How do you see ACC Football trending in the future?

[Tigertown_a_Rick]

Just thought I would get everyone's view of ACC Football at the moment, and where it goes from here in terms of team upgrades and perceptions outside the conference....

I realize that the ACC is behind the 8-ball so to speak with No Network at the moment and with Media Bias at an all time high in efforts to promote the all mighty SEC as much as possible....

Here's my personal opinion about where the ACC is, and where it's going:

The Here and Now
---------------------------

At the moment, FSU and Clemson are upholding the ACC in the eyes of many, and I agree that both schools are recruiting at a very high level, and seem to be poised to compete for a playoff spot in the future....FSU has only lost once in 2 years, and claimed a National title in 2013, while Clemson has won BCS games over Ohio State and Oklahoma to close out the last couple of years.....This year Georgia Tech emerged as yet another dynamic team from the ACC as they beat rival Georgia, and finished with an impressive Orange Bowl win over a Mississippi State team that was ranked as the #1 team in the country until they lost to Alabama....One of the questions is just how good would Va Tech have been last year without all those injuries?....The Hokies afterall did beat the National Champs at the Horseshoe early last season, and resigned their DC who will likely take over as Head Coach when Beamer decides to hang it up?....The Hokies should be plenty tough this year with all those injuried players returning along with QB Brewer who'll have a year of experience under his belt....

Looking down the road
-------------------------------
It's really hard to imagine FSU, Clemson or even Georgia Tech slipping a whole lot this season or in the next couple of years or so......FSU will have to find a replacement for Winston, but they signed a top-3 class with 2 very talented QBs, and we all know that the Noles probably have the most depth in talent of any other ACC team....Meanwhile, Clemson returns dynamic Sophomore QB Deshawn Watson, and also signed several dynamic playmakers in this recruiting cycle....The Tigers will need to replace a defense that was at the top in a lot of statistical categories at the end of the season, but I don't see a dramatic dropoff this year, unless Watson gets hurt again?....Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson reportedly just signed his best class since he's been at Tech, and the Yellowjackets return their dynamic QB as well, so they will still be plenty tough, and will probably be ranked in the top 15 if not top 10 when the season begins?

As for the rest of the conference, I think that both Pitt and UNC will be improved dramatically on defense, and both teams return important pieces on offense with RB Connor back for the Panthers and QB Williams returning for the Tarheels....Both teams will look entirely different this year on the defensive-side of the ball with proven DCs likely making a big difference for both teams as Narduzzi and Gene Chizik will greatly impact both teams IMO....Duke will still be plenty tough, but do have to replace the QB Boone and WR Crowder, so it may take a little while to find an offensive rhythm, but they definitely have the right Coach to make it happen as Cutcliffe has always been able to develop QBs....NC State had a good recruiting year, and they do return both starting RBs with a lot of depth now behind them....The biggest question for the Wolfpack, is can they find a capable replacement for QB Jacoby Brissett who was tremendous this past year in Raleigh....Read where Louisville also had it's best ever recruiting year, and they have a very good football coach in Petrino, regardless of his past, or what you may think of him personally....The man can coach, and the Cardinals will be tough as long as Petrino hangs around IMO.....

Teams that might have a tough go of it this year will likely be Syracuse, Wake Forest, Boston College and Miami.....Miami is one of those teams where it's hard to keep picking them to underperform, but that is seemingly what they have done for quite some time now, and the Canes No longer carry the swagger that they once had.....The recruits have noticed as well as they don't seem to be luring in the type of talent that they did in the past....The seat is indeed very hot IMO for Golden, and he'll have to show some dramatic improvement this year, or he's gone.....Wake Forest and Syracuse will likely struggle the most, while BC rebuilds behind a new offensive line after losing most if not all of those 5th-yr Senior Lineman from last season....

Overall, I think the future of the ACC is trending upward, and is overall very bright...It can become even brighter if North Carolina and Miami can put these NCAA Sanctions behind them, and begin to improve their football programs....Both have the talent to take that next step, but it is a wait and see approach for both fanbases at the moment...

Comments as always are welcomed!

 

[TarHeelNation11]

Good writeup. First, let me answer the question in your thread title: I believe the ACC is trending towards have's and have-not's but I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think it is a good thing for the league. My thoughts are listed below:

- you're right, FSU and Clemson are carrying the conference right now. This is indisputable. They both just finished with Top 5 classes (again); both schools continue to kill it on the recruiting trail.

