Most Important ACC Football Games, Part 1
It is a given that ACC football does not have a great reputation. Those of us who know the league well, know that ACC football is much better than what the average fan of other conferences is willing, or able, to concede.
The lingering negative view is based primarily on two factors: One, the ACC is seen as a basketball league (five NCAA championships in 10 years), which most hardcore college football fans equate with weak football. And two, the ACC has not had a National Championship contender in football since 2000.
Those two combined factors equal that even when computers rank the ACC the third best football conference, or when we have an NCAA record 10 bowl teams in one year, or when we are .500 against the SEC that is seen almost universally as far and away the best football conference, general college football fans continue to think of ACC football as weak.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
In addition to that perception having an invalid basis, it also involves more than rank hatred. Certain journalists go out of their way, year after year, to bash ACC football.
Considering both that no ACC football team has the kind of super talent on both sides of the ball that we have seen on recent National Championship teams, and also that the league is very deep without a string of true little sisters of the poor (which means guaranteed wins), it is highly unlikely that any ACC team will be in the national title hunt come mid November.
The deep ACC will beat itself up yet again.
Because casual fans rarely realize that depth of talent makes for high quality football as they focus on the national title game and perhaps BCS bowls and Top 10 finishes, ACC football probably cannot increase its general reputation this year in the most obvious ways: with another football National Champ or by two BCS bowl wins.
There is, however, something that ACC football teams can do to shake some other-league fans into realizing the quality depth that defines ACC football.
They can win in out-of-conference games.
While some conferences rightly have a reputation for going to great lengths to play almost nobody out of conference, the ACC plays a tough OOC slate annually. If ACC teams can win most of those big non-conference games, fans will take notice. Win enough of them, and the various talking heads on TV will have to pay the ACC some respect. Then casual fan will hear that, however begrudgingly.
Below is my ranking of the Most Important Games for ACC Football in 2010, and they are all non-conference matches. It is these regular season games, not Florida State-Miami or UNC-VT or GT-Clemson, that will either bolster or compromise ACC football's reputation.
This list is a count down.
20. (Tie) Navy at Maryland, 6 September
The Terps were the worst ACC team last year, and Navy is a well-oiled machine that can play with anyone. Even so, a Middies win will bring out the anti-ACC journalists, who will proclaim that the game proves the ACC is weaker than non-BCS leagues.
20. (Tie) Virginia at Southern California, 11 September
The Trojans certainly will not have the talent they had five years ago, nor even as much experience as last year. But the Trojans will be ranked as high as Top 5 in some polls, and the Cavaliers may well be the worst ACC team this year. If the Wahoos can keep the game close for 3 quarters, it will be a moral victory that bodes well for the future.
20. (Tie) BC at Syracuse, 27 November
Syracuse has been down so long it seems like a permanent status, but the Orange made some small improvements last year and could be poised for a season of steady gains. If so, that will makeSyracuse very dangerous to close the year. BC has a solid Defense and OL and a fine RB. BC could be the sleeper in the Atlantic division, and this game could determine if the Eagles go bowling as a ranked team.
19. South Florida at Miami, 27 November
New Bulls coach Skip Holtz proved at ECU that he can win championships and upset ACC teams. He takes over a program that has had only one coach in its history and has tended to start strong and finish poorly. Holtz will highlight the Miami game for his team. Miami, whether it has won the Atlantic and is ranked Top 10 or has flopped to only seven wins, needs to handle the Bulls to close the regular season on a high note and to douse USF’s recruiting in its backyard.
18. Georgia Tech at Kansas, 11 September
The Jayhawks are only two years removed from an Orange Bowl victory, but the program imploded last year. New coach Turner Gill gets his first big test trying to stop Paul Johnson’s option. A Jackets loss in Lawrence would signal that the two losses in last season’s final three games better expressed the GT team than did the first 11 games. GT opens its ACC slate the next Saturday in Chapel Hill, which makes this game the necessary tuneup for a rugged season.
17 Wake Forrest at Vanderbilt, 27 November
The ACC’s smallest school versus the SEC’s smallest (and only private) school to close the season could determine whether either finishes bowl eligible. It also will help to gauge how strong the ACC is compared to the SEC. Considering how the ACC and SEC overlap, this is the most important comparison for the ACC.
16. Alabama at Duke, 18 September
The average college fan under age 70 has no idea that Wallace Wade left Bama—after leading the Tide to three Rose Bowls and three National Championships—to coach Duke. Nor does that average fan know that Duke was once Bama’s peer, playing in Rose Bowls. While the defending National Champs—who will be the consensus No. 1 pre-season and could be 12-0 at the close of a third straight regular season—have the talent to skunk the Blue Devils, the fact is that David Cutcliffe is slowly building the best Duke program since the Steve Spurrier days. If the Devils play smart and tough football against the Crimson Tide, they may have what it takes to sneak into a bowl.
15. Cincinnati at North Carolina State, 16 September
Tom O’Brien has yet to take the Wolf Pack to a bowl, but last year the Wolf Pack upset Pitt. For O'Brien to keep his detractors at bay, he needs to upset the two-time defending BE champs (under new coach Butch Jones, fresh from a MAC championship with Central Michigan). This also might prove necessary for NCSU to reach a bowl, which Wolf Pack fans want badly.
14. Maryland at West Virginia, 18 September
Ralph Friedgen’s career at his Alma Mater began with back-to-back-to-back double-digit-win seasons. That brilliant start was followed by four losing teams in six seasons, with last year’s team limping to 2-10. WVU has two BCS bowl wins in the last five years. A win over such a border-state rival would be huge for the Fridge and the rebuilding Terrapins.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
