clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

ACC Power Rankings: Right-Setting Expectations

Brian: We are going to start up ACC football power rankings next week. Why? Because its fun to make fun of your conference when they are playing so poorly, it's better than working and Brian feels like the polls shouldn't come out until the third or fourth week of the season anyway. This week we prep for next week's power rankings by right-setting expectations relative to what we thought about each of the ACC teams before the season began.

Jeff: Relative to BC Interruption's preseason expectations of the teams in the conference here is how they now look. We'll go in order of when we play them and you'll notice the them of most teams are worse than we expected.


Georgia Tech (Jeff: 5th place Coastal, Brian: 5th place Coastal)

Jeff: Better. Obviously Paul Johnson can win and Georgia Tech has some speedsters and big lineman that make it a little easier than it was at navy. They will continue to improve as the season goes on.

Brian: Better (slightly). While I'll be the first to tip my cap to the Yellow Jackets win over the Eagles, I think it's a bit premature to crown them as Coastal Division champs. BC game this game away. Huge matchup this weekend against Virginia Tech will be telling of the type of team this is and if they can contend for a Division title this year.


North Carolina State (Jeff: DFL Atlantic, Brian: 5th place Atlantic)

Brian: Much worse. This team is still years away from making any noise in the ACC. Got shellshocked on national television by an OK SEC team, and then only managed to beat William & Mary by 10 points.

Jeff: Worse. Didn't expect much but they looked terrible against a not very good South Carolina team.


Virginia Tech (Jeff: 1st place Coastal, Brian: 1st place Coastal)

Jeff: Worse. East Carolina is a good team but the Hokies would beat a team like that almost any year.

Brian: Way worse. The Hokies lack depth at almost every skill position. The dual quarterback system amassed a whopping 3 points in a half.


North Carolina (Jeff: 4th place Coastal, Brian: 3rd place Coastal)

Jeff: Worse. We'll learn more when they play 0-1 Rutgers Thursday night

Brian: Worse. Laid an egg against McNeese State (who?) and will disagree that the Rutgers game won't tell us much, because the only conference that the ACC can laugh at at this point is the Big East.


Clemson (Jeff: 1st place Atlantic, Brian: 2nd place Atlantic)

Jeff: Much worse. Very beatable and hardly the national championship contender we expected

Brian: And Jeff's heart breaks. Worse. Not sure what has happened down in South Carolina, but Tommy hasn't had the Tigers prepared for either of their first two games. A fragile O-line makes Clemson a bit of a paper tiger (pun intended).


Florida State (Jeff: 4th place Atlantic, Brian: 4th place Atlantic)

Brian: Better, although I'm not sure how telling a 69-0 beatdown of Western Carolina is. Might have the best offense in the Atlantic and possibly the conference. Wake looms in two weeks.

Jeff: Better. Looked good with a depleted roster in their opener.


Wake Forest (Jeff: 2nd place Atlantic, Brian: 1st place Atlantic)

Jeff: Same. Probably the best in the ACC but not by much.

Brian: Same. I was drinking the Demon Deacon kool-aid until last week when Swank bailed them out of another embarrassing ACC loss to an SEC team


Maryland (Jeff: 5th place Atlantic, Brian: DFL Atlantic)

Brian: Same. We are who we thought they were. Sorry HD! Are Friedgen's days numbered in College Park?

Jeff: TERRIBLE. No chance in hell BC loses this game.


Missed ACC Opponents

Duke (Jeff: DFL Coastal, Brian: DFL Coastal)

Jeff: Same. Improving but still at the bottom.

Brian: Same. Still has an opportunity to triple their win total from 2007 though.


Miami (Jeff: 3rd place Coastal, Brian: 2nd place Coastal)

Brian: Same. Haven't seen much from the Hurricanes other than a Charleston-Southern beat down and a so/so effort against the Gators.

Jeff: Little better. Did better against Florida than people expected.


Virginia (Jeff: 2nd place Coastal, Brian: 4th place Coastal)

Jeff: Same/worse. Got killed by USC but that was expected.

Brian: Worse. I had the Cavaliers towards the bottom of the ACC Coastal standings, but wasn't expecting a 3-0 Virginia over Richmond through 3 quarters. Awful.


Jeff: Moral of the story is that BC's chances of going to Tampa are still good. If I could change my preseason predictions I would change the Virginia Tech game to a win and maybe the Florida Sate game to an loss. Wake Forest maybe a loss but Clemson probably a win.