: 9.5
Clemson is considered to be the most talented team in the NCAA by talking heads across the nation. Unlike FSU last year, most of Clemson’s talent is home grown which means they have experience in the system and playing with their teammates. The Tigers brought back the concept of “Clemsoning” last year in their strange loss to Louisville, but Miami did them one better and Clemson was still able to make it to the ACC Championship. Clemson is the clear front runner to win the ACC, so if Georgia Tech wants to make a run at the ACC title it is imperative that we win this game. Clemson is going to be a stressful game to watch.
Temple Owls:
2024 Record: 3-9
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Their football program still exists
2025 O/U for wins: 1.5
Temple football is in a bad way. For those not up to date on college football news, rumors were abound last season that Temple was considering ending their football program due to high costs. In the end Temple president John Pry did announce that the football program is not in jeopardy and that they plan to keep the program until at least 2029. Unfortunately, question around the status of the program has incentivized most of their talented players to leave for greener pastures. I do feel bad for Temple but fact of the matter is that, of the teams Georgia Tech plays, they are currently in the worst position to put up a fight.
Wake Forest Deamon Deacons:
Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 4-8
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Ruined expectations for NC State fans
2025 O/U for wins: 4.5
Wake Forest struggled through last season with injuries springing up like daisies. At the end of the season Coach Dave Clawson decided to retire, although he did his best to leave the program in good hands by transitioning things over Jake Dickert throughout the season. Wake Forest is starting back from zero this year and it’s understandable why Vegas doesn’t have high expectations for their win total. Wake Forest can always surprise teams, especially if that team is NC State, but it’s hard to see Wake Forest being competitive next year.
Virginia Tech Hokies:
Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 6-7
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Had a winning streak against Stanford, Boston College, and Georgia Tech
2025 O/U for wins: 8.5
Virginia Tech lost a fair bit of talent to the draft, but they do return star QB Kyron Drones. Virginia Tech was a tough loss last year for Georgia Tech. It felt as though we may have had a chance if not for all of our injuries. Virginia Tech has a good defense and with Drones at QB they could be a dark horse contender for ACC champion. Virginia Tech will be a challenging team this year and they should be taken seriously even though we get them at home.
Duke Blue Devils:
Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
2024 Record: 9-4
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Beat UNC and NC State to own the title of best team in the RDU Triangle area
2025 O/U for wins: 6.5
People think of Duke as a basketball school, but they always punch above their weight class in football. Duke didn’t have any standout wins last year, but they beat pretty much everyone they played outside the top 25 (and us). This offseason hasn’t cost Duke much in the portal but they also haven’t gained much talent. Duke will likely do better than Vegas predicts but exactly how good they will be is hard to say this early. One thing is for sure, Duke should never be underestimated.
Syracuse Orange:
Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 10-3
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Won 10 games and was one of 2 ACC teams that won their bowl game
2025 O/U for wins: 5.5
Fran Brown had a heck of a first year with Syracuse. Behind the arm of Kyle McCord and benefitting from an easier ACC schedule, Syracuse won 10 games in total. This year McCord is gone and due to some locker room disagreements, many of the big-name Syracuse players from last year have transferred out. Fran has still done a great job of bringing in new talent through the portal, but with a tougher schedule on the horizon this year it seems that Vegas doesn’t seem to think Syracuse will have the same success as last year.
NC State Wolfpack:
Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 6-7
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Beat UNC
2025 O/U for wins: 6.5
NC State has pretty consistently put up a 9-3 record under Dave Doeren’s tenure. Last year was a big exception where a myriad of injuries dragged down NC State. NC State’s schedule wasn’t too difficult, but after losing their star QB 2 games into the season it was no easy feat for them to make a bowl game. Next year NC State will have another challenge as they were ravished in the portal and lost many of their best players. Most people expect NC State to have a down year this year, but Dave Doeren has shown he can work with less talent and the gumption the team showed last year makes me think NC State could be better than people expect.
Boston College Eagles:
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 7-6
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Beat a ranked Syracuse
2025 O/U for wins: 5.5
Boston College had some roster shake ups in 2024 with QB Thomas Castellanos leaving around mid-season after disputes with the coaching staff. Boston College still saw enough success to make a bowl game but their season felt like watching someone bounce on a trampoline. Boston College went week to week either having hard fought wins against good teams or alternatively getting trampled over by teams you wouldn’t expect. Boston College is a hard team to predict going into next season as we don’t have a ton of information on their new players and their game performances last year varied dramatically from game to game. We probably won’t know much about Boston College until mid-way through the season next year.
Pittsburgh Panthers:
Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
2024 Record: 7-6
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Started the season 7-0
2025 O/U for wins: 5.5
There’s that one team every year that has a hot start and then completely falls apart down the stretch. Last year that was Pitt. Despite starting the season 7-0 they lost all the games on the back end of the schedule to end the season 7-6. Pitt’s strength was their defense last year which is going to be a tough matchup for our offensive oriented game style. Pitt struggled on offense, we will see if things improve after an extra year of experience.
Athens Community College:
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 11-3
Biggest Achievement in 2024: Won the SEC Championship
2025 O/U for wins: 9.5
Y’all know the deal. uga is super talented and is one of the top teams in the country. uga has lost plenty of talent to the draft and portal after last year, but it doesn’t really matter. Even when uga loses talent to the portal they just reload. uga is probably in the worst shape they’ve been in decades going into this season, and the expectation is that uga should still win the whole shebang. uga is the toughest game on the schedule this year, and one I want desperately to win.
Those are our opponents this year. Overall I feel pretty good about most of our matchups, but as noted it will be hard to tell where most of these teams stand until the season starts. The ACC tends to shift wildly in terms of team performances so what looks like an easier matchup in the Offseason could turn into a terrifying one a few weeks into the season.
What do you think about the schedule, let us know in the comments below and as always GO JACKETS!!!