The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the month “April, 2013”

23 Apr 2013
13 Comments

4-22-13: An ACC Holiday

The ACC’s obituary was written many months ago.  The Big 10–fresh off a harvest of Maryland and Rutgers–would be descending on the ACC and taking enough teams to get to 16, 18, 20, 0r 22.  The issues were merely who and how many.  Meanwhile, the only other issue was whether the ACC’s carcass would be feasted on by the Big XII and SEC at the same time, or whether these conferences would be waiting for the Big 10 to “choose” first.  Well… and it is great to say… you couldn’t have been more wrong.  Instead, as reported here and elsewhere yesterday, the ACC schools have decided to sign a grant of rights.  Much like a grant of rights solidified the Big XII, this grant of rights also solidifies the ACC.

So what are the winners and losers with this announcement:

THE WINNERS:

The ACC schools.  The ACC is a conference of elite academic institutions.  The Big 10 and Pac 12 are also conferences with elite academic institutions.  Had the ACC broken up, it would be meant the dissolving of a fine partnership over athletics.  There is something neat about having Boston College, Miami, Syracuse, and Duke all joined together in a conference.  Add in Notre Dame and Wake Forest, and that is a nice collection of private institutions not seen in any other major conference.  Meanwhile, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Pitt are excellent academic institutions on the public side.  And Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, and North Carolina State continue to improve.  The latter are, well, pretty good at football too.  But the real win is that these schools adhered to the idea that the potential value of this conference should not be squandered in the hope of more money immediately.  For once, someone left money on the table.

Syracuse, Wake Forest, Pitt, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Duke, Miami, and Louisville.  In some scenarios, these schools would get left out of realignment.  They avoided this fate, at least for now.

ESPN.  ESPN was somewhere near the brink of potentially losing  control of the eastern seaboard.  Maryland and Rutgers were shuffling off to the midwest to be featured in the Big 10’s network jointly owned by Fox.  If the Big 10 captured a few more, or several more, ACC schools… only the SEC could take on ACC schools–maybe 2?–to keep them under ESPN control.  Maybe the SEC could have landed North Carolina and Duke.  Or maybe they would have been “stuck” with North Carolina State and Virginia Tech.  Good football schools, but schools overshadowed academically by their state flagship schools.  And any ACC schools heading to the Big XII would move away from full ESPN control to partial ESPN control.  Finally, if the Big 10 had gotten too big, ESPN would have had to pay dearly in 2015 to keep their rights.  Frankly, keeping the ACC might have been a cheaper option.

Frank the Tank.  The author of the best expansion blog on the Internet had been saying forever that the ACC was strong.  The Maryland departure, and the echoes from some less-responsible bloggers regarding future Big 10 targets, made even Frank the Tank question just how strong.  But at the end of the day, his belief in the ACC prevailed.

ACC Leadership.  Questioned by many, the ACC home office seems a lot more competent today than they did 8 months ago.

THE LOSERS:

The West Virginia Bloggers.  Look, West Virginia got kind of a raw deal by being passed over for, ultimately, Louisville.  Of course, when is the last time West Virginia won a national championship in hoops?  In any event, few schools in the ACC had serious animosity toward West Virginia.  Pitt, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech (and Maryland presumably) would have liked to see them in the ACC.  Not the other way around.  Fortunately, when that did not pan out, the Mountaineers ended up with a very soft landing in the Big XII.  The response?  Echoing the lack of class from the school’s athletic director (saying Navy was an upgrade over Syracuse in football), a few select bloggers made a name for themselves guaranteeing the destruction of the ACC.  Not just that it was a possibility.  No, these fools claimed that it was fact.  Imminent fact.  Well, folks, you are running out of time for that fact to come to fruition.  So, while your imaginary sources may still whisper in your ear from time-to-time, the fifteen minutes of fame is over.

