Georgia Tech released the entirety of its pre-ACC schedule Monday, a 12-game slate that includes four games against power-conference opponents. That includes rival Georgia (in Athens Dec. 19) and the Yellow Jackets’ season opener in Shanghai against UCLA Nov. 11.
The two other power-conference teams that the Jackets will face in coach Josh Pastner’s second season are Tennessee (Dec. 3 at McCamish Pavilion) and Northwestern, Tech’s opponent in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Nov. 28 at McCamish).
Seven of the other eight games will be at McCamish also, including four in Tech's Ramblin' Wreck Showcase, an "exempt" event that counts four games as one against the NCAA limit of 31. The Jackets will play Bethune-Cookman (Nov. 19), Texas-Rio Grande Valley (Nov. 22), North Texas (Nov. 24) and Grambling State (Dec. 1) as part of that event. This event was previously reported in April by the AJC.
The Georgia game will be one of four between final exams and the start of the ACC schedule. Tech also plays Florida A&M (Dec. 17), Wright State (Dec. 22) and Coppin State (Dec. 27). Tech will have a road game at Wofford Dec. 6, the final segment of a two-for-one series with the Terriers. The Jackets are playing the third of a four-game series with Tennessee.
The games in the Ramblin’ Wreck Challenge and against Florida A&M and Coppin State, games in which the opponents will be getting a paycheck to come to McCamish, give a sense of Pastner’s desire to balance some hefty competition – UCLA, Northwestern, Georgia and Tennessee finished in the top 80 in RPI last season – with some easy wins. All six of those teams are in the bottom 11 percentile in RPI last season.
Tech also plans to play another non-conference game in the middle of its ACC schedule, likely against a Division II opponent as it did last year against Tusculum.
The highlight of the preseason, though, is the opener against UCLA in China. The team will spend one week in China taking part in cultural activities while getting ready for the game. The matchup is part of the Pac-12’s initiative to promote its conference internationally. It will be the team’s first-ever trip to China.
Tech will also play a preseason game against Faulkner University, an NAIA school in Montgomery, Ala., on Nov. 2 at McCamish.
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