How Each Team In The ACC Could Win It All

Last year in the ACC was a very busy year; a three-way tie at the top of the loaded Coastal Division nearly led to a coin toss decision to choose the Division representative in the championship game. Some untimely upsets for perennial favorites Virginia Tech and Miami left a matchup between Georgia Tech and Duke University with actual conference implications, as at that point only those two schools had just 1 loss in the Coastal Division.

Now the start of the 2010 season is just a couple of months away and we could very quickly see it all happening again. There's more parity now in the ACC Coastal than there has ever been, and reason to believe the same is true of the Atlantic as well. Here's a look at how each team in the ACC could come away with the crown, in order of likelihood:

1. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets get the #1 seat on this list for the simple fact that they are the defending champions. Praise is due, and they'll have to be dethroned before they fall off the top of this list. Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson is going to make that tricky.

How They Could Win It All: rinse, repeat. The Yellow Jackets offense put up an unfathomable 5,910 yards of total offense last season, carrying them to the ACC championship and beyond while rescuing a defense that was mediocre for the ACC and pretty bad nationally. With the installation of former Virginia head coach Al Groh's 3-4 defense, the Jackets are looking to patch some of those leaks and further tilt the time of possession battle. With their most crucial skill player and signal caller (Joshua Nesbitt) returning, and the rumored addition of a shotgun look into their already unpredictable offense, the Jackets have an excellent opportunity to repeat.

Biggest Obstacle: insane schedule. Georgia Tech has to travel to UNC, a defensive powerhouse, early in the season for a definitive make-or-break trial by fire. GT then has to travel to Clemson and Virginia Tech in back to back road games before hosting Miami in what will be the most brutal stretch of schedule in the Coastal.

2. The Virginia Tech Hokies.

The Virginia Tech Hokies get the #2 slot only because the #1 slot is taken.

How They Could Win It All: run for it, run. Annual challengers or champions in the ACC since 2004, this year the Hokies have one of the most powerful running back duos in the entire nation. Houdini with a throwing arm, Tyrod "T-Mobile" Taylor, returns to lead the Hokies in another hum-drum conquest of the ACC. Armed with head coach Frank Beamer's "Beamer ball" special teams and Defensive Coordinator extraordinaire Bud Foster's permanently excellent defense, the Virginia Tech offense should always be in a good position to get where it needs to go, not that it needs much help. If VT can avoid emotional trap games and execute consistently, they'll march straight to the top like they always do.

Biggest Obstacle: UNC. After dueling with the defending champs on November 4th, the Hokies will visit Chapel Hill to take on the ACC's toughest defense—the one that upset them by 3 points last season and knocked them out of contention for the title. This time, though, they'll go on to face revenge-minded Miami in a much anticipated match that could define the face of the Coastal. UNC is no joke, but even still, this could be a trap.

3. The Miami (FL) Hurricanes.

The Miami Hurricanes are headed for an era of greatness under head coach Randy Shannon. He's got all of his players and staff in place and a laser-guided football launcher at quarterback. Miami has the potential to be in the BCS National Championship Game early next year, but the schedule is oh so risky.

How They Could Win It All: Jacory Harris. Among the most crucial quarterbacks in the ACC is Harris, a potential Heisman candidate and one of the most natural passers in the nation. He shredded defenses through the air last season to the tune of 3,352 awe inspiring yards. Among receivers with more than 10 catches from Harris (that's 10 receivers) only 3 do not have more than 10 yards per catch. If Jacory Harris throws the ball twice, expect a first down. Now, improved from last season, Harris looks to capitalize on the continued success of a dominant offensive line and score a whole bunch of points.

Biggest Obstacle: mistakes. Last season the Hurricanes were penalized 93 times for 703 total yards and were intercepted 17 times. Add 703 yards to their 2009 season total of 5199 offensive yards and the Hurricanes would have been as productive as the Yellow Jackets, even though Miami didn't go to the ACC Championship Game. Or take away just a couple of those interceptions and they could have been undefeated last season. With the toughest overall schedule of any ACC program, Miami will need to stay focused and execute properly if it wants to go anywhere this demanding season.