Some of the Frank the Tank Commentariat.  Like something out of Willy Wonka, some of the commentariat over there acted like spoiled children.  Person A: “NO, I want Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida State.”  Person B: “NO, the Big 10 should take Georgia Tech, Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Florida State, and Notre Dame.”   Person C: “You folks think small… the Big 10 should take everyone except Syracuse, BC, Wake Forest, and Louisville.  They should then take Texas, Florida, USC, and China.  Look at that market share!!!  We’ll be rich!”  And so on.  The Confidential understands that expansion is fun to talk about.  But the degree to which “money” became the only statistic that matters was beyond absurd.  Even if the Big 10 COULD make lots more money by adding in schools in great markets, there is more to this game than mere money.  When the blog first started taking off, people ignored money.  Now, money means too much.  Money is nice… but there is something to be said for athletic prowess.  At the end of the day, the SEC’s adds of Texas A&M and Missouri likely trump Rutgers and Maryland, on and off the field.  That book has many more chapters to write.  But let a few of them get written before declaring it a best seller.

UConn and Cincinnati.  A poached ACC was an inviting home.  A solid ACC?  Not a great sign.  Things can change though.

Expansion Fans.  While the aforementioned speculation got carried away by some, the speculation sure was fun.  This all started with the Big 10 looking for team #12.  It ended with a 10-team Big 12 and a 14-team Big 10.  Along the way, the Big East had teams in Idaho and California briefly.  And now there is something that we cannot call the AAC.  While the aftershocks of realignment will continue to ripple through the mid-major and minor conferences, the ACC’s Grant of Rights may just slow down expansion within the 5 power conferences.  If so, things may not be as tense for ACC fans, but they will also be slightly less interesting.

What do you think?  Any incorrect winners & losers?  Anyone omitted?  You tell us…

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference News, Conference Realignment, Opinion and tagged , , ,
22 Apr 2013
5 Comments

Conference Expansion is Over? Post Grant-of-Rights Moves for the ACC

In case you haven’t heard the big news (see tjcuseacc’s post below), the presidents of the ACC unanimously agreed to sign their media rights away to the conference through the 2026-2027 season today. Yes, even Notre Dame (without football, of course). That’s huge. Now if anyone wants to leave, we can basically still own them even though they’ll be playing other teams. So go ahead, Virginia. If you want to travel and play Indiana instead of Duke you can. But it’ll cost you.

This is the “Grant of Rights” thing that had the entire Internet proclaiming the safety of the Texas (Big) 12, even though they’re about as stable as a broken chair. Despite our huge media markets, overall athletic quality and strong history, it’s the only thing that basically separated us from this level of security. But the gap has been closed.

So take a deep breath. Not only does this pretty much kill all of the WVU-blogger talk that our league is about to explode, but it gives us all hope for the future. How about that, Maryland? So what’s next? The league’s leaders have certainly come a long way in the last few months- inviting Louisville (which looks like the smartest move EVER now), pledging solidarity, announcing the creation of a network study….but there’s a lot more to do.

1) Create the ACC Network- We all knew that it was only a matter of time, and the grant-of-rights is exactly what ESPN has been waiting for. If the network didn’t think that the teams were committed to each other, why would they have wanted to throw a lot of money in our direction? They wouldn’t have…but now they can. What television network wouldn’t want a strong presence in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, DC, Richmond, Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Louisville? Right. This is pretty much a no-brainer. Yes, the Worldwide Leader has pledged a lot of money to the SEC through its own network. But a lot of the markets overlap, and if bundled together, ESPN would have a hold of the preeminent football and basketball brands in all of college sports. We already knew that the league was studying this. We weren’t sure if ESPN is interested. But after today, they pretty much have to be.

2)  Divisional Realignment/Addition of More League Games in Football- It’s not a secret that most fans don’t like the Atlantic and Coastal divisions. It’s not really the names. They actually make sense, unlike the soon-to-be-defunct “Legends” and “Leaders” in the Confidential’s least-favorite conference. But what should the league do? North and South divisions aren’t really feasible, even if they seem obvious. Every team that would be in the “North” division wants to play a Florida team each year. Recruiting IS important, after all. And slotting Miami into the North, while sensible, due to their Big East roots, seems awkward. You can’t move Virginia Tech either. The Hokies LEFT left the Big East so they could play more Southern teams; they don’t want to be in the North. That and John Swofford doesn’t want to make his most consistent team unhappy. Especially when they have a spot waiting for them in the SEC, grant-of-rights notwithstanding. Let’s not even get started with Virginia.

