ACC Football 2012: This Is the Year Florida State Proves Media Right

Good friend and colleague, Kevin McGuire of the Bleacher Report, No 2 Minute Warning and the Examiner, is at ACC Media Days. As the nation has eyes on Penn State, the Atlantic Coast Conference has been putting their players and coaches on parade. Over at the Examiner, Kevin reported the conference's media predictions:

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Florida State received 60 votes out of a possible 95 votes to run away with the ACC preseason pick. Virginia Tech received 18 votes for the ACC Championship preseason poll. Clemson, the defending champion, received 13 votes. Georgia Tech and North Carolina State also received votes. The Seminoles have not won the ACC Championship since 2005 but have been building to get back to the big stage since head coach Jimbo Fisher took over two years ago.

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The Seminoles are picked to win the league, again. It seems like clockwork that the 'Noles get predicted to win the conference and then fall short of the crown. However, this season things look to be a bit different. Certainly, the reigning ACC Champions look to be a problem for Jimbo Fisher's team, and Virginia Tech has long had a stranglehold on the conference.

For the first time since 2005 the Florida State Seminoles should be hoisting the ACC Championship Trophy over their heads. The have the league's best team returning. They have the league's best defense returning. They have an offense that is capable of both running and passing. They have a head coach who has had the time to learn what being a head coach truly means. They have a quarterback. They have a couple of bona fide stars on defense. They have solid special teams players.

In other words, the table is set. It is time for the Seminoles to eat.

The young team is growing up. The defense is not new anymore. The bulk of the roster is no longer finding their way; they have arrived on the college football stage. 2012 should be the year that Jimbo Fisher proves his worth in Tallahassee. No tough out of conference game to trip his team up like in years past. Just a clear path to get to Charlotte and no team; not even Wake Forest, should stop the third year head man.