The Atlantic Coast Conference released its official football schedule yesterday. The conference should be more competitive than last season. Each team should see improvement, with the exception of Duke. Boston College could stumble due to their recent coaching change. The cupboard was not bare at NC State and UNC, whereas at BC there have been a few losses to the roster that could make the transisition harder for the Eagles.
Wake Forest, 2006 ACC Champions, will be a better team; however, dont expect them to repeat last year's success. The loss of the Demon Deacons' heart and soul, Jon Abbate to the NFL will hurt and could be a much bigger loss than anyone could expect. Who will drive the team on the field? If they can answer that question, then they have a chance to once again make some noise in the ACC. The biggest news in WInston-Salem this March could very well be the spring football game. That is unless the 'Deacs head basketball coach, Skip Prosser, isn't let go at the end of the season.
Florida State added Jimbo Fisher as offensive coordinator and quite possibly the heir apparent to Bobby Bowden when he decides to step down as head man at FSU. That should lead to an improved offense. The Seminoles return almost all of their starting line-up from last year's 7-6 team, so that experience will go a long way to taking FSU back to the top of the ACC.
Miami will struggle this year. Not as bad as last year, but with first time head coach Randy Shannon the Hurricanes will take some time to get back to the top. The Hurricanes shouldn't expect to make it to the ACC title game, but a Chik-fil-a Peach Bowl appearance is not out of the question.
Virginia Tech will be the top dawgs in the Coastal Division and should improve on last year's 9-4 mark. The Peach Bowl collapse is behind them and Sean Glennon is poised to lead the Hokies to Jacksonville, or Charlotte.
Virginia will have a make or break year under Al Groh. If the Cavaliers fail to make a bowl game once again, then Groh could be out. Could Wake's Jim Grobe be the next guy at UVa? Quite possibly, but it is too early to tell. It is however too early to start that talk. I can't see a bowl game for the Wahoos but I do think they will be a lot more competitive than last season.
At Clemson the expectations are always high. Last year the expectations were extremely high; however, the Tigers fell toward the end of the season and lost to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl. Tommy Bowden could be on the hot-seat once again if the Tigers do not get off to a hot start. They won't win the ACC but they won't dissapoint.
Duke? 0-12? Probably!
Boston College's new offensive coordinator Steve Logan should be enough to keep the Eagles in just about every game this season. A return trip to the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte would make a successful season.
Chan Gailey appears to be staying in Atlanta as opposed to setting off for the NFL as a head coach. The Yellow Jackets lost to Wake in the ACC title game last year and blew a big lead against West Virginia in the Gator Bowl. Reggie Ball is gone for good, to the delight of many Ramblin' Wreck fans. Calvin Johnson, the all-world wide receiver, left for the NFL. The offense could struggle and the defense has never carried this team. A bowl appearance is highly unlikely for this bunch.
Butch Davis will trot his first Tar Heel football team onto the field this fall and has a long road ahead of him to make that program successful. As I stated before, teh cupboard is not bare in Chapel Hill but the recent struggles will make for yet another long year for the Heels. They won't be down too long though. Davis will have that place up and running within 2 to 3 seasons.
NC State has a disciplinarian and program builder at the helm with new head coach Tom O'Brien. The talented roster has lacked discipline over the past few years and the offense has been lathargic at best. The Wolfpack needed to take a new direction, and they did. The talent has been in place for several seasons and that is why O'Brien should be the most successful of all the new coaches in the ACC. The Wolfpack faithful shouldn't be making advanced plans for the ACC Championship, but the Gator Bowl is a realistic goal for the team that last won in October against FSU.
Maryland will be the wild car in the conference. Just as they were last season. I am not sure what to expect from the Terrapins. They return a good number of players to the squad that came within a field goal of an ACC title shot. A bowl game awaits them at the end of the season, but Boise, Idaho is their likely destination. However, noone ever knows quite what to expect from Ralph Friedgen's team. That's why you can never count them out.
This upcoming season should be a great one. The conference will be much improved and will gain back a lot of the respect that it lost last season with the sub-par performances of just about everybody. My early picks for the ACC championship game are FSU vs. Va. Tech. The winner of that game will be Va. Tech. The Hokies should be in the BCS title hunt, and could find themselves in the title game with a little luck. Other bowl teams from the conference will include Clemson (Champs), Wake (Music City), NC State (Meineke), FSU (Peach Bowl), Miami (Gator) and Maryland (Emerald). Coach of the year honors will belong to Va. Tech's Frank Beamer.
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