So what CAN the league do? They HAVE to go to 9 conference games…at least. The Big 12 does it. The Big 10 is doing it. More league games just makes sense. It makes scheduling easier, and more predictable, which is actually what fans want- even if they’ll say they want variety. League games matter. Games against FCS teams don’t. That’s why fans don’t show up, FSU. That’s why the Big 10 has outlawed FCS games for their teams in the near future. UNC is in the same league as FSU to play them all the time…not once every 5-8 years. So let’s say 10 conference games; no FCS games; a permanent out-of-conference rival; plus Notre Dame every three years. With that, a new scheduling model would develop.

What if each team had TWO permanent partners on the other side. UNC’s would be NC State and Wake Forest. That’s sensible. Now what if the remaining 5 teams were grouped into two categories (this is for UNC)- longtime rivals (Clemson, FSU) and new faces (BC, Syracuse, Louisville). What if we had non-permanent partner games with our longtime rivals more frequently than with the new faces? Wouldn’t that make everyone happy and create exciting match-ups for fans and television? Check out some of UNC’s potential future schedules under this model-

2014

Georgia Tech                     Miami

Duke                                     Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech                      Virginia

NC State                              Wake Forest

Clemson                              Louisville

Tennessee                          Notre Dame

2015

Georgia Tech                     Miami

Duke                                     Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech                      Virginia

NC State                              Wake Forest

Florida State                       Boston College

Tennessee                          East Carolina

2016

Georgia Tech                     Miami

Duke                                     Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech                      Virginia

NC State                              Wake Forest

Clemson                              Syracuse

Tennessee                          Maryland

Those are great schedules. You’ll notice that that UNC will play Clemson and Florida State every other year. That’s a win-win situation for fans AND networks. It makes scheduling easy. And it actually feels like a conference again. The new yearly game against Tennessee? Why not? There have been rumors about an ACC-Big 12 scheduling alliance and that really makes sense. But almost half of the ACC teams already have a regular rival in the SEC and our leagues overlap geographically. So maybe we just have to suck it up and play #1.

As a fan, it’s hard to find anything wrong with those schedules. Yes, they would need to be worked out for every team. And it probably wouldn’t be this simple. But the reasons to change the current model are. The league has experience a lot of growth in the past few years. Let’s continue to adapt and change for the better.

What do you think? What do you feel that the ACC’s next move should be?

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in Conference News, Conference Realignment, Football, Schedule, UNC Correspondent, Uncategorized
22 Apr 2013
7 Comments

ACC Grant of Rights Deal!

The much needed ACC Grant of Rights deal has happened according to ESPN http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9200081/acc-media-rights-deal-lock-schools-okd-presidents and CBS http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/22116192/acc-approving-grant-of-rights-deal.  What great news for all of us who feared departures!  Maybe this leads to adding UConn and Cincinnati?

Posted by tjcuseacc in Uncategorized
21 Apr 2013
2 Comments

2014 College Basketball: Overview of the Previews

It’s apparently NEVER too early to talk college basketball.  All of the pundits have their early–very early–predictions for 2013-2014 started up.  Even though it is not even clear who is staying and who is leaving (players have until April 28, 2013, to declare for the NBA), these projections are being made.  So we must analyze.

First, the Confidential is a huge fan of Jay Bilas.  Most of his opinions are fair and make a lot of sense.  Not all of them.  But most of them.  Here is the early Bilas index for 2013-2014, truncated to 25, rather than 68:

  1. Kentucky
  2. Louisville
  3. Duke
  4. Michigan State

Hmmm… four of the best college basketball coaches.  Not exactly reaching here.

Any other ACC schools in the mix?  Yep: #6 is North Carolina, #11 is Syracuse, #13 is Notre Dame, and #23 is Virginia.  Pittsburgh, Florida State, Miami, and North Carolina State did not make the list….but would likely be in his top 68, had he done one.

