Monday, February 11, 2008

Headlines: Thoughts on New Football Schedule

Changes to 2008 schedule (rumored -> official)

  • Oct 4 @ Florida State -> @ NC State
  • Oct 25 Clemson -> @ UNC
  • Nov 1 @ Wake Forest -> Clemson
  • Nov 15 @ UNC -> @ Florida State
  • Nov 22 Maryland -> @ Wake Forest
  • Nov 29 @ NC State -> Maryland

Brian: Jeff, here is a comparison between the rumored 2008 schedule and the official schedule. Your thoughts?

Jeff: I am very happy with the changes. Instead of potentially starting 1-3 or 1-4 in conference now the schedule sets up that most likely scenario starts us 3-1 in conference. And as we know the team is going to be somewhat young next year so the later in the we go to Wake Forest and Florida State the better chance I give the team to win. Clemson is going to be the favorite to come out of our division next year and we'll be fighting with Florida State and Wake Forest for bowl positioning if Clemson does play up to expectations. I still have Oct. 4th circled on my calendar as a road game I will be attending, now it is just to see Tom O'Brien's squad rather than heading to Tallahassee to see the scenery. Anything you dislike Brian?

Brian: Overall, I do think the new schedule is more manageable for the Eagles. I am very upset though that the home Clemson game has been moved to November 1 for selfish reasons (I'm running the NYC Marathon the next day). So unless it is a noon or 1 o'clock game, I'm probably going to have to miss the Clemson game for the first time since we joined the ACC. What I think is unique this year and something that I think will be great for ACC football is that the last 4 ACC games for BC are all within the Atlantic division. Especially in November, you want games to count, and the Eagles are set up for a make-or-break month of November in their pursuit of a second straight ACC Atlantic crown. Much like Coach Jags did this year, if you break the season down into 4 quarters, I think we are looking at 3-0, 2-1, 3-0, 2-1 optimistically, with another shot at the ACC championship possible.

Jeff: Wow, 10-2. That is certainly optimistic but not impossible. I think if you asked me to predict a record for next season I'd go 8-4.

Brian: Like I said, I'll be highly optimistic at this point. 8-4 is definitely more realistic. I think that Va Tech won't be as good as last year, FSU won't be 100% back to form, and we'll get our revenge on Maryland. But we could finish anywhere from 6-6 to 10-2. We'll have to wait until the spring game to see what we are working with. I'd also like to analyze the other ACC schedules as we get closer to football season before coming up with a better season prediction.

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