4. The North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels have the former National Championship winning coach from Miami, Butch Davis, and he is building himself a titan in North Carolina. However, to quote the most famous tactician of all time, "Invincibility lies in defense, the possibility of victory in the attack."

How They Could Win It All: T.J. Yates. And not in the Jacory Harris way. An effective threat at quarterback is all the Tar Heels have been missing with this current class of starters. He need not be Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow, but he's got to step up and get some offensive production. The UNC defense was top 10 in the nation in many categories last season, but the offense produced the 3rd least total yards in the ACC (only UVA and MD produced fewer). With just 228 first downs all season and a third down conversion rate of 37%, it is a testament to the efficiency of the UNC defense that the time of possession was nearly even. UNC won it by 54 seconds per game. If Yates finds his offense a pulse, the defense will propel him into a championship by amplifying the damage a real offense does to the TOP, and repeatedly putting him in excellent position to score with ease.

Biggest Obstacle: in-conference schedule. The Tar Heels may have drawn the shortest stick in the conference with regards to just conference games. In addition to playing in the already overloaded Coastal Division, they drew the two most reliable offenses from the Atlantic division as well. Even if UNC finds a quarterback with some gusto, this will be a pitched battle all the way to the top.

5. The Florida State Seminoles.

The era of Bowden is over, the era of Jimbo Fisher begins. The Seminoles have a little rebuilding to do, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, but their schedule this season is comparatively easy. It would not be a long shot for FSU to appear in the ACC Championship Game at all.

How They Could Win It All: defense. Christian Ponder is a devastating weapon and a sure Heisman contender this season, and the FSU running game is potent enough to handle its own. The FSU offense has not been a problem under Fisher, producing the second most total yardage in the ACC last season without appearing in the Championship Game. The defense, however, may as well have been standing still. With one of the most potent offenses in the ACC, FSU outscored its opponents by ONE TENTH of a point per game, allowing them to both rush AND pass for more than 2500 yards by the end of the season. While FSU put out an incredible 5,478 total yards last season, they allowed a soul crushing 5,650 yards, 390 points, and a 67% 4th down conversion rate. If the Seminole defense had existed last season they very realistically could have been the ACC champions, and there's no reason why that can't be true of this season as well.

Biggest Obstacle: defense. Starting from scratch is hard enough, but the Seminoles have to fill in a hole to get there. First year DC Mark Stoops certainly has the resume for it. Playing defensive ball for legendary Iowa coach Hayden Frye and coaching a National Championship winning defense at Miami in 2001 (that established a single season team record for interceptions at 27), if there is a guy for the job, it is this guy. Just HOW fast he can do it all again is the question for this season.

6. The Clemson Tigers.

Dabo has gotten the wink-and-a-nod to go ahead for another season of energetic antics at Clemson, his only problem: he's out one extremely energetic player. As fantastic as many of the players are at Clemson, there is no replacement for C.J. Spiller—probably not anywhere in the country right now. Now that the get-the-ball-to-Spiller show is over, how will Dabo adjust his offensive (and special teams) strategy?

How They Could Win It All: mix it up. All the way up. Dabo needs to scrap his entire offensive strategy from last season; it was built for players who are no longer there, namely Spiller and Ford. Kyle Parker may not even be the starting quarterback for the Tigers by the time the season starts due to MLB interests. The incredible talent on his lines and in his defense will provide a solid foundation from which talented yet inexperienced players can operate in a more traditional scheme. He'll have a slight advantage early in the season because of the lack of game footage, but it is his best shot. His other options are to try to replace Spiller and get really, REALLY lucky.