- the league is shifting, IMO, into a have's vs. have-not's dynamic. The definite have's right now are Clemson and FSU. It's a bit more debatable, but I'd also loosely classify Louisville as a have (or at least, they're trending towards the 'have' category).

- There are several have-not's: Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia, and Pittsburgh (I do not share your optimism of Pitt. IMO, that is a program clinging on to bowl eligibility for the foreseeable future due to geographic, economic, academic, and population shift factors).

- Then there are the tweeners....and these schools will show in the upcoming two seasons whether they are going to join the have's or sink down to the have-not's. NC State (you can't deny the way they finished the season and the turnaround in recruiting under Doeren.....which ain't saying a lot, given TOB's classes), Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech (despite their great season last year), and Duke.

- IMO, of these 7 tweeners, I believe VT is the only one that's definitely trending down. Their Bobby Bowden-esque situation with Frank Beamer is imminent and it will be messy. That program is going to be a shell of it's 90's and 00's self by 2018.

- The rest are up in the air. An argument can be made about whether each is trending up or down. I'd like to say Carolina is trending up (but who really knows with UNC football) as well as GT, BC, Miami, and possibly NC State.

- IMO, the league needs to evolve (or devolve, depending on how you look at it) into a have's and have-not's dynamic. The league needs 3 very strong (Top 20, if possible) teams in each division. Then, if a team from either division can crack the bottom 5 of the Top 25 as well, then that's even better. I think that this will happen. As has been mentioned ad nauseam, Miami needs to get back to the old Miami. Don't count on VT, they're done IMO.

- Keep in mind though, that the ACC has crippling factors that will always keep it from ever becoming the best football league. The schools, on average, are far too small, compared to other conferences. Too many of the schools are private, and too many have alumni scattered throughout the country, thus hampering home attendance when coupled with the fact that some of these schools aren't prone to bandwagon fans (for example, GT, Pitt, Syracuse, Duke, Miami, and even UNC).

So the outlook is decent, better than it was, but I don't think it's great yet. I won't believe the ACC is capable of becoming a great football conference until I see it.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

The best and quickest way to change the narrative is for ACC schools to start WINNING marquee O-O-C games. The conference plays a ton of high-profile regular season games against the P5....now it needs to win.

By and large, the SEC just does not lose these games. Regardless if a team is down or not, they still find a way to win. A perfect example is the LSU - Wisconsin game last year. LSU had no business winning that game, but they still did. SEC schools just believe they are superior and play with that confidence. The ACC always has the end-of-season annual rivalry games to strut its stuff, but in addition to those, there are plenty of other chances every season.

Just this season, the league has these opportunities:

- Louisville vs. Auburn
- Virginia Tech vs. Ohio State
- UVA vs UCLA
- UVA vs Boise
- Carolina vs SCar

Start winning.

 

[WoadBlue]

ESPN's team rankings of recruiting classes has 5 ACC teams in the Top 25, and 5/8ths member ND is also on the list.

To compare- the SEC has 12; the Pac has 3; and the Big Ten and Big 12 have 2 each.

I have said for years that as long as FSU has a coach who is 1st rate, it should rack up recruits and Ws. Within 150 miles of Tallahassee is enough 5 and 4 * talent to stock a half dozen Top 10 teams. FSU is now the largest school in the ACC (helps to hide dumb jocks) and among the bottom 3 in admissions standards (along with Moo and Louisville). That plus the fact that the ACC has a bunch of private schools and smaller elite state schools means FSU should win the ACC at least a third of the time.

So, as long as FSU does what it should, and that includes beating Florida at last 50% of the time, FSU will be ranked Top 10 at least 50% of seasons.

Clemson, being much smaller with tougher admissions, is not quite as lucky. But its large and devoted fan base coupled with all the talent within 150 miles of campus means Clemson will remain a force as long as it has a top HC. Dabo is clearly tops at relating to recruits and their parents. If he develops into a top coach in other areas, Clemson can win its 2nd national title.

Louisville paying to keep Grantham from going to the NFL says that it intends to remain a nationally competitve program. Louisville is not blessed with location, as the number of top recruits within 150 miles is negligible compared to Clemson, but a coach like Petrino with a staff like the one he has will win enough recruiting battles to remain relevant. I think the Cards should remain a team that finishes lower Top 25 or barely out of being ranked at least 4 of 5 seasons.

