Most Important ACC Football Games, Part 2

If you have not already, see Part 1: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/410774-most-important-acc-football-games-part-1

13. Wake Forest at Stanford, 18 September

Jim Harbaugh is building the best Stanford program since Jim Plunkett won the Heisman and the Cardinal went to back to back Rose Bowls. Even so, last year Jim Grobe and the Demon Deacons defeated Stanford. As the ACC schedule will again be very tough on Wake, the Stanford game may be a must for the Deacs to go bowling. The Cardinal will be ranked between 20 and 25 in a few re-season polls.

12. UNC at Rutgers, 25 September

By the time Carolina visits New Brunswick, Rutgers may be headed to the Big Ten. Whether that happens, there is little doubt that Greg Schiano has built the best program in Rutgers’ history. The Scarlet Knights have too many holes this year to win the BE (see the OL), but they should earn another bowl. A Tar Heel loss would either undo the good from a season opening win or compound a loss to LSU, making the ACC look bad.

11. BYU at FSU, 18 September

Along with Boise St, Utah, and TCU, BYU is a premier non-BCS football program, one that can reach a BCS bowl and be respected in the polls. If FSU is going to revive its reputation as a national power, it must beat the Cougars. As this game comes the week after the Noles visit OU, it will mark FSU as either back on the scene or as still struggling to regain its footing.

10. South Carolina at Clemson, 27 November

Last year, first year coach Dabo Swinney thrilled Tigers fans by winning the Atlantic division, only to lose the season finale to South Carolina. That trade-off always gores the ACC, and it will not pacify Clemson fans. As with the FSU-UF and GT-UGA games, this rivalry closes the regular season and so is the last thing fans and sports journalists remember. Clemson expects to own it. Back to back losses to the Gamecocks and brash coach Steve Spurrier, and Swinney will feel some heat.

9.Notre Dame at BC, 2 October

The Irish are the Irish, the nation’s largest national TV fan base, and BC, to most college football fans, is just that other Catholic school that plays major college football. Charlie Weis managed to snap the ND losing streak to BC last year, and Brian Kelly, a Massachusetts native who has won D2 national titles and who guided his final two Cincinnati teams to BE titles and BCS bowls, will circle this game as a season-maker. If the Eagles win, Frank Spaziani will feel some security from the notoriously tough BC crowd; if the Eagles lose, Spaziani will be compared unfavorably to native son Kelly, and the ACC and BC will both be trashed for losing to an inferior Notre Dame team. The good news for BC is that Mark Herzlich should be returned from cancer and terrorizing opponents for what may be the smartest playing Defense in the ACC.

8 Miami at Pitt, 23 September.

Miami has added next to nothing to ACC football so far, which goes beyond painful for an ACC fan, all the way to downright funny, considering the All Canes Conference boasts about how Miami would dominate ACC football more than FSU did in the 1990s. Dave Wannstedt has assembled the most talent in the BE, and Pitt, the only BE team that will be ranked, will be a nearly universal pick to win the conference. A Miami win, while not as big as a win against the Buckeyes, will signal both the resurgence of Canes football and the quality of the ACC.

7. Clemson at Auburn, 18 September

ACC Tigers at SEC Tigers, each coach in his second year following a successful debut. This road win would mark Dabo Swinney as an up and comer and position Clemson back toward the forefront ofDeep South teams. As Clemson recruits GA and north FL as heavily as does Auburn, the game has long term ramifications. Auburn will be ranked between 21 and 25 in a few pre-season polls.

6. Georgia Tech at Georgia, 27 November

Last year, the Yellow Jackets allowed their dream regular season to burst in the last game with a home loss to the Bulldogs. A Yellow Jackets Orange Bowl loss to Iowa further ruined the taste of an ACC championship and cast aspersions on ACC football. For ACC football to be respected, ACC teams must beat SEC teams. That goes double for in-state SEC rivals, and the Bulldogs have owned the Jackets this century. In most pre-season polls, Georgia will be ranked between 15 and 20.

5. Florida State at Oklahoma, 11 September

Oklahoma  has the most wins and the highest winning percentage since WW2, and the Sooners, who have as good a shot to win the Big 12 as anybody, are extremely tough in Norman. The Sooners will be pre-season Top 10 in all polls, Top 5 in many. An early season upset by the Noles would be a huge boon to the prestige of ACC football and would mark the major resurgence of Florida State.

4. Miami at Ohio State, 11 September

Miami  went flat at about the same time its archrival FSU went flat, and the failures of that pair have made it easy for people to see ACC football as poor. Miami, which travels to bowls poorly and has been among the bottom third of the ACC in attendance each year since joining, can redeem itself and finally show its value to the ACC with a road win over the prohibitive favorite to win the Big Ten, a team many see as having a good chance to reach the BCS National Championship. Ohio State will start the season Top 5 in most polls, perhaps #1 in a poll or two. The Canes have the talent and experience to win the ACC and be a Top 10 team, but is Randy Shannon the coach who can bring it all together?

3. Virginia Tech versus Boise State at Landover, MD, 6 September

The Seminoles and Hurricanes have stumbled badly for the better part of a decade, and the Hokies have picked up the pieces for ACC football. Yes, the Hokies have choked away opportunities, but if the ACC had landed Syracuse instead of VPI, much of the nation now would be assured that the ACC should lose its BCS AQ slot. Boise State, which will be pre-season Top 10 in all polls, and Top 5 in some, has 2 BCS bowl wins in the past 4 years and could be in the National title chase come November, as long as the Broncos beat the Hokies. A win by VT, which will be the highest ranked ACC team to start the season, will allow the ACC to see the Top 5 early.

2. Florida at Florida State, 27 November

Bobby Bowden hung on a few years too long. He ended his great career with a series of underachieving teams while Urban Meyer brought two National titles to Gainesville. Jimbo Fisher should have one of the nation’s most potent offenses, but the Noles’ defense was a sad case last year. An FSU win in this series would go a long way toward securing a better reputation for ACC football. In fact, almost regardless of whatever else happens, as long as Florida owns Florida State, ACC football will suffer from widespread assumption it must be weak. And while the Gators will be in their first year post-Tebow, they will be a consensus Top 10 pre-season pick.

1.  LSU versus UNC at the Georgia Dome, September 4.

These two teams are very similar: loaded with talent on defense, and facing many questions on offense. Each is going to be picked to finish anywhere from 2nd to 4^th in its division, which will be the tougher one in its conference. Each could be a Top 10 team if it solves its problems on offense and remains healthy. Because Alabama has used its season-opening wins in the Georgia Dome over ACC foes to catapult to, first, a 12-0 regular season and then to a National Championship, and because LSU has two National titles in less than a decade, a UNC win would mean great press for the ACC, and perhaps indicate that the Tar Heels, who will be pre-season ranked, are legitimate threats to take the ACC title.