College Football Week: Day 4

     Normally the ACC is laughable, but this year they are a great conference and will be very competitive when the bowl games come around. Let's see who's the best in the ACC this season!

Atlantic

1. Florida State 10-2 (7-1) – As many of you may know, I was really hot on the Seminoles last year. Some things just don’t change! QB E.J. Manuel will finally show everyone what he’s made of this year. The Noles have always had a solid defense and this is the year that they get their offense back on track. WR Rodney Smith is also back, so Manuel will have one of his favorite targets down field. The Noles still need to figure out the running game, but I believe that the senior Chris Thompson will give them what they need. The best part about FSU is that the defense that was number one in the ACC is back. They return most of their starters this season and the first two lines of defense are going to be scary!

Key Wins: Clemson, Virginia Tech, South Florida. Key Losses: Miami, Florida. 

2. Clemson 8-4 (6-2) – The reigning Atlantic champions are back, but not as powerful as before. They do have a lot of player returning on both sides of the ball, but I think they are going to lose a lot of close games this season. QB Tajh Boyd is the man to watch on offense. His dual threat capability will make him a hard man to match up against. The defense will have a very scary secondary, but the bight up front will be gone.

Key Wins: NC State, Georgia Tech, Maryland. Key Losses: Florida State, Virginia Tech, South Carolina.

3. North Carolina State 8-4 (5-3) – This Wolfpack team has been getting better and better throughout the years. They are honestly a dark horse for the Atlantic title. They have a killer secondary that lead the nation in interceptions last year. The scary part is that they are all back. The offense also has all their key players back from last year and should be very dangerous. The running game will be key for NC State. They didn’t have much luck last year running the ball and were only able to amount 104.9 yards a game last season. If the Wolfpack can improve on that, they are a top contender in the ACC.

Key Wins: Miami, Virginia, Maryland. Key Losses: Florida State, North Carolina, Clemson.

4. Maryland 5-7 (2-6) – The best thing that happened to this team was a change in uniforms…well and the fact I think they can win three more games this year. The defense will improve from last year because of the senior leadership. The offense will need more work though. They don’t have an experienced QB or RB so the offense will continue to suffer. It will be hard for the Terrapins to get anything going when they have to take on a lot of the toughest defenses in the land.

Key Wins: Boston College, Wake Forest, Uconn. Key Losses: Clemson, NC State, Georgia Tech.

5. Wake Forest 3-9 (2-6) – The Deacons should be an interesting team this season. They are going to be bad, but they will make every game interesting. They had a great year last year not turning over the ball and that will continue. QB Tanner Price rarely throws interceptions and should be good with the ball again. The defensive front should be very interesting as well. They have plenty of talent and depth. I expect them to improve on their run stopping numbers this season, but the pass defense will get worse.

Key Wins: Duke, Virginia, Liberty. Key Losses: Boston College, Maryland, Army.

6. Boston College 3-9 (1-7) – This year will go very wrong for this team. They really don’t have any standout players like they used to and that will really hurt them this year. The offense doesn’t have a stud player, but there are a lot of players that have been together for a while. The defense also doesn’t have a leader this season. The Eagles don’t have either Mark Herzlich or Luke Kuechly this season so the defense will regress. Overall, BC will still be rebuilding from the Matt Ryan years, but they will be a force soon.

Key Wins: Wake Forest, Maine, Army. Key Losses: Maryland, Miami, Georgia Tech.

Costal

1. Virginia Tech 11-1 (7-1) – The Hokies are always a team to watch out for in the Costal Division. This year they will be tremendous again. QB Logan Thomas can single handedly carry this team. It will help that he has one of his favorite wide outs from last season and his center. All the inexperienced players will instantly get better by playing with these core guys and will even better going into next year. The defense will be even better than last year. They pretty much have all their starters back and they will be able to stop almost everyone in the ACC. I think any other year they would win this conference, but there are so many good teams so it will be very hard.

2. Virginia 7-5 (5-3) – Last year this team had a great time in the ACC, but didn’t play so well out of conference. It will be much of the same for the Cavaliers this season. The defense will still great, but they will need some players to step up. There are a lot of young players and if they are able to get rolling they will be unstoppable. The problem is if the momentum isn’t on their side, it will be a bad year. The offense will be better this season, but they really need to improve on their fourth quarter scoring. The Cavs only averaged 3.7 points in the fourth last season and that won’t cut it. The ACC is filled with teams that can score at any time and if they can’t respond when the game really counts, they will lose. The Cavs aren’t a great team, but they will still have success in a great ACC.

Key Wins: Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami. Key Losses: TCU, Penn State, Virginia.

3. North Carolina 9-3 (5-3) – This Tarheel team will be very under rated this season. I think they have the fire power to contend in the ACC and should be a dark horse to win it. The offense is just stacked. QB Bryn Renner will really control the offense and will have a lot of opinions around him this season. The offensive line will be solid, but the center could be an issue. He’s a sophomore and if he gets in any high tension situations he could easily screw up a snap. The defensive line will be solid as well. They go two very experienced guys coming back. The secondary won’t be as good though. They still don’t have a lot of good players and they were near the bottom of the ACC last season. It will take a lot to improve that part of the defense and that will ultimately cost them the ACC.

Key Wins: Miami, NC State, Louisville. Key Losses: Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia.

4. Miami 7-5 (4-4) – The U have not been very prominent in college football for many of the past years. This year, they take a small step forward. The Hurricanes lost their inconsistent QB last year and have upgraded. Stephen Morris will be more consistent for the ‘Canes. He is inexperienced though so it will be interesting for him at times. He will have a decent running game to lean on and a good set of wide outs to throw to. The defense will also be pretty solid this year. Denzel Perry will be killing it this year. The sophomore will be able to disrupt a lot of offenses. Al Golden had a great year coaching last year and I think another off-season with this team will do the ‘Canes marvels.

Key Wins: Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Florida State. Key Losses: North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia.

5. Georgia Tech 6-6 (4-4) – The Yellow Jackets are back and they are going to be just like a broken record. Year in and year out GT has a wonderful run game, but they can pass worth a damn. Once again, that is the case this year. The Jackets will be returning two of their tailbacks from last year’s number two ranked rushing attack. They will also have the same QB as last year, but I don’t think that will make too much of a difference. The defense should be pretty good. GT will be having a lot of seasoned veterans in the secondary. That should keep the Jackets on pace to match their 2^nd place ranking in passing yards allowed that they had last year.

Key Wins: Maryland, North Carolina, Duke. Key Losses: Virginia, Miami, Georgia.  

6. Duke 2-10 (0-8) – Duke is just another school that should just stick to basketball. The Blue Devils will have a good nucleus of players coming back. The problem is that they have to play teams like Miami and Virginia Tech. WR Conner Vernon will be the star of the offense. He nearly had 1,000 yards receiving last year and now that he is in his senior year I believe he will break the 4 digit plateau the defense should be shaky and best this year. They were near the bottom of the ACC in nearly every category last year and with a lot of new talent, it will be difficult for them.

Key Wins: NC Central, Memphis. Key Losses: Georgia Tech, Miami, Wake Forest.

Championship: FSU over VT

Thanks for watching!