Feb. 22, 2012
Georgia Tech (20-7, 10-4 ACC) will make its final road trip of the 2011-12 regular season when the No. 17/19 Yellow Jackets travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face the Virginia Tech Hokies (7-20, 3-11 ACC) in a 7 p.m. matchup Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum (WREK 91.1 FM). This is the only regular-season meeting between the ACC’s two Techs.
This year’s squad has already set the school-record for most ACC wins in a season with 10 and has secured the program’s sixth straight 20-win season. The 2012 senior class took ownership of the Tech record for most ACC wins by a class, which stands at 35 currently, and could tie the Jacket record for most regular-season wins by a GT class with a victory over the Hokies. The 2011 class won 85 regular-season games during their tenure and this year’s group is just one shy at 84 with two regular-season games remaining.
The Yellow Jackets are also positioning themselves for next week’s ACC Tournament. Currently Tech is tied for third with Maryland, but the Terrapins own the tiebreaker over the Jackets. Georgia Tech has a one-game lead over North Carolina for the final ACC Tournament first-round bye and owns the tiebreaker over the Tar Heels with the Jackets’ 56-54 win in Chapel Hill Feb. 12.
Double Digit ACC Wins: With the win over Boston College, the Yellow Jackets set the school record for most ACC wins in a season with 10. The 2006-07 team was the first to record nine league wins and the 2010-11 team equaled the mark.
ACC Finish: Georgia Tech has never finished higher than sole possession of fourth place in the ACC standings, which the Jackets did in 2010. Currently, Tech is tied for third with Maryland. Tech has Virginia Tech (10th, 3-10 ACC) and Clemson remaining (11th, 2-11 ACC) while the Terps have to face North Carolina (5th, 8-5 ACC) and NC State (9th, 4-9 ACC).
Sixth Sense: The win over Boston College secured Georgia Tech’s sixth consecutive 20-win season. The victory over the Eagles gave the Jackets nine 20-win seasons all-time with six coming under head coach MaChelle Joseph. The 1977-78 team won 23 games in the AIAW days. Joseph’s predecessor, Agnus Berenato, won at least 20 games in 1991-92 and 2002-03. The 1991-92 team finished the season as NWIT champions.
The Yellow Jackets are also in contention for their sixth straight NCAA Tournament berth. Should Tech play in this year’s NCAA Tournament, it would mark the eighth trip in school history, six of which have come under Joseph.
Fan Appreciation Day: Georgia Tech will host Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday, Feb. 26, when the Jackets host the Clemson Lady Tigers in a 2 p.m. contest at Forbes Arena on the Morehouse College campus in downtown Atlanta. Georgia Tech will honor its 2012 senior class prior to the game and admission for all fans will be free.
In The Rankings: Georgia Tech is ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll for the first time this year. The Yellow Jackets moved up to 17th in this week’s AP poll and are 19th in the coaches poll. Seventeenth is the highest the Jackets have ever been ranked in the AP and only the third time Tech has cracked the top 20 (No. 19 – Preseason 2009-10; No. 19 – 2/15/10).
Georgia Tech has been ranked by the AP in 30 weeks all-time and 26 of those have come under Joseph. Tech has been ranked in the coaches poll 14 weeks. This week marks only the 12th time in which the Yellow Jackets have been ranked in both polls at the same time.
The Yellow Jackets own a 38-19 all-time record as a ranked team.
Seniors Seek Wins Record: The 2011-12 Georgia Tech senior class has a chance to set the school record for wins by a single class over its four year career. Each of the last four classes to graduate from Tech has set the record, which currently stands at 91 by the 2011 class of Alex Montgomery and Deja Foster. Currently, the 2012 class is second with 89 wins and would need two more to tie the mark of 91.
The 2012 class set the Georgia Tech record for most ACC wins by a class with the 56-54 win at North Carolina. The 2012 class has 35 career ACC wins and still has two league games remaining.