That UNC went out and hired Chizik surely declares we finally intend to make football a top priority. UNC doing that will benefit the ACC a great deal. I think that if we show more life next year, our 2016 recruiting could be ranked Top 15 or better.

VT and Miami both made the ESPN Top 25 recruiting class list. That each di so after disappointing seasons says that both remain attractive destinations for recruits. I think both need to change coaches next year if they fall below 8 regular season Ws.

Johnson is never going to load up on top rated players at GT, but he has proven that he can win with 'his' players.

With all our limitations as a league, if the following are true, then ACC football will usually be the 2nd best football conference in the country top to bottom:

1. FSU and Clemson keep their HCs and beat their SEC rivals.
2. UNC does not back track and gets back to the top of the ACC. UNC winning Big will draw more TV viewers to ACC football than all schools winning Big but FSU, Miami, and probably Clemson.
3. Petrino stays at Louisville and behaves.
4. Either Golden figures out how to above mediocre or Miami gets a sharp new coach.
5. VT arranges a smooth retirement for Beamer and secures a coach who will kep the fans happy and positive.
6. PJ starts beating UGA at least a third of the time.
7. Every year, 2 from among BC, Cuse, and Pitt go bowling, which should help us grow a TV audience in the northeast.

 

[UNC_Blue]

Originally posted by WoadBlue:
ESPN's team rankings of recruiting classes has 5 ACC teams in the Top 25, and 5/8ths member ND is also on the list.

To compare- the SEC has 12; the Pac has 3; and the Big Ten and Big 12 have 2 each.

I have said for years that as long as FSU has a coach who is 1st rate, it should rack up recruits and Ws. Within 150 miles of Tallahassee is enough 5 and 4 * talent to stock a half dozen Top 10 teams. FSU is now the largest school in the ACC (helps to hide dumb jocks) and among the bottom 3 in admissions standards (along with Moo and Louisville). That plus the fact that the ACC has a bunch of private schools and smaller elite state schools means FSU should win the ACC at least a third of the time.

So, as long as FSU does what it should, and that includes beating Florida at last 50% of the time, FSU will be ranked Top 10 at least 50% of seasons.

Clemson, being much smaller with tougher admissions, is not quite as lucky. But its large and devoted fan base coupled with all the talent within 150 miles of campus means Clemson will remain a force as long as it has a top HC. Dabo is clearly tops at relating to recruits and their parents. If he develops into a top coach in other areas, Clemson can win its 2nd national title.

Louisville paying to keep Grantham from going to the NFL says that it intends to remain a nationally competitve program. Louisville is not blessed with location, as the number of top recruits within 150 miles is negligible compared to Clemson, but a coach like Petrino with a staff like the one he has will win enough recruiting battles to remain relevant. I think the Cards should remain a team that finishes lower Top 25 or barely out of being ranked at least 4 of 5 seasons.

That UNC went out and hired Chizik surely declares we finally intend to make football a top priority. UNC doing that will benefit the ACC a great deal. I think that if we show more life next year, our 2016 recruiting could be ranked Top 15 or better.

VT and Miami both made the ESPN Top 25 recruiting class list. That each di so after disappointing seasons says that both remain attractive destinations for recruits. I think both need to change coaches next year if they fall below 8 regular season Ws.

Johnson is never going to load up on top rated players at GT, but he has proven that he can win with 'his' players.

With all our limitations as a league, if the following are true, then ACC football will usually be the 2nd best football conference in the country top to bottom:

1. FSU and Clemson keep their HCs and beat their SEC rivals.
2. UNC does not back track and gets back to the top of the ACC. UNC winning Big will draw more TV viewers to ACC football than all schools winning Big but FSU, Miami, and probably Clemson.
3. Petrino stays at Louisville and behaves.
4. Either Golden figures out how to above mediocre or Miami gets a sharp new coach.
5. VT arranges a smooth retirement for Beamer and secures a coach who will kep the fans happy and positive.
6. PJ starts beating UGA at least a third of the time.
7. Every year, 2 from among BC, Cuse, and Pitt go bowling, which should help us grow a TV audience in the northeast.

Small disagreement, I think we draw a LOT more eyeballs IF we start to win big... and probably at least as many as Clemson. UNC has a HUGE fan base of bandwagon BB fans, they will migrate over to FB if we start to win.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

^^ plus, you gotta factor in the ABC element too when discussing TV ratings. Lots of Moo fans watch our games religiously, and even more ABC'ers would watch if we were in the Top 15 consistently. They're a sad bunch.

