Today and today only, you get two blogs for the price of one. Or, I'm just to lazy to break these two conferences up. These two are probably the most competitive conferences which unfortunately for them also means that they don't have a legit national championship caliber team. While Va Tech is probably the most talented of the bunch, FSU, Rutgers, WVU, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Miami and GT are all in the running to win their respective conference championships.
ACC Atlantic Division
Team | Predicted Record | Notes |
FSU | 9-3 | Going out on a limb on this one. The Sep 7th game vs Miami will let us know who the cream of the ACC is right away. They have a pretty tough non-conf slate for a big time school, with BYU, USF and Florida on the docket. Aside from Fla, I see them losing @ NC and @ Clemson. Too much talent and coaching for this team not to take the next step. |
Clemson | 8-4 | They have 4 tough road games vs GT, Miami, NC State and SC. I think they'd be lucky to win one of those. Plus they have home games vs FSU and Wake. In no way are those gimme's. Highly touted Willy Korn takes over the starting QB spot. I have some significant concerns over their offense. Their D should be near the top of the FBS. |
NC State | 7-5 | I'm a big Tom O'Brien fan. I think he builds programs the right way. I think they take another step this year and finish with a winning record. |
Wake | 7-5 | I met Jim Grobe a few months ago. I had a good talk with him. I asked him if he thought the fact that nearly everyone recruits in Florida negatively affects FSU and Miami thus leading to the lousy teams they've had in the recent past. He thought it had more to do with QB play. I found that interesting considering that Chris Weinke and Gino Torretta where Heisman winners and turned out to be fairly lousy QB's in the NFL. Great coach though. But they could be in for a scare this weekend. Baylor is for real. |
BC | 5-7 | There is no way you can change coaches like underwear and expect to maintain the same level of success year in and year out. It just doesn't work that way in college football. They lost their projected starting QB in the offseason, so I really think they'll struggle on offense. |
MD | 5-7 | Did you see that Ralph Friedgen lost 100 pounds? Not much of the way of returning starters, so I think they'll struggle this year. But the Fridge has had success when people doubt him especially with good QB play. |
ACC Coastal Division
Team | Predicted Record | Notes |
Va Tech | 10-2 | They have a legit shot to upset Alabama this weekend, but they'd have a better shot if Darren Evans wasn't out for the year. Frank Beamer is one of the best in the business, so he'll get someone to step up. On a side note, I have an friend, whose son plays for this team. We watched his sons high school football team win the MD state championship. Great game. I see them losing to Bama and @GT. Otherwise, their D, special teams and Tyrod Taylor are still good enough to carry them through the ACC. |
GT | 9-3 | Paul Johnson is turning out to be a pretty good football coach. Surprised? I'm not sure why, the guy turned basically a FCS team into a team that beat Notre Dame for the first time since WWII. So to see him win in the ACC isn't surprising. One more year in his system plus two recruiting classes with his type of guys should lead to even more success. I see L's vs Miami, FSU and the Bulldogs. |
Miami | 8-4 | I think the Hurricanes will struggle early with the tough part of their schedule, but I can see them getting hot towards the end of the season. L's to FSU, OU, Va Tech and Wake . |
NC | 6-6 | I think I might be off on this team, but usually teams that improve 3+ games fall back a little the next year. They are getting more and more talented every year under Butch Davis, but I see L's vs GT, FSU, VT, Miami, BC and NC State. |
UVA | 4-8 | I'm hoping they finish 4-8 and lose to VT just so Al Groh finally gets fired. |
Duke | 3-9 | This is probably a better team than Cutcliffe had last year, but they have a tougher schedule. 15 years since their last bowl game. Wow. |
Odds to Win Conf Championship ACC
Team | Odds to Win |
Va Tech | +200 |
FSU | +230 |
Clemson | +350 |
Miami | +450 |
NC | +540 |
GT | +580 |
Outside of Va Tech and FSU, I think any of these bets are pretty quality. The ACC is definitely wide open, so getting better than 3-1 for one of the top 5 or 6 teams seems like a good bet to me. My favorites are GT and Miami.
Team | Wins | Odds Over | Odds Under |
Va Tech | 9.5 | +150 | -190 |
FSU | 8 | +190 | -250 |
Clemson | 8.5 | +105 | -135 |
Miami | 8 | +180 | -240 |
NC | 8.5 | +160 | -210 |
GT | 8.5 | -105 | -125 |
Maryland | 6 | +170 | -220 |
NC State | 8 | +200 | -260 |
Boy, I expected to see some good one's here, but this is probably the worst lines I've seen.
Big East
Team | Predicted Record | Notes |
Rutgers | 10-2 | Their schedule works out better than the other Big East competitors. I don't think they are drastically better than USF, Pitt or WVU, but playing your tough games at home sure does help. |
Pitt | 8-4 | Losing a player like Leshon McCoy is a big shot to the system. They've never really lived up to they hype of the talent they've recruited, but I still think they'll have a solid year. L's to NC State, Rutgers, ND and WVU. |
USF | 8-4 | A talented team that seems to recruit freakish athletes at the DE position like it's no big deal. Grothe is back for what feels like his 6th season, so this team has a chance in every game they play in. He also makes some dumb mistakes, so the other team is always in it as well. L's vs FSU, Pitt, Rutgers and Miami. |
WVU | 8-4 | No Pat White, but they do have his brother. Maybe they should have talked to Va Tech before they went ahead and recruited him and asked them how Marcus Vick turned out. I think we'll see a steady decline under Bill Stewart. There is usually a reason why a good coaches, takes all the assistants with him except for 1 or 2. Those are the lousy one's. L's vs Auburn, USF, Cinci and Rutgers. |
Cinci | 6-6 | They've won 21 games over the last 2 seasons. They have to be the most under the radar team that has won 21 games over the last 2 years. How is Brian Kelly still coaching here, when Tennessee hired a head coach with zero experience? If he can somehow do it again, the choice job is really up to him. L's vs Rutgers, Oregon St., USF, WVU, Illinois, Pitt. |
UCONN | 4-8 | I'd love to see them beat Notre Dame, but I don't think they can do it this year. |
Louisville | 3-9 | Kragthorpe won't even make it till home coming. He walked into a terrible situation following Petrino and his shenanigans. How was he to know that Petrino cared little about police reports or report cards? He'll get another shot. |
Syracuse | 2-10 | The Gophers open at the Orange. I guess their head coach thinks this is the best job in the FBS, so they have that going for them. This is the same guy who lead the NO Saints offense to the top of the NFL, but wasn't able to get into the playoffs. Another year of futility awaits. |
Odds to Win Conf Championship Big East
Team | Odds to Win |
Pitt | +230 |
WVU | +230 |
USF | +230 |
Rutgers | +450 |
Cinci | +700 |
Uconn | +700 |
Vegas is literally just guessing here. I obviously like Rutgers at 4.5 to one. Not bad odds on the other top 3 teams.
Team | Wins | Odds Over | Odds Under |
Pitt | 7.5 | -165 | +130 |
WVU | 8.5 | Even | -130 |
USF | 8 | -110 | -120 |
Rutgers | 8 | -300 | +220 |
Uconn | 8.5 | +185 | -245 |
Even less to get excited about here. Tell me, doesn't it seem weird that Rutgers is essentially picked 4th by Vegas to win the conference, but the odds for them to win 8 games is at -300?
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