Tag Archives: Georgia Tech

ACC Football: Decade in Review

Posted on by acaffrey

Most sports fans are willing to make fun of a school based on its perceived on-field or on-court performance.  Sometimes it is accurate; other times it is not.  So, what we set out to do was look at the records of ACC schools in football over the past decade.  Who do YOU think had the best record in conference games between 2003 and 2012?   Worst?  Courtesy of stassen.com, we were able to easily make the calculations.

  1. Virginia Tech had the best record in ACC conference games this past decade, going 64-20.
  2. Florida State was #2, albeit significantly behind the Hokies in win total, going 54-29.
  3. Clemson narrowly edged Georgia Tech for the #3 spot, with a 51-31 record.
  4. Georgia Tech misses out because of that ACC-CG appearance last year to finish #4 at 51-32.
  5. Miami comes in at #5 with a 44-35 overall record.
  6. Boston College has to be a surprise at #6, making it 3 out of the top 6 as former Big East schools, with a 41-38 record.
  7. North Carolina & Virginia tie at 35-45.
  8. see above.
  9. Wake Forest went 35-46.
  10. North Carolina State went 34-46.
  11. Maryland went 33-47.
  12. Duke was 12-68.

So, Big 10 fans, you are getting a Maryland team that was 11th in conference wins the past decade.  While Maryland has had financial troubles, they were operating under the same system as the rest of its ACC peers.  So, good luck with that.

What do you think the rankings would be for hoops?  Would it be Duke, North Carolina, or someone else at the top?  Who would be at the bottom?

 

 

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Ranking the ACC-B1G Challenge Games

Posted on by acaffrey

The ACC-B1G Challenge games were announced a few days ago.  After looking to see who your school played, the next thought was probably to check out whether any other games were intriguing.  And there are several.  So let’s just go ahead and rank them for interest.

Gold Medal Games:

1.  North Carolina @ Michigan State.  Tom Izzo v Roy Williams. That’s a lot of Final Four appearances.  MSU always reloads, and North Carolina never stays quiet for long.  This one should be a battle in Breslin.

2.  Michigan @ Duke.  Both teams had good seasons in 2012-2013, with Michigan exceeding expectations by making a run to the title game.  Both have a lot of production to replace.  Will be a great game though.

3.  Indiana @ Syracuse.  A rematch of a March Madness game that went for the Orange.  A lot of new faces in 2013-2014, but a lot of star power will be back and new to both campuses.

4.  Wisconsin @ Virginia.  The first one to 40 wins?  Don’t expect a lot of points in this one.  But this is still a darn good matchup.

Silver Medal Games:

5.  Notre Dame @ Iowa.  Any time ANY Fighting Irish team comes to town, it is a big deal.  A nice regional battle too.

6.  Penn State @ Pittsburgh.  A battle for Pennsylvania.  This one should be close too–Penn State has experience coming back.

7.  Miami @ Nebraska.  The Hurricanes invested in their program by hiring a dynamic coach.  Nebraska is investing in its facilities.  A better game on the gridiron, but one to keep an eye on anyway.

8.  Florida State @ Minnesota.  Both teams fell short of expectations last year.  A lot of new faces.

Bronze Medal Games:

9.  Northwestern @ North Carolina State.  This game might be underrated at #9.  But until the Wildcats make a Big Dance, it is hard to take them seriously on the hardcourt.

10. Illinois @ Georgia Tech.  Still waiting for that Georgia Tech team to turn the corner.  Illinois fans may feel the same way.

11.  Boston College @ Purdue.  Not exactly the old Patriots-Colts battles featuring Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.  It is what it is.

12. Maryland @ Ohio State.  Big 10 fans will be rooting for Ohio State.  ACC fans will be rooting for Ohio State.  Not much of a “challenge.”

Participation Ribbons:

Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are left out of the challenge.  We’ll give them participation ribbons even though they are not, obviously, participating.

ACC-Big 10 Challenge Schedule

Posted on by mikemab2000

Listening to ESPN Radio on the way home from work and heard that the schedule for next season’s ACC-Big 10 Challenge had been released.

Here’s the lineup:

Tuesday, December 3

Florida State at Minnesota

Illinois at Georgia Tech

Indiana at Syracuse

Michigan at Duke

Notre Dame at Iowa

Penn State at Pittsburgh

Wednesday, December 4

Boston College at Purdue

Maryland at Ohio State

Miami, FL at Nebraska

North Carolina at Michigan State

Northwestern at North Carolina State

Wisconsin at Virginia

Admittedly NC State does not have the most attractive draw.  This is only right after the debacle of 2012/13; however I do believe the coming year will see a less star-laden but more focused Pack. Meaning, of course, this game is winnable, especially at Raleigh.

