ACC Bloggers on…2010 ACC Football Predictions

Posted by Brandon Rink on July 30, 2010 under ACC Football | 2 Comments to Read

We’ve been making picks and covering ACC media days the last week – here are some more ACC blogs making picks…

Gobbler Country goes out on a limb, and picks his team to win the ACC:

Shocker. I’m picking the Hokies.

2010 ACC Standings

Atlantic	ACCW	ACCL	OVRW	OVRL
Boston College	6	2	10	2
Florida State	6	2	8	4
Clemson	5	3	8	4
Maryland	4	4	7	5
NC State	1	7	5	7
Wake Forest	1	7	3	9
Coastal	ACCW	ACCL	OVRW	OVRL
Virginia Tech	7	1	10	2
Miami	6	2	9	3
North Carolina	5	3	8	4
Georgia Tech	5	3	8	4
Duke	1	7	3	9
Virginia	1	7	4	8

ACC Championship: Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 17 <Read his reasons why here>

All About Sports taking Virginia Tech as well:

Coastal Division

1) Virginia Tech  10-2 (6-2) ACC CHAMPIONS

Quick Take: There isn’t a better backfield in the ACC, maybe the country. With the dynamic Ryan Williams and powerful Darren Evans , the Hokies should be able to run the ball effectively. QB Tyrod Taylor ’s consistency will be the difference between a good or great season.

The defense despite some personal losses should be a solid. Bud Foster is still doing the coaching on that side of the ball. This is Frank Beamer ’s best shot at top 5 team since Michael Vick was the Hokie’s quarterback.

Key Game: Boise St. 9/6

This game could set the tone for the season. It’s that simple. <See the rest of the Coastal and Atlantic picks>

ACC Sports’ Jim Young compares his picks to the rest of the ACC media:

1) FSU

My prediction: 1st
Caveat: I made this vote before I knew Nigel Carr was charged with a pair of felonies. Would that have swayed my vote? Possibly. Originally I had Boston College here before I made a last-minute switch.

2) Clemson

My prediction: 3rd
Nothing against putting the Tigers here over Boston College. Getting Kyle Parker back was huge for Clemson, but I still want to see how the offense fares without C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford.

3) Boston College

My prediction: 2nd
Congrats BC fans. Given that the Eagles always beat preseason ACC expectations, my second-place vote for BC pretty much assures the Eagles of winning the Atlantic again. I would have voted Frank Spaziani’s team first, but I still have too many memories of ill-advised Dave Shinskie throws. Other than that, there’s a whole lot to like in Chestnut Hill. <Continue reading here>

D1scourse picking a 3-way tie for the Coastal:

ATLANTIC

1t. Florida State (5-3)
1t. Boston College (5-3)
3. Clemson (4-4)
4t. N.C. State (3-5)
4t. Maryland (3-5)
6. Wake Forest (2-6)

COASTAL

1t. Virginia Tech (6-2)
1t. Miami (6-2)
1t. Georgia Tech (6-2)
4. North Carolina (5-3)
5. Duke (2-6)
6. Virginia (1-7) <Click here to read more>

Any ACC picks of your own? Share them in the comments…

Ah, Media Polls

Posted by Brandon Rink on July 29, 2010 under ACC Football | 3 Comments to Read

Landslide votes for Virginia Tech and FSU? Austin easily makes All-ACC team? C’mon…

And in the top story of his offseason, Austin was selected to the All-ACC team on Wednesday.

The numbers were staggering:

ATLANTIC DIVISION
Florida State (78) … 565
Clemson (16) … 479
Boston College (4) … 389
N.C. State … 283
Wake Forest … 203
Maryland … 139

COASTAL DIVISION
Virginia Tech (62) … 532
Miami (20) … 444
Georgia Tech (11) … 408
North Carolina (5) … 379
Duke … 169
Virginia … 126

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Virginia Tech … 50
Florida State … 26
Miami … 10
Georgia Tech … 8
Boston College … 2
North Carolina … 2

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUPS
Virginia Tech over Florida State … 35
Virginia Tech over Clemson … 13
Florida State over Virginia Tech … 11 …

FSU had 78 first place votes out of 98 in the Atlantic. Virginia Tech had 62 out of a legit 4-team race in the Coastal. The Hokies came out with 63% of the vote out of the Coastal and 35 votes to win the ACC Championship over FSU to the ‘Noles 11 to take Virginia Tech down.