Second, if the start of the 2013-2014 is far away, how about the 2014 selection Sunday?  But that did not stop Bracketologist Joe Lunardi from taking an early look at the field.  He has Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, and Arizona as the four #1 seeds.  For the ACC schools:

  • Duke is a #1 seed
  • Syracuse and Louisville are seeded at #2
  • North Carolina is a #3 seed
  • Virginia is a #4 seed
  • Notre Dame is a #6 seed

That, all in all, is not TOO different from the Bilas index.  And, although Lunardi goes out to 68 teams, no other ACC team cracks a top 68 where 30 teams are given automatic bids.  Joe also needs to update things to reflect that Notre Dame, Pitt, and Syracuse are part of the ACC.  But we’ll cut him some slack since the change is not implemented yet.

Third, the Big Lead has a top 25.  The top 4 teams are–surprise–Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, and Ohio State.  North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, and Notre Dame–and no others (except Louisville, obviously)–crack the top 25.

So there you have it.  There is a consensus that Kentucky, Duke, and Michigan State are the top 3 teams heading into 2013-2014.  For the ACC, five teams (plus Louisville) will be ranked.  Hard to disagree with any of those projections.

Can you?

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Predictions and tagged , , , , , , ,
20 Apr 2013
1 Comment

NC State Spring Football Game

Just finished watching the Kay Yow Spring Game on ESPN3. Not sure why Duke gets an HD broadcast on ESPNU and we Pack fans have to watch blocky streaming video, but we will have to wait for the ACC Network to correct that one.

This was definitely a game of two halves.  Both the Red (first string) and White (everybody else) looked sluggish through thirty minutes, with only Nick Sade scoring as the teams were tied 3-3 at the break.

In the second, though, the switch to a running clock brought out the no-huddle and this is definitely the way for the Pack to go.  Both squads had their moments on both sides of the ball with the Red ending up winning 20-10.

The QB battle wasn’t really very close.  Don’t have official stats, but Pete Thomas looked much more comfortable than Manny Stocker. Thomas reminded me of Erik Kramer; not fiery like Phillip Rivers, but cool and calm in the pocket.  Stocker, however, was handicapped as he is more of a mobile guy in a game of touch where quarterbacks are concerned, so it may yet turn out to be a horse race.

The best of the batch was Florida transfer Jacoby Brissett.  Even with the no-tackle restriction, his speed allowed him to get outside once and get a few yards, and he was the most accurate of the group.  Of course, he cannot play this season and will have to wait until 2014 to be a factor.

In this kind of game, you look for the unexpected player.  In this one, it was Jr running back Milton Hall.  The White squad went down the field in the second half largely on his shoulders. It was Hall up the middle and Hall up the middle again until they moved inside the Red five yard line.  There Stocker rushed a throw into the end zone and the drive ended in a pick.  One more handoff and the White team would likely have scored.

The coaches must have felt the same way.  When the Red team moved downfield deep into White territory on the ensuing drive, they were joined by Hall in a red mesh covering the white jersey and he got his TD after all.  He has a strong ability to find the holes combined with speed and should give Shadrach Thornton and Tony Creecy a run for their money once the season starts.

On defense Freshman CB Cole Burroughs was impressive.  Every time Thomas tried to throw the deep ball to Quintin Payton, Burroughs was there, as he was on several other occasions.  The defense as a whole looked good, but Burroughs was the bright spot.

Another thing that impressed me was the sideline interviews with several members of the new staff, particularly DCoordinator Dave Huxtable.  They were energetic and enthusiastic, and not in a Chuck Amato kind of way.  Of course we will need to see them in adverse situations before we can really judge, but frankly, first impressions were…wow.
So that’s it.  This correspondent has gone from cautious optimism about the 2013 season to the feeling that if this team does manage to claw their way up the Atlantic Division standings, they might not fall back down like other recent Pack teams.

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC Network, ACC only, Football, Game Review, NC State Correspondent, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
20 Apr 2013
3 Comments

Notre Dame’s ACC Football Schedule Announced

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.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Schedule and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
19 Apr 2013
1 Comment

Back to Sports?

It is Friday.  This has been a horrible week, obviously.  The “news” stations have been taking over the “sports stations” in terms of interest.  It feels weird to even think about sports.  But somehow, someway, we will eventually get back to our “normal” lives.  Whatever that means.

Indeed, what is the point of being fortunate enough to avoid disaster, but then getting mired down in not living this short life to its fullest?  And, although sports may not be anywhere close to the importance that we sometimes think, sports is at least some part of us living our life to its fullest.