However there are some great matchups here.  Duke/Michigan and UNC/Michigan State, of course, but also the Battle of Pennsylvania, Pitt/Penn State; Syracuse/Indiana looks huge; and the first Challenge appearance of the Irish, Notre Dame/Iowa.

There is even a game in which I might end up rooting for the B1G team; er, go Buckeyes?

Weekend Topic: ACC Football Divisions

Posted on by acaffrey

The folks over at Tomahawk Nation have a nice debate, albeit FSU-centric, as to how the ACC divisions should be reconfigured.  So let’s delve in and discuss.

Given that the current divisions are just a random collection of whatever that nobody could possibly remember, here are they are as of right now:

Atlantic: Florida State, Clemson, NC State, Wake Forest, Maryland (Louisville in 2014), Boston College, Syracuse

Coastal: Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh

The Confidential has previously advocated for a quasi-geographic breakdown of the teams.  John Cassillo over at atlanticcoastconvos proposed the same thing on the Tomahawk Nation blog (midway down):

Atlantic: Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, Maryland (Louisville)

Coastal: Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech

The teams are listed above/below a permanent crossover.

This is essentially the “Old ACC less Virginia.”  Or N/S, plus Miami and Louisville.  Miami works with the North.  Virginia?  Maybe, maybe not.  But they would play UNC every year.

But the FSU folks have an interesting suggestion or two, including a straight–let’s get a strong strength of schedule method proposed by SirChancelot:

Atlantic: Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Miami, Louisville, Pitt, Virginia

Coastal: Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, BC, Syracuse, and Georgia Tech

The logic being that the football schools can beat up on each other and establish a strength of schedule that matches up with the SEC.  And if the ACC-Championship Game is garbage, so what?  It always is anyway.  Better to have the 11-1 team get to 12-1 without hassle.  Frankly, the Confidential sees some logic in it, but questions the choice of schools.  How about this instead:

Atlantic: FSU, Miami, Va Tech, Clemson, Georgia Tech, NC State, Louisville

Coastal, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Virginia

If anyone runs the table in the Atlantic, they should be sitting pretty from a strength-of-schedule standpoint.

Of course, if anyone runs the table in the ACC in any format, will they be excluded from a strength-of-schedule standpoint anyway?  That seems to be a fabricated issue.  It is not strength of schedule that harms the ACC schools, it is losing to teams that one should not lose to.

Moreover, playing all those games may help the strength of schedule, but wouldn’t it increase the chances of a bunch of 4-3 teams.

The Confidential’s perspective is that the ACC has a poor image because it is not top-heavy enough.  The B1G is Michigan and Ohio State usually.  The Big XII is Texas and Oklahoma usually.  The Pac-12 is USC or Oregon usually.  Exceptions happen obviously, but that is what we can expect.  The SEC is great because there are 5 teams that have the ability to run the table–and one or two of them usually do.  The ACC may have a couple of schools that “can,” but they always falter along the way to middling schools.  Bunching up the great teams is not going to help.  However, the idea of ignoring competitive balance has merit.  One can never get it straight anyway.

Otherwise, the suggestions over there involve a re-assortment of the current system.  Swap Miami for Florida State, or Clemson for Georgia Tech.

Nobody suggested this one… organize by number of words it takes to state the school:

Atlantic (1 word): Clemson, Miami, Pitt, Louisville, Virginia, Duke, Syracuse

Coastal (2 words): Georgia Tech, Florida State, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Wake Forest

Actually, that is not bad competitive balance for football.  Hmmmm.

From the Confidential’s perspective, the priority of the conference should be as follows:

  1. Maximizing TV revenue–gotta keep up with the Joneses
  2. Maintaining traditional rivalries
  3. Easy of remembering divisions –nobody should have to look up who is in each division, whether an ACC fan or not
  4. Maximizing gate revenue–more $$$
  5. Competitive balance
  6. Ensuring high strength of schedule
  7. Other?

What do you think–what is THE most important thing that the ACC must consider if/when rearranging the divisions for football?   What is your proposal?

ACC & 2014 NFL Draft

Posted on by acaffrey

After a great 2013 NFL Draft weekend, it is time to start looking ahead to the 2014 NFL Draft.  At least that is the case if you are a draftnik like ESPN’s Todd McShay!  He already has a ranking of the top 32 NFL Draft prospects for 2014. 

