The ACC Kickoff is underway. It has moved to three days, but I won't be there until Thursday because UNC won't be on the stage and available until then.

I will still post some stuff over the next two days, and then a lot more Thursday. Commissioner Jim Phillips just finished his press conference, so I will get that posted to the front page and link in here as well once the transcript is available.

BREAKING: LeBron James’ 18 year old son Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest during a practice at USC and was rushed to the hospital where he spent time in the ICU. “(Monday) while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest,” the James family said in a statement. The family says Bronny is now in stable condition. “Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU. We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information.” Praying for the James family

I know it is insanely hot in places around the world, but does anyone else think weather overall has been pretty great in NC the last few yrs?

I know NC is hotter overall too, the yearly avg as a whole has been a little warmer and winter a tiny bit shorter, but the spring and fall season have been AMAZING weather-wise. And the kicker is that the number of 100 degree days in Raleigh hasn't been that many. It's hot, but we're not getting crushed like UK, Canada, western US, etc.

Pete Thamel reporting it on Twitter.

If that happens, it provides another opening for the ACC to persuade the Pac to drop its other dead weight (Wazzou and Oregon St) and merge with the ACC. We can use the extra money from the spread of the ACCN.

Login to view embedded media

Login to view embedded media

Mark Packer praises Narduzzi for Pitt tending to have very interesting, tough OOC slate every year. UNC is Pitt's ACC opener, and the 2 weeks before that game, Pitt faces Cincinnati and WVU. Pitt also plays ND later in the year.

So UFO’s are now called “UAP’s” which stands for “unusual airborne penis” or something like that. Anyway did you hear the whistleblower testimony at the congressional hearing? Some wild shit. This dude seems totally sane and reasonable. He testified that the US govt has in its possession biological remains of pilots of a non human origin taken from crashed aircraft of unknown origins. Of course we’ve heard all this before but this guy is a former US intelligence officer testifying under oath which I believe has never happened before concerning the topic. He claimed even more info was being intentionally withheld from congress but offered to give it behind closed doors for fear of the panic it would cause. I saw something once I can’t explain but I’ve never made the leap to “it must be aliens”. Lots of UFO sightings in years past can be attributed to secret experimental aircraft being tested like the B1 bomber and stealth helicopters. Can you imagine the reaction should something like he’s claiming be proven true? The ramifications would be world changing. I’m not sure if the change would be good or bad. Would we be more United as people or would we become even more divided as groups take sides on whether the evidence is faked?

predictions, etc.

9. FSU
13. Clemson
22. UNC

SoCar is ranked 21, which means a chance for Mack to beat a rankled SEC team to open the year. Being Sunbelt teams is one thing not worth much if anything at all. Beating ranked SEC teams is worth a good deal.

SN ranks Maye as 2nd best QB behind SC's Williams.

The ACC needs more TV viewers, many more, and that cannot happen if ACC teams cannot win the important OOC games. That starts with 2 basic groupings. One is the set of 4 games vs. in-state SEC rivals: FSU-UF, GT-UGA, Clemson-SoCar, Louisville-UK. Failing to be at least 2-2 in these games is certain to reinforce negative assessments of ACC football.

Then there are the '5' Notre Dame games. The Irish dominating against ACC football members is bad for the league, worse than having a losing record against the SEC. The SEC is the best league, and ND is just another midwestern team that almost never would have a real shot to win the SEC. This year, ND hosts Pitt and Wake, and goes to Moo, Dook, Louisville, and Clemson. ND guarantees many eyeballs watching those games, even Wake at ND. So the more of them the ACC loses, the worse the ACC looks to the nation.

Those 10 are far from the OOC games that are essential to the ACC's football reputation. Opening weekend features UVA vs. Tennessee in Nashville, UNC vs. SoCar in Charlotte and FSU vs. LSU in Orlando. If the ACC could win both of those games, the buzz at the start of the season would be that the ACC is potentially as good as the SEC. In Week 2, Miami hosts Texas A&M, providing a fourth chance early for the ACC to show the CFB world it can play with the best funded. Also, Wake hosts Vanderbilt. Clark Lea has done a good job in 2 seasons at hapless Vandy, but if Vandy upsets Wake, the ACC looks bad because Wake is coming off 7 consecutive bowl teams. And then we have GT at Ole Miss in Week 3.

Many opportunities for the ACC to show itself well vs. the mighty SEC. Or, once again the ACC can be embarrassed.

The Big Ten also is well represented on ACC schedules, and because BT football is not equal to SEC football, the ACC losing to any BT teams not named Ohio St, Michigan, or Penn State hurts the league reputation. UVA at Maryland is the most important, because Maryland was an ACC charter member and because of local recruiting. Minnesota at UNC is next in importance. Fleck is 4-0 in bowls at Minnesota, and the Gophers are coming off back to back 9 win seasons. VT hosts Purdue and plays at Rutgers. Syracuse goes to Purdue the week after the Boilermakers face VT. That same week, Louisville plays IU in Indianapolis, and Dook hosts Northwestern. There is no reason that the ACC should have less than a winning retro dvs. the BT.