Major league baseball is on its slow march to Fall.  Colleges are either finishing up spring football scrimmages or they will be taking place soon.  The NFL Draft–now a multi-day affair–begins next week.  The Kentucky Derby is around the corner.  College lacrosse and baseball playoffs.  Major league baseball will continues its slow march to Fall.  The NBA and NHL are about to hit their playoff seasons.  The NBA draft will take place.  Grand slam events in tennis and golf.  And so on.   And that is just he stuff we watch.

The slow period in sports for the Confidential (i.e. between the end of basketball season and the beginning of football season), is not really all that slow.  There will be plenty to keep us busy.

But, for now, it feels a little weird to think about sports.  When that feeling changes, maybe we will know that we are a bit further along the road to recovery.

The Confidential’s thoughts and prayers are with all the people who suffered such substantial losses this week.  For those who will not find normal any time soon, we can only hope that you can find peace.

What about you?  Can you even think about sports right now?

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
18 Apr 2013

NBA Draft & The ACC

The April 16, 2013, deadline has come and gone, meaning that anyone who decides to go pro between now and April 28, 2013, will make that decision as a point-of-no-return.  That will not stop folks from doing so, but the consequences will be a bit sharper.  At this point, those eligible for the NBA draft are what they are.  There are a number of ACC players that will be among the players drafted.  Who are they?

First of all, who are the early entries from ACC schools so far?  CBS Sportsline has a nice list going.  Here are the players from the ACC schools on the list:

  • Steven Adams, Pitt
  • Lorenzo Brown, NC State
  • Reggie Bullock, North Carolina
  • Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
  • Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
  • Alex Len, Maryland
  • CJ Leslie, NC State

Second, where will these kids go?  Well, here is where Chad Ford slots these guys, and other ACC draft-eligibles, in terms of overall NBA talent:

  • Len, #8
  • Carter-Williams, #10
  • Dieng, #17
  • Mason Plumlee, Duke, #18
  • Adams, #26
  • Brown, #42
  • Bullock, #45
  • Russ Smith, Louisville, #53
  • Leslie, #61
  • James Southerland, Syracuse, #81
  • Richard Howell, NC State, #82
  • Ryan Kelly, Duke, #88
  • Michael Snaer, Florida State, #92

A few other players to note.  These guys are all still undecided: Shane Larkin of Miami is at #30; Rasheed Sulaimon of Duke is at #48; and CJ Fair of Syracuse is at 71.  The decision should be tough for Larkin, but fairly easy for Fair.  You want to be pretty certain you get a first round contract if you are going to leave.

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
17 Apr 2013
1 Comment

Louisville Spring Football Game

The Sugar Bowl Champion Louisville Cardinals held their annual spring game this past Saturday in front of a Louisville record crowd of 33,000 fans at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. The Red team was fueled by a 27 point offensive explosion in the 2 qtr that included 2 rushing TD by junior Domonique Brown and 2 passing TD by junior QB Teddy Bridgewater. The Red team went on to defeat the White team 34-7 as the White team lone score came off of a 30 yard fumble recovery by senior LB George Durant on the defensive play of the game.

Despite the Heisman buzz surrounding Teddy Bridgewater don’t expect a media campaign from U of L. Soft spoken Teddy prefers to let his performance on the field speak for himself and to keep the focus on the team. Teddy completed 16 of 20 passes for 214 yards and 2 TD and yet gave himself a ‘C’ rating. “There’s always room for improvement,” Teddy explained to reporters after the game. “An ‘A’ is just doing everything right: footwork, being spaced out, throwing the ball on time, no incompletions. Just being perfect.” Teddy’s pursuit of perfection could lead him to better his 3700+ yards passing last season, a possible Heisman trophy and perhaps a shot at the national championship.

Junior Domonique Brown led the running attack in absence of senior Senorise Perry and sophomore Corvin Lamb with 79 yards on 9 carries 2 TD and caught 6 passes for 30 yards. He suffered a knee injury last August and sat out the season. He told reporters after the game Saturday that he wanted to play in the Sugar Bowl so badly that he would have been willing to waive his redshirt and give up a year of eligibility just to play in that one game. Brown showed improved burst through the hole, quicker feet and showed signs of being more than just a power back. Redshirt freshman Brendon Radcliff gained 56 yards on 5 carries.

