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Oct 19, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the sideline against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech Football: Yellow Jackets Schedule Ranked Third Toughest in ACC By CBS Sports

Originally posted on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 4:25 PM ET

After back-to-back seven-win seasons, it seems like Brent Key's program might be ready to break through in a bigger way. Since taking over as the head coach, Key has put together two impressive seasons of wins over ranked teams and has added more talent to the roster. With enough returning experience, coaching stability on the offensive side of the ball, a talented transfer portal and high school recruiting classes, and a favorable schedule, some are projecting Georgia Tech to be among the ACC's top teams.

While this is a more favorable ACC draw than Georgia Tech has had in some time, they still have to face Clemson and Georgia, which makes it far from easy. In a new ranking of every ACC schedule from hardest to easiest from CBS Sports Chip Patterson, Georgia Tech's schedule came in third, behind Syracuse and Florida State:

"Annual rivalries with both Georgia and Clemson have left Georgia Tech with one of the toughest schedules in the ACC since the league expanded to two divisions in 2005. But this year is actually a reprieve considering the Yellow Jackets avoid Notre Dame, Miami, SMU and Louisville. It speaks to the annual challenge for Brent Key that the "easier" years still have him with a top-five toughest schedule in the ACC, but that's the way it goes for the Ramblin Wreck."

Clemson and Georgia are the headliners on the schedule, but how Georgia Tech does in between those two matchups will be massive. After facing Colorado and Clemson in weeks 1 and 3, Georgia Tech will face Temple, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Duke, NC State, Boston College, and Pitt. One could make the argument that the Yellow Jackets could be favored in all of those games, but it might not be by much. They could all be considered "toss up games" and the Yellow Jackets have to show that they can manage a schedule and navigate every week. If they can, they could find themselves in the ACC Championship discussion and the CFP discussion.

The preseason media poll for the ACC was just released and Georgia Tech is being predicted to be among the top teams in the conference. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish fourth in the conference this season and received two first place votes. Clemson was the pick to win the ACC, garnering 167 first place votes, while Miami was picked to finish second and got seven first place votes.

Here are the full results of the preseason poll with first place votes in parentheses:

1. Clemson (167)

2. Miami (7)

3. SMU (2)

4. Georgia Tech (2)

5. Louisville

6. Duke

7. Florida State (4)

8. North Carolina

9. Pitt

10. NC State

11. Virginia Tech (1)

12 Syracuse

13. Boston College

14. Virginia

15. California

16. Wake Forest

17. Stanford

While the external opinions of the Yellow Jackets seem to be high, what are the internal expectations for the team? While not giving a full answer on Tuesday, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key gave a small insight into how high the internal expectations are for his team:

"Well, that's why they're internal expectations, because they stay internal. Seriously, it's internal or external. Y'all's job is external, our job's internal. I mean, they're high. They're very high. And that's all I'll say is that, no matter what the external expectations are, they should never be higher than what your internal expectations are of yourself."

This article first appeared on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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