Now, they could have all read my preview and fell in line (for the championship game at least) - or everybody just turned in what they voted last year. Either way, if ever there was a season to go out on a limb and not just follow the crowd – 2010 was it. Why, oh why can’t we get a little more creative, guys?

BC is a legit contender in the Atlantic and they received 4 first place votes?

Georgia Tech, reigning ACC champs, had just 8 people think they could repeat.

Clemson came in with 16 first place votes, and not one, picked them to win the ACC.

I’ve seen in more than one place that the media vote really doesn’t matter – I beg to differ. Supposedly, Virginia Tech coaches were emailing Vegas lines of Boise being a favorite to their players last week – you don’t think Paul Johnson, Spaz and Dabo are posting their lackluster voting numbers in the locker room? It’s all about motivation, and the ACC media manages to give teams ammunition most every season. Overall, I’m not surprised – well, a little – I know it’s more about the interviews, stories, golf, and food at the kickoff, but we could try a little harder at the predictions.

While we’re at it…

I found this gem today on the All-ACC vote:

If there’s a media bias against North Carolina football player Marvin Austin and his teammates, it wasn’t apparent in the voting for the preseason All-ACC football team that was released Wednesday.

Austin, a senior defensive tackle and a target of NCAA questions about possible improper dealings with NFL agents, easily made the team that was selected by more than 300 media representatives at the league’s summer interview sessions Sunday and Monday in Greensboro…

A theory was put forward by some that UNC (8-5 overall, 4-4 ACC last season) was low-balled because voters believed Austin and the team were in line for sanctions.

In reality, the all-star voting underscores the apprehension about the team’s suspect offense against a schedule that includes non-league foes LSU and Rutgers and ACC games against Florida State, N.C. State and Clemson from the league’s Atlantic Division.

See, I think we’re back at a lack of creativity again. Austin easily made the team because there aren’t many star defensive tackles in the ACC and naming another DT – because Austin will probably not have an All-ACC season whether he is suspended or not due to the distractions – would require extra research and stuff.

After Austin, the All-ACC team is solid. I’m interested to see how Duke’s Varner does with a new QB and I’d have UVa’s Dowling over Harris, but they are all very good players.

So yeah, I’m jealous of not having a vote – if anyone would like to donate their vote to me than that’s just fine.

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2010 ACC Football Kickoff Linkfest: Part 2

Posted by Brandon Rink on July 26, 2010 under ACC Football | Comments are off for this article

Fisher experienced his first ACC media days, and it didn't go quite as planned.

After pouring through hundreds of articles in my Google Reader, here are the ones that were interesting and captured the day that was at the ACC Football Kickoff.

ACC media picked Virginia Tech to win the ACC and FSU runner-up (like in 2009…and like me) and Ponder for player of the year.

FSU’s Fisher got a little taste of what Butch Davis is going through after today’s Nigel Carr arrest.

The reigning ACC champs are unfazed by the media predictions.

NC State’s O’Brien announced projected starting CB Rashard Smith will be out for the season with a knee injury.

Beamer was a bit surprised by the ACC media prediction numbers, but turned it into a recruiting pitch fast.

Check out HD’s ACC media day page on ESPN.

Duke’s Cutcliffe is excited about the media picks despite being picked 5th in the Coastal.

AOL Fanhouse with an interesting article on state of mind of the UNC players/coaches right now – Inside Carolina has all the Butch Davis tidbits from the day two.

Friedgen left no doubt who’s QBing the Terps in 2010 on media day.

All is not lost for the Tigers backup QB Tajh Boyd according to Dabo as he will get into game, but not have a firehose in his mouth?

Streaking the Lawn gives the lowdown on the ‘Hoos at the kickoff.

D1scourse looks at the “youth” excuse for Maryland.

Grobe will feed Josh Adams the ball more in 2010.

Still have the media picks for the All-ACC teams (see my All-ACC team on the Raycom ACC Blog here) to go on Wednesday, follow us @ACCBlogger on Twitter and our page on Facebook for the latest!