Junior DeVante Parker hauled in 4 receptions for 102 yards, 44 yard long, and a TD. Parker led this deep and talented group of receivers with 10 TD last season and Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson says he is ready to go to the next level.

Teddy should once again have ample targets which will include the TE playing a big roll as well. Watson said Teddy will be backed up by freshman Will Gardner who he said has taken a step ahead of everybody else. Will went 10-16 for 85 yards and 1 TD.

6 defensive lineman missed the game but junior Lorenzo Mauldin looked unstoppable with 5 tackles, 2 sacks and 2.5 TFL. You can expect to see 8 players across the front which is a rarity for Louisville. With multiple players out on both the DL and LB positions it is hard to tell how good the defense will be but they should be deep at both of these positions.

Sophomore Jermaine Reve looks to be the front runner to replace All Big East cornerback Adrian Bushell, the only defensive starter lost from last season. Reve showed his versatility last season when he played 4 positions in 1 game. Junior DB Calvin Pryor has made it clear that he expects to enter the NFL draft at the end of the season so developing players at the safety position will be a key point of emphasis.

The 2 biggest questions going into next season will be depth on the OL and special teams play. Louisville will kickoff their season August 31 in PJCS against Ohio. They are poised to start the season ranked in the top 10 and should be favored in all of their games playing next season in The American Conference before joining the ACC in 2014. ESPN College Football Live stopped in Louisville on Monday and broke down the Cards chances of winning the national championship and Teddy Heisman campaign. Louisville worked hard to improve their schedule after the Sugar Bowl victory but negotiations with programs like Texas A&M and Wisconsin among others fell through.

“It was electric in here,” Louisville head coach Charlie Strong said after the game. “It was great for our players. They know this: They’ve got this city behind them, they have all the fans behind them and they enjoyed it.”

Posted by lenvillecards in ACC only, Football, Louisville Correspondent and tagged , , , ,
17 Apr 2013
2 Comments

ACC Players & The NFL Draft

The much-maligned ACC football prowess is somewhat fair when it comes to BCS bowl performance.  But the ACC continues to deliver players to the NFL as if it were a top football conference.  The 2013 NFL Draft will have plenty of ACC football players being taken.  Just take a look at the ESPN projections.

First, let’s review the Todd McShay projections.  For the first round, he has the following ACC players being drafted:

  • Jonathan Cooper, guard, North Carolina: #11 to the San Diego Chargers
  • Xavier Rhodes, cornerback, Florida State: #12 to the Miami Dolphins
  • Sylvester Williams, defensive tackle, North Carolina: #25 to the Minnesota Vikings
  • Menelik Watson, offensive tackle, Florida State: #27 to the Houston Texans
  • Bjoern Werner, defensive end, Florida State: #28 to the Denver Broncos

And this is not even counting the future of the ACC, such as Notre Dame products Tyler Eifert and Manti Te’o, and Syracuse’s Justin Pugh.

Mel Kiper’s two-round projections are a bit less ACC-friendly:

  • Cooper, #8 to the Buffalo Bills
  • Williams, #18 to the Dallas Cowboys
  • Rhodes, #24 to the Indianapolis Colts

Kiper does have Eifert and Te’o in the first round as well.

But Kiper’s second round is full of ACC products, including Watson (#35 to the Philadelphia Eagles); Werner (#36 to the Detroit Lions); Syracuse’s Shmarko Thomas (#37 to the Cincinnati Bengals); Syracuse’s Ryan Nassib (#41 to the Buffalo Bills); Florida State’s Tank Carradine (#42 to the Miami Dolphins);  and Pugh (#47 to the Dallas Cowboys).

The interesting thing is that these lists include representatives of just four teams: Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Notre Dame.  While Florida State and Notre Dame producing NFL talent is not a surprise, North Carolina and especially Syracuse are a bit surprising.  And we are not talking just one player here–North Carolina will have two players selected in the first round, while Syracuse may have three players selected in the first three rounds.

Not bad for a couple of basketball schools….

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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