RSS College Football Preview Series - ACC

Written by Matt Yoder | 24 July 2010

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We have finally reached the endzone on this 99 yard journey through the BCS conferences as we end with the ACC in Part VI of our RSS College Football Preview Series. Another one of the excellent blogs here at Bloguin is represented with Corey Gallagher of The North Endzone joining us for the finale. TNE covers all things Virginia Tech football and the Hokies should be one of the favorites to lift the ACC title at the end of the year. However, Georgia Tech's triple option and the resurrection of The U will make for one of the more wide open conference races in America..

1) What is the outlook for Virginia Tech in 2010?
For the first time since Michael Vick, we’ve got actual talent on offense. Granted, it'll probably be wasted by our Offensive Coordinator. We finished 50th in the nation in total offense last year which was our highest ranking since 2003, when we were a whopping 38th. But we’re still optimistic! Our running backs Darren Evans and Ryan "RMFW" Williams will make national news, and Williams is a possible Heisman contender. Tyrod Taylor will need to show more leadership under center if the Hokies want to have that “special” kind of season. And of course, our defense will be as nasty as always (ranked in the top 15 six years straight). The fact that Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster stays in Blacksburg still confounds us. After an opening weekend match-up with Boise State, the schedule is very favorable. We dodge Clemson and Florida State this year, and away games include Boston College, NC State, and Miami. Not easy, but certainly not as bad as it could be.

2) What is the one ACC game to circle on our calendars?
November 13th, Florida State at Clemson – There are a ton of huge games on the Coastal side of the conference all year long, but the Atlantic will like have only one to rule them all. With the other four teams in the division looking pretty lousy, this late-season matchup could decide which Atlantic team gets crushed in the ACC Championship Game.

3) Which coach is on the hottest seat?

friedge

While Randy Shannon needs to show he can do more than wear a visor, Ralph Friedgen is sweating like… well, like Ralph Friedgen (our only fat joke this post, promise). To be fair, this guy kept his job after going 2-10 last year, including an overtime win over JMU. We’re not sure what kind of dark magic he conjured up to continue coaching (answer: iron-clad contract and a broke athletic department), but if he can’t get a pull out another miracle and get to 8 wins or so, he’s out the door before the bowl games start.

4) What team could surprise/disappoint this year in the ACC?
As usual, there’s plenty of talk surrounding Miami and how they’re “OMG GETTING THEIR SWAGGER BACK!” It hasn’t happened in the past 5 years, and it won’t happen this year. Be sure to look for tons of hype from ESPN. Hopefully, an early season demolishing at the hands of Ohio State will squash any swagger talk. Want swagger? Go pick up Flogging Molly’s first album. Shit is off the chain.

5) Who is one player to watch this season?
As much as we’d like to go with our own RMFW, Joshua Nesbitt of Georgia Tech should be something special. Playing in that gimmicky option offense (gimmicky because we can’t beat it ourselves), the dude had 28 touchdowns last year (18 rushing, 10 passing). He’s been hampered by an ankle injury all spring, but should be fine for the fall. That is, until Frank Beamer goes all Misery on him.

6) What impact does this year's realignment have on the ACC? What do you think the conference might look like in 5-10 years?
In reference to the ACC, most of the realignment talk involves teams being plucked by the SEC. Of course, everyone mentions schools that make sense geographically, such as Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Florida State. As super-successful-business men here at The North End Zone, we think that taking those teams would be a terrible business decision for the SEC. They already own plenty of market- share in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and taking any more teams from those areas would only mean splitting up similar revenues among more teams.

A more profitable move would be expanding north and taking Maryland, Virginia Tech, Virginia, or one of the North Carolina schools. Our money is on Maryland, since VT and UVA will likely have to move together or not at all. And no one likes UVA. In 10 years, we predict you’ll see a very different ACC. While the conference won’t be completely raided by the SEC, don’t be surprised to see one or two jump ship. After that, the ACC will likely call up a few teams from its minor league system, and the Big East will be decimated yet again.

7) Who's your pick to win the ACC?
Virginia Tech (duh) – Look, we know we’re a VT blog and all, but this has got to be the safest bet out there. We’ve been in the league for 6 years and we’ve won it 3 times, including a loss in the first championship game. Picking Tech to win is basically a coin flip. Once again, our biggest competition comes from Georgia Tech. The Thursday night showdown in Blacksburg on November 4th will go a long way to determine who gets to play some crappy Big East team in the Orange Bowl. Not that it matters, but we are picking Florida State as our opponent in the ACC Championship Game. BC is in disarray, Clemson is Clemson, and we’re not sure if there are actually any other teams on that side of the conference.

We hope you've enjoyed our trip around the college football world. We'll have a recap of each of our conference previews posted soon. We'll also be taking part in our own Bloguin College Football Roundtable with our friends at Leftover Hot Dog, who provided our SEC preview. This time, we get to give our selections for every conference as well as our early Heisman favorite. Check that out at the beginning of next week!