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.
4 comments:
I have no idea why Jeff thinks UVA is going to be 2nd in the division this year. I, like many, are expecting UNC to be quite good this season. VaTech is still on top of the Coastal, but I like UNC and GaTech, respectively, following the Hokies. Duke is always on bottom which leaves UVA 4th.
While Wake and Clemson are legit teams and will be very tough competitors in the Atlantic this year, I think that Wake, Clemson, and BC all tie for the title and BC ranks 2nd after the shakeout. I think BC beats Clemson, but Clemson goes on to represent the Atlantic in the CG and goes to a better bowl (marking the fourth straight year BC finishes with a better or equal record as Clemson, beating Clemson, and going to a lesser bowl than Clemson).
I still think UNC has one more year until they are a division competitor. UNC travels to UVA 10/18 this year so I give UVA the nod to finish 2nd in the coastal. They should lose to USC Saturday but then rattle off several games in a row.
Also, look at Wake's schedule and its just tough to pick BC to finish ahead of them. Clemson and BC travel to Winston-Salem and they play FSU while they are still dealing with suspensions.
the more i look at vatech, the more i think they are going to have a bad year. and who can step up in that division? i think the unc hype is premature, and miami is really young, but talented. i wouldn't be surprised at any of those 3 teams winning the coastal or maybe even GT if they can pick the offense up quickly. whoever wins that division will be no better than 5-3
Not bad, me!
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