 

[94tarheel]

I think the U will turn things around in about two seasons. First, they will get rid of Al Golden after this season. There is no way the University of Miami should ever be that low in recruiting. Too much talent in their backyard is leaving South Florida and Golden doesn't have a clue. Two, reconnect with the South Florida high schools.

 

[WoadBlue]

Originally posted by UNC_Blue:

Originally posted by WoadBlue:
ESPN's team rankings of recruiting classes has 5 ACC teams in the Top 25, and 5/8ths member ND is also on the list.

To compare- the SEC has 12; the Pac has 3; and the Big Ten and Big 12 have 2 each.

I have said for years that as long as FSU has a coach who is 1st rate, it should rack up recruits and Ws. Within 150 miles of Tallahassee is enough 5 and 4 * talent to stock a half dozen Top 10 teams. FSU is now the largest school in the ACC (helps to hide dumb jocks) and among the bottom 3 in admissions standards (along with Moo and Louisville). That plus the fact that the ACC has a bunch of private schools and smaller elite state schools means FSU should win the ACC at least a third of the time.

So, as long as FSU does what it should, and that includes beating Florida at last 50% of the time, FSU will be ranked Top 10 at least 50% of seasons.

Clemson, being much smaller with tougher admissions, is not quite as lucky. But its large and devoted fan base coupled with all the talent within 150 miles of campus means Clemson will remain a force as long as it has a top HC. Dabo is clearly tops at relating to recruits and their parents. If he develops into a top coach in other areas, Clemson can win its 2nd national title.

Louisville paying to keep Grantham from going to the NFL says that it intends to remain a nationally competitve program. Louisville is not blessed with location, as the number of top recruits within 150 miles is negligible compared to Clemson, but a coach like Petrino with a staff like the one he has will win enough recruiting battles to remain relevant. I think the Cards should remain a team that finishes lower Top 25 or barely out of being ranked at least 4 of 5 seasons.

That UNC went out and hired Chizik surely declares we finally intend to make football a top priority. UNC doing that will benefit the ACC a great deal. I think that if we show more life next year, our 2016 recruiting could be ranked Top 15 or better.

VT and Miami both made the ESPN Top 25 recruiting class list. That each di so after disappointing seasons says that both remain attractive destinations for recruits. I think both need to change coaches next year if they fall below 8 regular season Ws.

Johnson is never going to load up on top rated players at GT, but he has proven that he can win with 'his' players.

With all our limitations as a league, if the following are true, then ACC football will usually be the 2nd best football conference in the country top to bottom:

1. FSU and Clemson keep their HCs and beat their SEC rivals.
2. UNC does not back track and gets back to the top of the ACC. UNC winning Big will draw more TV viewers to ACC football than all schools winning Big but FSU, Miami, and probably Clemson.
3. Petrino stays at Louisville and behaves.
4. Either Golden figures out how to above mediocre or Miami gets a sharp new coach.
5. VT arranges a smooth retirement for Beamer and secures a coach who will kep the fans happy and positive.
6. PJ starts beating UGA at least a third of the time.
7. Every year, 2 from among BC, Cuse, and Pitt go bowling, which should help us grow a TV audience in the northeast.

Small disagreement, I think we draw a LOT more eyeballs IF we start to win big... and probably at least as many as Clemson. UNC has a HUGE fan base of bandwagon BB fans, they will migrate over to FB if we start to win.

It would take us a few years of winning Big to bypass Clemson with general college football fans watching games on TV. But I agree it would happen. And the ACC needs it to happen. We have handicaps that no other P5 league has. That means that more than others we need our teams that can have thew largest national TV drawing power to be bowl eligible every year and to play in the ACC championship every year.

The schools that I think fall into that category are FSU, Miami, Clemson, UNC, VT, Louisville, and GT.

When Miami is Top 10, its national TV power is huge, but it still rarely averages more than 60,000 per game. GT's game fan base is never going to grow, and its TV drawing power is also limited, able to rise only if it can beat UGA as much as Richt as beaten GT. UNC has the most growth potential in terms of both fans at games and national TV drawing power, and I think Louisville may be 2nd in that category.

 

[Tigertown_a_Rick]

Originally posted by TarHeelNation11:
Good writeup. First, let me answer the question in your thread title: I believe the ACC is trending towards have's and have-not's but I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think it is a good thing for the league. My thoughts are listed below:

- you're right, FSU and Clemson are carrying the conference right now. This is indisputable. They both just finished with Top 5 classes (again); both schools continue to kill it on the recruiting trail.

