1 Founded in 1885 in Atlanta, Georgia Tech started as an all-male industrial school, later admitting two female students in 1952. Officially known as the Georgia Institute of Technology, it is one of only five NCAA Division I-A football programs without "University" in its name — the others are Air Force, Army, Navy and Boston College.
2 Tech's fight song, "Rambling Wreck," is based on an old drinking song, "The Sons of the Gamboliers," and is one of the most recognizable in America. Adopted by Tech at the turn of the 20th century, it's been sung on "The Ed Sullivan Show," in outer space, and at the 1959 Cold War summit in Moscow by Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev to ease tensions.
3 A restored 1930 Model A Ford Sport Coupe was unveiled in 1961 as Tech's first official "Rambling Wreck" vehicle, although "Wreck" references date back to 1927 when the student newspaper urged the dean of men to donate his 1914 Ford to the cause rather than trade it in (he disposed of it).
Other unofficial "Rambling Wreck" vehicles then started to crop up after that, thanks to various fraternities. The annual "Old Ford" race between Atlanta and Athens, Ga., started in 1929 but later was deemed dangerous and discontinued.
The road race has been revived somewhat in homecoming week's "Rambling Wreck Parade," where "mechanical monstrosities" are reconstructed and required to travel a short campus course.
4 The Georgia Tech "Yellow Jackets" nickname dates back to fans wearing yellow coats and jackets to early 1900s football games. The school colors came in 1891 when Tech students were invited to cheer the Auburn football team on against hated rival Georgia (several years before Tech started football) and some 200 chose to wear white and yellow to the game.
Tech's mascot "Buzz" was at the center of a copyright-infringement suit against Salt Lake City's minor-league baseball team, which changed the name from Buzz to Stingers and altered its mascot design.
5 Tech plays its home football games at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, the oldest on-campus NCAA football stadium. Also known as "The Flats," it dates back to 1913, with Bobby Dodd's name added in 1988. It currently seats 55,000.
6 Top football alums include Joe Hamilton, Pat Swilling, Ken Swilling, Dorsey Levens, Marco Coleman, Randy Rhino and Bill Curry. Other famous sports alumni include: baseball's Kevin Brown, Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Veritek; basketball's Mark Price, John Salley, Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury and the Utah Jazz's Matt Harpring; and golf's Bobby Jones, David Duval, Larry Mize and Stewart Cink. Other alumni include former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, actor Randolph Scott and comedian Jeff Foxworthy.
7 Tech was on the top side of the most lopsided college football game ever played, beating Cumberland University 222-0 on Oct. 7, 1916. Incidentally, neither team was credited with a first down, with Cumberland unsuccessful on all its possessions and Tech scoring quickly on each of its drives.
8 Tech football claims four national championships — 1917 (coached by John Heisman), 1928 (William Alexander) 1952 (Bobby Dodd) and 1990 (Bobby Ross). It also boasts 15 conference titles — the latest an ACC crown in 1998 — and has the highest winning percentage (22-11, .667) for NCAA programs with at least 20 bowl appearances.
9 Georgia Tech doubled as the Olympic Village for more than 10,000 athletes participating in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. The campus was also the venue for boxing and aquatics events.
10 Tech is home to a mythical student named George P. Burdell, created in 1927 by a real student who even submitted exam papers for the fictitious individual, who has since earned a bachelor's degree and master's degree at Tech. In 1969, Tech's first year of computerized registration, Burdell was registered for every course offered at Tech, amassing a schedule of more than 3,000 credit hours.<