There are a handful of guys with ACC ties on this preliminary list.  Obviously, much will change in the next 12 months.  But here are the guys with ACC ties getting love from McShay:

  • #2  Teddy Bridgewater QB  Louisville
  • #7  Louis Nix III  NT  Notre Dame
  • #8  Tajh Boyd  QB Clemson
  • #14  Timmy Jernigan  DT  Florida State
  • #18 Stephon Tuitt  DT  Notre Dame
  • #20 Jeremiah Attauchu WR Georgia Tech
  • #21  Sammy Watkins WR Clemson

So that is 4 guys playing in the ACC and 7 guys with ACC ties.  Not sure what anyone else thinks, but the ACC is claiming Notre Dame effective immediately.  So we will call it 6. 

As always, the  SEC is the dominant conference, with 14 guys on the list.  The Big 2/Little 12….err… B1G has 3–exclusively represented by Michigan and Ohio State.  The Big XII has two.  The Pac-12 actually finishes ahead of the Big XII and B1G with 5 guys on the list. 

What do you think?  Who is McShay leaving out from the ACC?

Notre Dame’s ACC Football Schedule Announced

Posted on by acaffrey

Several months ago, the ACC and Notre Dame announced a football partnership, with Notre Dame agreeing to play 5 games against ACC opponents each year.  With these games set to begin in 2014, the parties have now announced the games that will be played during the first three years.

Without further ado, here is the schedule for the first three years:

2014

Notre Dame at Florida State

Louisville at Notre Dame

North Carolina at Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Syracuse

Wake Forest at Notre Dame

2015

Boston College at Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Clemson

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

Notre Dame at Virginia

2016

Duke at Notre Dame

Miami at Notre Dame

Notre Dame at NC State

Notre Dame at Syracuse

Virginia Tech at Notre Dame

All those who thought Syracuse would be the team to get two games with Notre Dame in the first three-year period, raise your hands!  Of course, Syracuse had games slated for all three years, so it was a logical plan to keep in place.

Notably, Notre Dame visits three of the more football-oriented programs each year, with trips to Florida State, Clemson, and North Carolina State scheduled.  The following three years will involve travels to Louisville, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Miami.

On Thursday, Notre Dame announced an extension of its television deal with NBC.  The ten-year extension is reported to be worth $15 million a year.

State of the Pack: QBs and more

Posted on by mikemab2000

There was an interesting email in my box yesterday from our own administrator Anthony Caffery (aka Commander Caffrey). It referenced the possibility of Drew Allen, Oklahoma backup, transferring to State. Unfortunately the article he directed me to seemed to indicate that Allen is leaning toward Syracuse.  Here’s the link:

Since as the article states he will be eligible immediately following any transfer that makes him a player in the mix for us if he decides to come to State.  Which begs the question: what does the QB situation look like for the Pack in 2013?
The two leading candidates to start are Colorado transfer Pete Thomas and soph Manny Stocker.  Thomas seems to have a slight edge right now and is getting more first-team snaps. Coach Doeren told the Charlotte Observer that he wanted to go with the guy who makes the fewest mistakes. Link is here:
Of course we will continue to look at the QB and other positions on the Wolfpack roster as the spring and summer progress.  New coaches and coordinators, new season coming…I am starting to yearn for fall.  At least the part after the less-than-ambitious non-conference schedule.
Here are a few items about other Pack teams:
Basketball:
The 2013-14 edition of the Wolfpack will not look much like this season’s, and perhaps that is a good thing.  But TJ Warren says he will stay, and he was one of the brighter spots on the Cardiac DOA Pack.
On the women’s side, former Pack assistant Wes Moore was hired as the new HC.  Moore comes from UT Chattanooga with an impressive career winning percentage of .767 and 16 trips to the Big Dance, so it seems the ladies are in good hands.
Baseball:  Finally, a quick baseball update. I admit to not really following college baseball until CWS time, but now that we are “in-between” the two attention-grabbing sports, why not take a peek?
Happy to report that the Pack is fine, ranked #25 and coming off a 14-inning win over #30 Virginia Tech.  As a matter of fact, the ACC is fine with the following Top 30 teams:  UNC #1, Virginia #6, Florida State #7, Georgia Tech #16, and as stated already, the Wolfpack at #25 and the Hokies at #30. As for the Futures, we have Louisville at #14 and Notre Dame at #24.

ACC Tournament Begins Tomorrow!

Posted on by acaffrey

The out-of-conference games are done.  Season 1 complete.  The regular season conference games are done.  Season 2 is complete.  Now the college basketball world heads into Season 3: the Conference tournaments.  For the ACC, the tournament kicks off tomorrow with four very good games.

