2009 College Football Betting: ACC Atlantic Conference Preview

2009 College Football Betting - ACC Atlantic Conference Preview
ACC Atlantic preview courtesy of Alex Smart, A professional sports handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are interested in college football betting this season, be sure to check out all of Alex Smart’s expert betting predictions at Touthouse.com

Florida State Seminoles (9-4, 6-4-1 ATS in 2008, +120 to win ACC Atlantic) HC Bobby Bowden may be in his farewell tour in the year that he will turn 80. QB Christian Ponder will be making his second go-around as the starting quarterback, but he has an entirely new set of skills players to get used to. The good news is that all five offensive linemen are returning starters. DC Mickie Andrews may only have five returning starters, but the Noles are always deep with quick defensive talent.

North Carolina State Wolfpack (6-7, 9-2-1 ATS in 2008, +200 to win ACC Atlantic) Whether the Wolfpack succeed in 2009 or not will depend on the arm of QB Russell Wilson. The super sophomore only threw for 1,955 yards last season, but he is the answer to a tremendous trivia question. What quarterback led the nation in touchdown to interception ratio? Not Bradford. Not Tebow. Not McCoy. It was Russell Wilson, who had 17 tuddies against just one interception. If he takes care of the football this season, the seven returning starters on defense should be able to carry this team to a lot of victories.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-5, 6-6 ATS in 2008, +300 to win ACC Atlantic) QB Riley Skinner will be in his fourth year as a starting quarterback, but the team around him just doesn’t seem to be as strong as it once was. The Deacs only have four returning starters from a fantastic defense which allowed just 18.3 points per game last season, and they also have a brutal schedule which features a stretch of five games at Clemson, at Navy, vs. Miami, at Georgia Tech, and vs. Florida State.

Clemson Tigers (7-6, 4-7 ATS in 2008, +350 to win ACC Atlantic) The Tigers will probably look to pound the football again this season behind senior RB CJ Spiller. Spiller ran for 668 yards last season, but he also chipped in 34 receptions for 436 yards. He’ll be a great weapon to use for returning starting QB Willy Korn. A defense which returns eight starters should be formidable once again.

Maryland Terrapins (8-5, 6-6- ATS in 2008, +800 to win ACC Atlantic) The Terps return an ACC-worst nine starters from a year ago, which will probably make this season a very difficult one for HC Ralph Friedgen and the gang. Add that to a schedule which includes road games at Cal, Wake Forest, NC State, and Florida State, and the recipe just isn’t there for another bowl bid.

Boston College Eagles (9-5, 6-6 ATS in 2008, +3000 to win ACC Atlantic) Boston College may be the two-time defending champion of the ACC Atlantic division, but it is going to have a massive hill to climb if it hopes to three-peat. Thirteen starters may return, but trying to replace DT BJ Raji and LBs Mark Herzlich and Brian Toal may prove impossible. Finding wins after games against Northeastern and Kent State to start the year is going to be a difficult task.