Biggest Obstacle: momentum. Clemson will have to build team morale and momentum quickly in the season. Early they take a trip down to Auburn, an incredibly physical and talented team, and then come home to a bloodthirsty Miami, only to drive several hours north to stare down the great wall of UNC. After that they still have the looming challenge of defending the two most potent offenses in the ACC. This team will need to win all of its openers or it will lack the motivation to finish the season strong, and surely fail to see the title game.

7. The Boston College Eagles.

Boston College has always been a good team in the ACC, and this is a good year for them to be a surprise team at the Championship Game. They have the easiest schedule of any ACC team.

How They Could Win It All: win it all. Seriously. This wouldn't take a miracle. BC plays in the weaker of the two ACC divisions, where they only draw three proximally serious opponents: Clemson, Florida State, and Wake Forest. Additionally, their schedule is such that out of the coastal division they drew just one serious threat in Virginia Tech. Clemson could be struggling offensively this season, Florida State defensively, and Wake Forest is going to be recovering from the loss of record-breaking all-ACC quarterback Riley Skinner. Sorry Eagles, you will probably lose to VT, but at least they are not in your division (in case of tie breaker). As for the list of other opponents that need to be defeated for the Eagles to see the ACC championship game: North Carolina State, Maryland, Duke, and Virginia. These are all but guaranteed wins, congrats Eagles.

Biggest Obstacle: David Shinskie. Unremarkable as a QB in every way, 119 passer rating, roughly 50% completion percentage, 15 TD to 14 INT, it is a literal coin toss letting this guy put the ball in the air, not to mention his being sacked 14 times for 113 yards last season. The Eagles need to find a way to protect this guy and he needs to find a way to connect with his receivers instead of opposing defensive backs and green turf. If David Shinskie does not improve, the Eagles are going to have a very rough time trying to get to the title game and, without improvement, there's no way they'll win it.

8. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest is going through the healing process of losing one of the best quarterbacks to have played at the school, but it still has a capable team installed. With a brand new QB running the show, the Deacons have to navigate a comparatively punishing ACC schedule.

How They Could Win It All: too late. Either they recruited a quarterback that can fill Skinner's shoes or they didn't, we won't know until he's under pressure. The point is, the Demon Deacons need solid QB play, because their running game is nothing phenomenal. They have a dozen capable receivers that make a QBs job easy, and an offensive line that is capable of keeping him out of trouble. Wake Forest even did fairly well defensively last season. It is possible that a good, or even a great team emerges this season, but it definitively rests on the shoulders of the new quarterback.

Biggest Obstacle: the learning curve. While the only near certain losses on the schedule come from Coastal teams Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, Wake forest is competing for the Atlantic Division with Boston College (which only has 1 near certain loss), Florida State (which is capable of winning all of its games), and Clemson (which it faces head-to-head). The number of teams on the schedule with parity or superiority with respect to Wake Forest is too high to expect them to win their division.

9. Maryland Terrapins

10. North Carolina State Wolf Pack

11. Duke University Blue Devils

12. Virginia Cavaliers

These schools are the great underdogs to win their divisions and thus the ACC. The Atlantic Division has more overall parity, so its teams are listed at 9 and 10 because they are more likely to make it to the Championship Game. Duke will certainly beat Virginia this year, but the powerhouse-soup that is the top of the Coastal makes it extremely unlikely that either of these teams will even get honorable mention for their efforts.

How They Could Win It All: a miracle. Duke has showed that it is getting better, but there is no way that it is good enough to win its division outright. It will need poor performance from the Coastal in order to rise to the top. Virginia, too, needs not only that but to show that former Head Coach Al Groh was the problem. They need to gel immediately to have any chance. Maryland needs to have a really good year and show us that last season was a fluke where something had gone terribly wrong. NC State needs to find a strong defensive identity to compete in its division.

Biggest Obstacle: the beat down. The beating these teams are likely to take from each other at the bottom will certainly not help any of them rise when the other teams come knockin'. Even if one of these teams was to make the Championship Game, they'd be hopelessly outgunned unless another of them had somehow made the Championship Game as well.