The 5th best conference this season is the ACC. The conference has no legitimate national title contenders but is very strong from top to bottom. There may however not be a conference with more question marks this season than the ACC.
Last season the ACC was average at best as a conference. They were 9-20 in significant out of conference games last season and went 4-4 in the bowl games. It was a strange year for the conference as many of the traditional powerhouses (Florida State, Clemson, and Miami) posted sub par seasons. In light of this there were teams that emerged out of nowhere to lead the league. The surprise story of college football was the success of conference champion Wake Forest.
A lot of the mediocrity from the last few seasons has caused coaching changes throughout the conference. 4 teams in the conference have gotten new head coaches in the off season. The most significant addition to the conference is the return of Butch Davis to the college ranks as he takes over a bottom dwelling North Carolina squad. His first off season yielded arguably the best recruiting class in the ACC and one of the top squads in the nation. His presence should be felt in the conference, but it may take a few years to build up a legitimate conference title contender. Tom O' Brien headed down the coast to fill Chuck Amato's shoes at NC State leaving Boston College to hire Jeff Jagodzinski away from the Green Bay Packers. The final coaching change was the promotion of Randy Shannon at Miami to the head of the Hurricanes. Shannon has taken on the role of establishing credibility and discipline to the Miami program after a few years of on and off the field turmoil.
The ACC is going to be involved in its fair share of competitive out of conference games this season. The marquee match up comes week 2 when Virginia Tech travels to Baton Rouge to take on LSU. This will be a match up between the best from the ACC and the SEC. Wake Forest will host Nebraska that same week; which should be a great indicator game as to whether or not Wake or Nebraska is a legitimate team this season. Florida State has the toughest out of conference schedule in the conference as they take on Alabama in Jacksonville and travel to Colorado and Florida. Miami takes on the big boys from the Big 12 when they travel to Oklahoma and host Texas A&M this season. Look for Shannon's squad to win one of those games. Georgia Tech, Duke, and Boston college all travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame this season. Lastly Georgia Tech and Clemson have their annual showdowns against their respective SEC rivals Georgia and South Carolina.
Three Big Questions in the ACC:
1. Will Randy Shannon improve the quality of the Miami team while keeping his players out of trouble?
2. What impact will Butch Davis have at North Carolina this season?
3. Can Tommy Bowden rebound from an embarrassing end to the Clemson Tigers season, and keep his job?
With the exception of Virginia Tech there doesn't seem to be a real legitimate national title contender from the ACC, but top to bottom the league is going to be strong. Conceivably by the end of the season the only team that will remain overlooked by the competition will be Duke , who is currently riding a 20 game losing streak. Many teams took the step in the right direction this off season. All the coaching changes with the exception of possibly Jagodzinski should improve each squad. Maybe the most important coaching hire this off season was Florida State hiring Jimbo Fisher as the team's new offensive coordinator. He comes from an LSU squad that posted the nation's #11 offense last season. If FSU can figure out there quarterback situation, they could be a force to be reckoned with once again.
ATLANTIC
1. Florida State 8-4 (6-2)
2. Wake Forest 8-4 (5-3)
3. Clemson 8-4 (5-3)
4. NC State 7-5 (4-4)
5. Boston College 7-5 (4-4)
6. Maryland 4-8 (2-6)
COASTAL
1. Virginia Tech 10-2 (7-1)
2. Georgia Tech 10-2 (7-1)
3. Miami 8-4 (5-3)
4. Virginia 6-6 (2-6)
5. North Carolina 3-9 (1-7)
6. Duke 1-11 (0-8)
Virginia Tech beats Florida State in the conference championship.
Last season the ACC was average at best as a conference. They were 9-20 in significant out of conference games last season and went 4-4 in the bowl games. It was a strange year for the conference as many of the traditional powerhouses (Florida State, Clemson, and Miami) posted sub par seasons. In light of this there were teams that emerged out of nowhere to lead the league. The surprise story of college football was the success of conference champion Wake Forest.
A lot of the mediocrity from the last few seasons has caused coaching changes throughout the conference. 4 teams in the conference have gotten new head coaches in the off season. The most significant addition to the conference is the return of Butch Davis to the college ranks as he takes over a bottom dwelling North Carolina squad. His first off season yielded arguably the best recruiting class in the ACC and one of the top squads in the nation. His presence should be felt in the conference, but it may take a few years to build up a legitimate conference title contender. Tom O' Brien headed down the coast to fill Chuck Amato's shoes at NC State leaving Boston College to hire Jeff Jagodzinski away from the Green Bay Packers. The final coaching change was the promotion of Randy Shannon at Miami to the head of the Hurricanes. Shannon has taken on the role of establishing credibility and discipline to the Miami program after a few years of on and off the field turmoil.
The ACC is going to be involved in its fair share of competitive out of conference games this season. The marquee match up comes week 2 when Virginia Tech travels to Baton Rouge to take on LSU. This will be a match up between the best from the ACC and the SEC. Wake Forest will host Nebraska that same week; which should be a great indicator game as to whether or not Wake or Nebraska is a legitimate team this season. Florida State has the toughest out of conference schedule in the conference as they take on Alabama in Jacksonville and travel to Colorado and Florida. Miami takes on the big boys from the Big 12 when they travel to Oklahoma and host Texas A&M this season. Look for Shannon's squad to win one of those games. Georgia Tech, Duke, and Boston college all travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame this season. Lastly Georgia Tech and Clemson have their annual showdowns against their respective SEC rivals Georgia and South Carolina.
Three Big Questions in the ACC:
1. Will Randy Shannon improve the quality of the Miami team while keeping his players out of trouble?
2. What impact will Butch Davis have at North Carolina this season?
3. Can Tommy Bowden rebound from an embarrassing end to the Clemson Tigers season, and keep his job?
With the exception of Virginia Tech there doesn't seem to be a real legitimate national title contender from the ACC, but top to bottom the league is going to be strong. Conceivably by the end of the season the only team that will remain overlooked by the competition will be Duke , who is currently riding a 20 game losing streak. Many teams took the step in the right direction this off season. All the coaching changes with the exception of possibly Jagodzinski should improve each squad. Maybe the most important coaching hire this off season was Florida State hiring Jimbo Fisher as the team's new offensive coordinator. He comes from an LSU squad that posted the nation's #11 offense last season. If FSU can figure out there quarterback situation, they could be a force to be reckoned with once again.
ATLANTIC
1. Florida State 8-4 (6-2)
2. Wake Forest 8-4 (5-3)
3. Clemson 8-4 (5-3)
4. NC State 7-5 (4-4)
5. Boston College 7-5 (4-4)
6. Maryland 4-8 (2-6)
COASTAL
1. Virginia Tech 10-2 (7-1)
2. Georgia Tech 10-2 (7-1)
3. Miami 8-4 (5-3)
4. Virginia 6-6 (2-6)
5. North Carolina 3-9 (1-7)
6. Duke 1-11 (0-8)
Virginia Tech beats Florida State in the conference championship.
1 comments:
Your conference records have a math error. For example, in the PAC-10 you total 44 wins and 46 losses. There are 45 games, so the wins and losses have to be the same. At a glance, in other conferences the disparity is even worse.
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