Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I had wanted to be an engineer, so I would be the first in my family to go to Tech.  

Got a small scholarship to UGA and changed my mind.

and now you have a life full of passion for college football

It's funny. I probably wouldn't have ever gained a passion for college football if I had been at Purdue during the Coletto years [or earlier], or during the Hazell years. I managed to hit at just the right time, when Tiller revitalized the program and I got to watch Drew Brees from the stands, that Purdue football was exciting. 
I realize that for a school like UGA, college football is ALWAYS a thing. Just as it is for schools like Ole Miss / MSU, who aren't exactly always good. Football Saturdays at those schools are just a way of life.
But I can see how Georgia Tech could have been a lot more like Purdue in that way. A student who didn't grow up on GT football, if they went to Georgia Tech during a football "down" cycle, may never even grow interested at all. Especially being in downtown Atlanta where there are SO many possible other things to grab your attention if the football team is a doormat. 

Tennis was, and is, huge at UGA.  And they used to get more folks to. Gymnastics meet than basketball.

https://georgiadogs.com/sports/2017/6/17/magill.aspx

The whole ACC was a collection of basketball schools, sans Clemson, before FSU showed up to own the conference.

A thing that helped UGA academically is the Hope Scholarship funded by the lottery.  In effect, if you get in, your tuition is paid for.  That attracted some of the better students who otherwise would have gone elsewhere.  So, the average SAT scores of the incoming class just kept rising and it became more competitive.

https://www.admissions.uga.edu/prospective-students/first-year/fy-profile

I know they renormed SAT scores a few years ago, but an average of 1400 is solid.

I am musing about how many rankings we have in our lives, whether we pay much attention or not.  It's an interesting human tendency I think.  I used to see folks come into the wine shop with the latest "top 100" and want whatever was 1-10.  They had never tasted them, didn't know who ranked them or how, didn't know anything other than they were 1-10.

That issue is always the big seller for Spectator.

Obviously, it is more than possible, in fact likely, that the best whatever for YOU will be quite different from that of any ranking done by supposed "experts".  The best restaurant in your town may well serve a type of food you don't like at a price you really dislike.

But, you can say you have been there I suppose, whether you enjoyed it or not.  We rank beaches, drinks, food, colleges, athletic teams EVEN WHEN THERE IS A BROAD PLAYOFF like in bball and the rankings mean zilch, libraries, cities in which to retire, cars, trucks, pillowcases, mattresses, sofas, ...

I suppose the idea that we each should make independent judgments using OUR criteria is too hard?

Information is good, rankings are bad (unless ELA is doing them).