Monday, September 29, 2008

Would somebody please explain the ACC?

Florida State couldn't figure out who was on their team and who was on the opposing team a week ago against Wake Forest. Saturday, they manhandled Colorado, an undefeated team out of the Big 12.

That same Wake Forest team that looked like the best team in the ACC the first month of the season couldn't stop Navy and couldn't stop throwing interceptions to Navy.

This, by the way, was the same Navy team that Duke, 3-1 after beating Virginia, dominated in the second half a couple of weeks earlier.

Virginia Tech, who looked horrible offensively against UNC and won a game they shouldn't have, couldn't be stopped at Nebraska.

UNC, playing their 2nd string and then their 3rd string quarterback, beat a Miami team on the road that had just beat up Texas A&M on the road and seemed to be coming together.

And Clemson, the preseason favorite? They lost to a Maryland team that, in successive weeks, lost to Middle Tennessee State and beat nationally-ranked California.

I was going to fill out a power poll for the ACC Nation blog and podcast this weekend. However, I never could figure out what to put down. Virginia is clearly the bottom of the league, with NC State probably just ahead of them, though more because of injury problems than anything else. After that, how do you rank 1-10?

What is seemingly clear is that there is no dominant team in the ACC right now. That is good in that it makes for exciting games every weekend. However, I am not sure that helps the ACC in terms of national reputation. You look at this week's polls, there is not an ACC team ranked inside the top 20. That does not bode well for a supposed "power conference". I know that everybody talks about how the SEC teams beat up on one another. However, those our recognized top 10 teams beating up on one another. Right now, the ACC needs a team that can rise to the top and put attention back to the league as a legitimate power conference. It may not be as fun for the conference in the short term, but I think the long-term benefit for the conference would be huge.

By the way, did I mention that Duke is 3-1?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As an FYI....ESPN does have VT ranked 20th :)

Except for giving one away to ECU, VT would be undefeated. They have proven to get better each week, just ask Nebraska. For some reason though the rest of the league mirrors the economy :)

Are you up for some fall golf?