Here's how we see the Conference standings wrapping up.

Brian: In the Atlantic, I have the Eagles losing to Wake Forest and Clemson. Wake Forest beats Clemson in Winston-Salem but is upset in November in back-to-back games against Miami and at NC State (back-to-back ACC losses in November from the Atlantic Division leader ... where have I seen that before?). Clemson is upset in the Bowden Bowl in Tallahassee. Given that all three teams will have two ACC losses, Wake wins the tie-breakers and gets back to the ACC Championship after a year off.

Jeff: Brian has the Eagles going 6-2 in conference but finishing 3rd. In the last three years, 6-2 has been good enough to win the Atlantic Division outright, but suddenly this year, Brian senses a log jam up at the top of the standings.

Brian: Given that the Atlantic is much stronger than the Coastal this year, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the top three teams in the Atlantic all finish the season 6-2.

Place	Jeff	Brian
1.	Clemson	Wake Forest
2.	Wake Forest	Clemson
3.	Boston College	Boston College
4.	Florida State	Florida State
5.	Maryland	NC State
6.	NC State	Maryland

In the Coastal Division, I don't see anyone getting past the Hokies. This side of the conference is young, inexperienced and in general, these intra-division games are going to be painful to watch. The only thing Jeff and I seem to agree on here is who will finish first and last. The rest of the division, who knows?

Place	Jeff	Brian
1.	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech
2.	Virginia	Miami
3.	Miami	North Carolina
4.	North Carolina	Virginia
5.	Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech
6.	Duke	Duke

On to the ACC Championship game in Tampa.

Jeff has Virginia Tech beating Clemson for their second straight ACC Championship and trip to the Orange Bowl.

Brian likes Wake Forest over Virginia Tech for Jim Grobe's second ACC Title in 3 years, a huge accomplishment for the Deacons.


Finally, let's go bowling.

Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.

Well, sort of. Keep in mind the order of ACC bowl selections when evaluating our picks:

1. BCS(es)
2. Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
3. Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
4. Champs Sports Bowl
5-7. Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
5-7. Meineke Car Care Bowl
5-7. Emerald Bowl
8. Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
9. [Insert Corporate Sponsor Name Here] Congressional Bowl

Jeff	Bowl	Brian
Virginia Tech	FedEx Orange Bowl	Wake Forest
Clemson	BCS At-Large	N/A
Wake Forest	Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	Clemson
Virginia	Konica Minolta Gator Bowl	Virginia Tech
Boston College	Champs Sports Bowl	Miami
Florida State	Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl	Boston College
North Carolina	Meineke Car Care Bowl	North Carolina
Maryland	Emerald Bowl	Florida State

Brian: Clemson's season starts and ends in Atlanta. I think BC will be passed over by both Champs Sports (takes Miami) and Charlotte (takes North Carolina) as both teams finish one game behind the Eagles in the standings. BC finishes 6-2 while Miami and North Carolina finish 5-3 in conference. The Eagles land in Nashville as the Music City Bowl is forced to pick the Eagles because they are two games up on the Seminoles in the Atlantic Division standings.

Jeff: Miami will go 5-7 overall and not go bowling for the second straight season. They'll at least lose to Florida and at Texas A&M out of conference.


We'll check back and see how we did at the end of the season. In the meantime, feel free to poke fun at our picks in the comments section below.

For another (and possibly much more well-informed) preview of ACC Football in 2008, check out the ACC Football Report's Atlantic Division preview, Coastal Division preview and Championship Game Preview and Bowl Picks.