- the league is shifting, IMO, into a have's vs. have-not's dynamic. The definite have's right now are Clemson and FSU. It's a bit more debatable, but I'd also loosely classify Louisville as a have (or at least, they're trending towards the 'have' category).

- There are several have-not's: Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia, and Pittsburgh (I do not share your optimism of Pitt. IMO, that is a program clinging on to bowl eligibility for the foreseeable future due to geographic, economic, academic, and population shift factors).

- Then there are the tweeners....and these schools will show in the upcoming two seasons whether they are going to join the have's or sink down to the have-not's. NC State (you can't deny the way they finished the season and the turnaround in recruiting under Doeren.....which ain't saying a lot, given TOB's classes), Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech (despite their great season last year), and Duke.

- IMO, of these 7 tweeners, I believe VT is the only one that's definitely trending down. Their Bobby Bowden-esque situation with Frank Beamer is imminent and it will be messy. That program is going to be a shell of it's 90's and 00's self by 2018.

- The rest are up in the air. An argument can be made about whether each is trending up or down. I'd like to say Carolina is trending up (but who really knows with UNC football) as well as GT, BC, Miami, and possibly NC State.

- IMO, the league needs to evolve (or devolve, depending on how you look at it) into a have's and have-not's dynamic. The league needs 3 very strong (Top 20, if possible) teams in each division. Then, if a team from either division can crack the bottom 5 of the Top 25 as well, then that's even better. I think that this will happen. As has been mentioned ad nauseam, Miami needs to get back to the old Miami. Don't count on VT, they're done IMO.

- Keep in mind though, that the ACC has crippling factors that will always keep it from ever becoming the best football league. The schools, on average, are far too small, compared to other conferences. Too many of the schools are private, and too many have alumni scattered throughout the country, thus hampering home attendance when coupled with the fact that some of these schools aren't prone to bandwagon fans (for example, GT, Pitt, Syracuse, Duke, Miami, and even UNC).

So the outlook is decent, better than it was, but I don't think it's great yet. I won't believe the ACC is capable of becoming a great football conference until I see it.

Good points as usual TN-11!

The Have and Have Nots as you mentioned is a factor in all the other P5 conferences, and agree with you that there are tweeners in every conference as well....

The point you made about the Private schools in the ACC which are smaller with smaller venues, is a big factor that probably will never be overcome by those schools, due to smaller alumni bases as well....

I would really like to see the impact of what an ACC Network would do for the conference, and how that would affect the schools in this conference...I think it would be very positive as far as being able to cover even more ACC teams throughout the footprint, while also expanding the number of eyes that would be interested in watching an ACC sporting event....

I don't know if I really agree about the Va Tech situation?....I don't like the Hokies or their fans, but Beamer has built a reputable football program, so it's hard for me to imagine a big dropoff when he leaves, but that of course really depends on whether or not the DC gets the job, or whether they bring in another quality coach?

As for the other schools, I agree that it's hard to say that Ga Tech, Duke or NC State are going to be competitive every year because that hasn't necessarily been the case in the recent past with maybe the exception of Ga. Tech, which has finished at or near the top of the Coastal since Johnson has been there....Ga. Tech is in the perfect geographic area to make even more strides than they have, and as mentioned above, beating Georgia on a regular basis along with another SEC team every chance they get, will do wonders for their recruiting in Georgia....Look at the impact it made this recruiting cycle, which most say is Johnson's best....Duke will be very competitive as long as Cutcliffe remains, and much like the Yellowjackets they are doing much better of late with their recruiting too....Players as we all know, matter....Doren's first year at the helm of the Wolfpack was very surprising, but a lot of that can be attributed to a QB who played like a veteran in his only season under center....Guess that's why the Florida Gators recruited, and signed him out of High School....If you look at the Present situation at all 3 of those schools, a person that has followed the ACC for a while, would have to admit that those teams appear to be trending upward, based on their most recent recruiting class?....It pains me to say that because these are 3 teams that North Carolina needs to beat every season....We beat 2 out of the 3 this year, and those were Coastal opponents, but we also need to beat the Wolfpack every year too in order to keep an edge in the in-state recruiting against the Wolfpack...

