Pre Season Previews: ACC Conference

In my last Pre Season Preview, i talked about the rise of the Big East in the last couple of years. This Preview is about a conference sliding the opposite direction the last few years, the ACC. In their first year after adding Miami and Va. Tech, Va. Tech took the conference with a pretty good 10-2 record and lost to a really good Auburn team in the Sugar Bowl.

In 2005, a mediocre Florida State team took the conference with a paltry 8-4 record, the most losses by a BCS Conference champ since 2002, when Florida State again won the ACC with four losses. In fact, those two teams are the only four loss BCS Conference Champs in the last 10 years. FSU lost in the Orange Bowl that year to Penn State.

In 2006, somehow the Wake Forest Demon Deacons won the conference, managing to go 10-2 and making it to the Orange Bowl, where they were defeated by Louisville. While 10-2 sounds like a good record, the ACC was not good last year. In fact, since it was labeled as becoming a 'super-power' when it took on Miami and Va. Tech, the conference has not fared well. FSU and Miami have both gone through a downturn in recent years, and Va. Tech has slipped just a bit from its National Championship contending days.

Team To Beat: Va. Tech
Tech has all the tools to win this conference, and that is before you add to the mix the factor of the team and fans banding together because of the tragic campus shootings earlier in the year. Their schedule looks very favorable, with the exception of the second game of the year at LSU. They get their two biggest challengers, FSU and Miami, both at home, albeit in consecutive weeks. Regardless, they should be the team to beat in the conference and look for them to have only one or two losses heading into the conference championship game.

Surprising Team: North Carolina
That's right folks, I'm picking the ol' Tar Heels to surprise some people in the ACC this year. This is my first, real, go-out-on-limb pick, but i think it has some merit. First, a new coach. Carolina did a smart thing and brought in former Cleveland Browns and U. of Miami head coach Butch Davis. And while Davis wasn't great in the pros (how many college coaches are?), he put together a National Championship caliber team while he was at Miami. And while Carolina is no Miami, i still think Davis can instill some confidence and provide a winning attitude in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels get Miami at home, and perhaps more importantly avoid FSU altogether. Many people are picking Carolina to finish near the bottom of the ACC, but i think they can win 6-7 games and possibly get to a bowl game.

Disappointing Team: Florida State
FSU is once again expecting big things from its football team, and while i think they will be good, they won't be anywhere near as good as they should be or as they have been in the past. As i've mentioned, FSU has slipped the last few years, based on a number of reasons, not the least of which i believe is Bobby Bowden's determination not to leave the sidelines until he dies. I understand that he's a great coach, but he is getting awfully old and his aww-shucks, good ol' boy persona is wearing thin. Not to mention the fact that he hasn't been able to pull a quality quarterback recruit to his program in about five years. FSU has a brutal schedule, with games at Clemson (against Bowdens son), at Va. Tech, at Wake Forest, and at Florida, plus a 'neutral' game against Alabama in Jacksonville. Add all that up, and you have another 4-5 loss season for the Seminoles, which is not a good year in Tallahassee.

League MVP: Toss-up
The best player on the best team? Hard to say at this point, as there are no clear-cut superstars or Heisman hopefuls returning in the ACC. I'll say Brandon Ore from Va. Tech, if for no other reason than their quarterback will be a first-year starter and Ore should get the ball early and often. He will be the main playmaker on a team that should run through the league, so will probably get rewarded for it. That said, look for an unknown guy to make a big splash at either FSU at Miami, as typically happens.