Here is the complete schedule, courtesy of the Bleacher Report:

Tournament Schedule & TV Information

Thursday, March 14 (First Round)

Game 1: No. 8 Boston College vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech, 12 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Game 2: No. 5 NC State vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech, 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Game 3: No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 10 Wake Forest, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Game 4: No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 11 Clemson, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

 

Friday, March 15 (Second Round)

Game 5: No. 1 Miami vs. Game 1 Winner, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 6: No. 4 Virginia vs. Game 2 Winner, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 7: No. 2 Duke vs. Game 3 Winner, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 8: No. 3 North Carolina vs. Game 4 Winner, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

 

Saturday, March 16 (Semifinals)

Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)

Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)

 

Sunday, March 17 (Finals)

Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)

The big games to watch on Thursday are the Maryland-Wake Forest and North Carolina State-Virginia Tech games.  Maryland is squarely on the bubble. There is no room for a loss against the Demon Deacons.  North Carolina State is likely on the right side of the bubble.  But one never knows just how at-large spots will be open.  The Wolfpack are probably safe, but every year there is a surprise or two.  It’s best to remove all doubt when you get the chance to.

 

The Confidential Correspondent Weekly Poll: March 11, 2013

Posted on by acaffrey

So there it is.  Another regular season in the books.  As we head into the exciting tournament season, here is the final “regular season” weekly Top 12, with 5 precincts reporting:

#1 Duke, 4 first place votes, 59 pts.

#2 Louisville, 1 first place vote,  55 pts.

#3 Miami, 50 pts.

#4 Pittsburgh, 44 pts.

#5 Syracuse, 36 pts.

#6 North Carolina. 35 pts.

#7 Notre Dame, 32 pts.

#8 (tie) North Carolina State & Virginia, 24 pts.

#10 Maryland, 13 pts.

#11 Florida State, 12 pts.

#12 (tie) Georgia Tech & Boston College lemson, 3 pts.

Wake Forest and Clemson got votes in early polls.  Only Virginia Tech failed to have ANYONE give them a top 12 vote at any point in the season.  Good job firing Seth Greenberg.

How about Syracuse–ranked #4 in one poll and #9 in another.  Virginia has a pretty good range too, from 7th to 10th.  Notre Dame ranged from 5th to 8th.  The remaining teams were not quite as variable.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share your top 12…

The Case for Navy to the ACC

Posted on by acaffrey

Look, nobody knows what is going on with the rumors regarding teams leaving the ACC.  Depending on where you choose to read, the ACC may be extremely strong right now or extremely vulnerable.  The Confidential remains of the opinion that the absence of a grant of rights deal confirms that the Conference is at least somewhat vulnerable.  But, assuming it is not, there is still the issue of Notre Dame’s partial membership.  While the Confidential understands the lure of Connecticut and Cincinnati, and maybe even Temple, the Confidential would also like to make the case for Navy as the 16th school.

First, Navy could be considered in the same exact format as Notre Dame–a partial football schedule, with membership in the remaining sports.  Perhaps Notre Dame and Navy could split one share of the revenue somehow unless/until full football membership was resolved.

Picture this for divisions, with cross-over above/below:

Atlantic: Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, Wake Forest

Coastal: Navy, Florida State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, NC State

If ND and Navy could commit to the 7 division games, plus an 8th game between the two teams, this should make everyone happy and wealthier.  ND would still have 4 more games to spread among its OOC foes, such as USC and various Big 10 schools.  And the ACC Championship game could include Notre Dame.

Frankly, Navy has not been that bad in football anyway.  Credit Paul Johnson for putting them back on the map.  They are not a pushover.

Or, if ND/Navy are reluctant to go that high in terms of # of games, just keep them in parentheses… playing 5 games, plus the 6th game with each other.

Those divisions still work for hoops too.

Second, Navy is a fine academic institution.  There is no downgrade there.

Third, Navy has a lacrosse team, which would give the ACC its 6th lacrosse-playing school.

Fourth, Navy is located in the very place vacated by Maryland.  While Navy does not have the local following that Maryland does, it certainly has the national following.

Fifth, while its basketball team will always be undermanned, is that the worst thing for the conference?  There is already plenty of competition to get to the Big Dance.  And if Navy ever DID make it… they would have the whole country rooting for them.  Needless to say, Navy has not done well outside of the David Robinson era anyway.  So it’s no loss for the institution.

Finally, this keeps the UConn/Cincinnati debate alive should the ACC suffer additional losses.  It is likely that future expansion will be in pairs.  So adding those two teams together remains possible for backfill purposes.

What do you think?  Why yes or no?