Conference Previews - continued

The Atlantic Coast Conference
Well, they are the closest thing geographically to the SEC, and my favorite team is in the ACC, but it does not bring the same passion for football that the SEC does. A border clash between a team from Georgia or Florida versus a team from Boston, just doesn’t bring the natives out of the woodwork. The Championship games are poorly attended. That said, the caliber of play has improved, despite the fall by FSU and Miami. The other teams have good coaches now. Butch Davis, Paul Johnson, Jim Grobe, Beamer, etc. Perhaps a surprise power team could emerge from the ACC in 09, but I doubt it. Another fall with the champ game pitting a couple of 2-loss teams is likely. We shouldn’t have to wait long to get an idea of how it will go for the ACC, as Va Tech tackles Alabama opening weekend in Atlanta.

Coastal
The Ramblin Wreck made huge improvement last year running Johnson’s option. They get most of the kids back, and have another year in his system and he has experience in the league now. The Coastal is the stronger of the divisions, so Ga Tech will have their hands full with Va Tech, UNC and UM. It is hard to be even a little critical of Frank Beamer. He has his guys ready to play every year. They just don’t have elite caliber firepower. Their defense and special teams are excellent, but I don’t see Tyrod Taylor cruising them through their schedule. Butch Davis has made Carolina relevant again, but it is not quite as easy to build a football power in Chapel Hill, as it was in Coral Gables. As much as I have HATED the Canes, Randy Shannon seems like a man with integrity. So, I guess I hate them less. I may eat those words on Labor Day evening, as they invade Doak Campbell for the showdown with FSU. Miami could surprise the Coastal this year, but they are still so young, that I think 2010 will be the really break out season for them. I should have included David Cutcliffe in the list of good coaches. He has DUKE improving…Al Groh’s days are numbered in Charlottesville, as the league caught up and passed him. Even his best UVA teams were over rated (IMO).
The best coach in the ACC over the last 5 years has been Jim Grobe. This is Wake Forest people! Riley Skinner has been there for about 9 years and will be zippin it around again this season. It may be dumb, but I am picking FSU to finish ahead of the pack (I don’t know why I keep drinking the cool aid, they have been the worst coached team over the last 7 years). The poor coaching at FSU does not include Mickey Andrews, who has been one of the best D coordinators over the last 20 years. NC State is on the rise, and Clemson is always very talented. Maryland coach Ralph lost over 100 pounds this off season, but the Terps will not do much. Boston College stuck to their principals and fired a good coach. They will suffer now and fall down the list in the Atlantic (Who came up with Coastal and Atlantic anyway?).

COASTAL:

Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech
North Carolina
Miami
Duke I would love to see Duke finish higher...
Virginia

ATLANTIC:

Florida State
Wake Forest
NC State
Clemson Is there a harder team to predict? so much talent...
Maryland
Boston College

Lil 11 (OK the Big 10, but what is up with a college conference being “counting challenged”)
Nerdy Jim Tressel keeps building Ohio State into the dominant power in the region. The problem is that rest of the conference is down, and when OSU plays a real team, they get embarrassed. I should concede that their bowl game against Texas came down to a thrilling comeback by Colt, so that one really wasn’t bad. The thrashings by UF, LSU and USC the last 3 years really put the aforementioned perspective in place. Penn State is the next place power, but they also were manhandled in the Rose Bowl by USC (I have to say at this point that while I respect Joe Pa, I sure wish he would hang it up, so Bobby could hang it up!). Schedule wise, OSU only has USC out of conference. Penn State has NOBODY out of conference, so conventional wisdom has the 2 teams hanging around the top 10. Penn St is not that good, but could run the table and get into the BCS Champ game over a more deserving SEC or Big 12 team and that would suck. Michigan State has a real coach now and while they lost some key players, could really make some noise, as could Zooker’s Fightin Illini. The Hawkeye’s are getting some play as the spoiler, but again, they are a team that ALWAYS loses a game that they shouldn’t (see Clemson and LSU). The only other team worth mentioning is Northwestern, because I’m not convinced that Michigan will be much better. On the other hand, they can’t be much worse…

Ohio State
Penn State
Michigan State
Illinois
Iowa
Northwestern
Michigan
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Purdue
Indiana

One last comment on the “Lil 11”. Grow up and get a 12th team, have a conference championship game! You already have your own TV network, what’s the hold up? Good Grief!

BIG 12

The merger of the Southwest conference with the Big 8, has been a smart one. Clearly the power is down south, but it may not always be (right…). So, who ever prevails out of the south should not have a problem with the north champ. The winner will likely have a great shot at the “Marbles”. The question is who survives between Texas, OU, OK State and Texas Tech? I really don’t expect Tech to win out, but the could be a spoiler for one of the other 3 (like Arkansas). I’m going with Texas and Colt.

North
Mizzu has had a good run with Chase Daniel firing the ball around. With his departure, Kansas and Nebraska want to have something to say about supremacy in the North. Colorado may be improving, but slowly. KU has the veteran gunslinger QB this time in Todd Reising. That may be the slight difference in this race. Bo Pelini is building the Cornhuskers back up, but I’m still leaning toward KU. Mizzu is well coached now, so I don’t expect them to roll over. The Buffs do a nice job of playing real non-conference opponents, so I respect that. Like the SEC, one of the keys is which teams from the other division you have to play. If you draw say Baylor and Texas A&M, then there is much rejoicing. If however, the cadence calls for Texas and Oklahoma on your slate, then it can get ugly in the division standings in a hurry. Kansas State used to be the absolute worst football team in the country – every year. Then Bill Snyder started playing the sisters of the poor every week and slowly built the Cats into a good program. In fact, they were the class of the north for a couple of years. Bill retired and so did the momentum. He is as old as Paterno and Bowden, so bringing him back now simply will not result in the same old magic. Iowa State just doesn’t have it.

Kansas
Nebraska
Mizzu
Colorado
Kansas State
Iowa State

SOUTH
A shootout is appropriate for this geography. Two teams from Oklahoma and the rest from Texas, bring the best offenses this side of the Mountain West to college football. They do seem to ignore defense however…As I mentioned at the start, I like Texas and Colt McCoy. They will have their hands full with Gundy MAN’s Cowboys and the Sooners. OSU opens with Georgia, so we will get another look at a high power offense against a SEC defense. Can’t wait for that one. A lot of pundits have OU in the top 3, but even with Sam Bradford back, they lost most of the Oline. Texas should have been in both Championship games last season, but that is the way the “popularity contest” bounces. My teams have benefited from the madness in years past (Noles and Gators), so sans a playoff, it is often a reality. While Tech will not have the run they had last year, Taylor Potts (from Abilene High) will fling it around pretty well.

So, as I close out this section, I want to mention future schedules. The link below shows each team and the contracted non conference games for the next several years. Some teams are bold and others are chicken crap. Florida State (where my son is a senior this year) has a slate of BYU, OKLAHOMA and FLORIDA. Ouch! The Gators on the side of the coin, have FSU as the only team with a pulse. I know, the SEC schedule is a bear, but come on, give the fans a decent series with somebody out west or something like that!

http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/future_schedules/

FL Outlaw