You do make some good points about the Pitt program, and it didn't help them that Penn State plucked a couple of their best recruits near the end of the cycle, but Narduzzi is from that area(Youngstown Ohio), and that's a plus when it comes to recruiting in Ohio and Pennsylvania...Not to mention, he recently convinced the Arkansas OC to join him on the staff...Why would an O Coordinator from the SEC switch to an ACC school from the NE?....If Narduzzi can turn the Pitt defense into a power like he did as an assistant at Mich State, the Panthers can climb back to respectability?....At the moment, there are a lot of challenges for the Panthers that you highlighted, and a lot of those will have to be overcome before that can happen, so the jury is out until we see Narduzzi coach his first season in the ACC?

In my opening post, I really didn't discuss Virginia who was very competitive early last year before spiraling downward midway thru the season...To say London's seat is hot, would be a huge understatement at this point....The Wahoos will have an opportunity to impress the doubters early this coming season with 2 big OOC games at UCLA and the game against Boise State....Win both those games, and their season could get a big momentum spike....There's just so many atheletes in the Tidewater to DC corridor that UVA should be tough every year...We'll know more after those 2 OOC games, this year?

I agree that ACC Football will have a very difficult if not downright impossible chance of passing the SEC with a lot of the built-in advantages that the SEC currently enjoys....It was nice to see the ACC finishing behind the SEC in terms of the overall conference recruiting rankings, which is a good trend that I hope continues....

I think that Miami's Golden has been given more time to see what his team can do after the Sanctions have been lifted, since he's been coaching under that dark cloud the whole time he's been there....Of course, I don't think that he did himself any favors by keeping most of his present coaching staff, most notably the DC D'norfrio(sp?)....The Canes returrn a very talented Soph QB, but will need to find another stud RB with Duke Johnson NFL bound?....I think the Cane offense will produce this year, but the question will be can their defense stop anybody?....If not, there will be a house cleaning at the end of the 15' season, which probably won't be a bad thing in the end for the Hurrricanes or their fans....

At the moment, there appears to be 4 ACC teams(Clemson,FSU,Ga.Tech and Louisville)that appear to be top-tiered teams heading into the 2015 season....

I like other Tarheel fans hope that all this NCAA mess is behind us, or will be in the near future, so future negative recruiting by rivals, can be overcome by UNC Coaches who should emphasize the changes that have been made by the University to ensure there will NEVER be another Academic issue EVER again at North Carolina for Student Atheletes.....Hopefully, kids will be smart enough to realize that UNC has learned from the mistakes that were made, and future Academics for the student athelete at North Carolina will be far superior to what other schools have to offer, when they are thinking about signing their Letter of Intent....

Fans like myself and a whole lot of other Tarheel fans have waited long enough for this Football Program to be what it was when Mack Brown left town, and it's past time to start seeing the results on the field....

 

[Raising Heel]

Good thread, but a few points of clarification.

Doreen is entering her third season at moo, not second. Also, Brissett was a junior last year and returns this season.

Miami has not recruited poorly under Golden. Not sure where that's coming from.

2015 - 26
2014 - 12
2013 - 20
2012 - 9
2011 - 36

The biggest problems for teams in the Atlantic are Florida State and Clemson. I like THN's "have/have nots" concept because nowhere is it more pronounced than that division. Both teams finally have the coaching and recruits in place that they simply aren't losing to inferior teams, certainly not at the rate they did at the beginning of Jimbo's and Dabo's tenure. Louisville just isn't there yet, although give Petrino time and he might challenge them. The other schools in that division might catch a break here and there, but the Boston Colleges and NC States just don't have the staying power to stay in the conversation on a yearly basis. I don't see that changing any time soon. Wake and Syracuse? Ugh.

The Coastal remains a toss up. GT's offense is beyond formidable with Thomas at QB -- #1 in the ACC in points per game, yards per game, yards per play (both carries and pass attempts), 3rd down conversions, etc. They've got the hot hand entering the season and the defense just has to be respectable for them to succeed. Everyone else except dook is vulnerable right now because of coaching instability, scholarship reductions, or some combination of the two. VT will always relevant with Bud Foster coaching defense. Miami and UNC can't seem to get out of their own way. Mike London is set up for a fall with Virginia's brutal OOC schedule next year. He won't make it through the season, and it'll be interesting to see how that team responds. Pitt is a complete question mark with the new coaching staff. And I think dook regresses to the fight for .500 after losing some key components of their run over the last couple seasons.