The ACC School Mount Rushmores: North Carolina
Continuing with our Mount Rushmores… only two schools left. Today, we will go with North Carolina.
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Jadeveon Clowney and the ESPN Hype Machine
By now, we all know about ESPN’s hype machine. For the last few years, “no one” has been as good as the Big Ten in basketball (despite zero national championships in over 10 years). “No one” has been worse than Tim Tebow (despite him having a better playoff record than many current starters). It is what it is. As fans, we’re used to it. But last night, ESPN’s “excuse machine” was in full motion. I’ve never heard them try so hard.
Clemson and FSU will set Reputation of ACC for 2013
I can hear the comments now from the four letter network’s talking heads: “The ACC loses more BCS conference match ups….” The presumption is that the ACC is a weak football conference if they lose lopsided match ups like unranked Virginia Tech vs. #1 Alabama. I’m not convinced. Conferences should not be judged by the performance of middle or bottom tier teams. Would an Illinois victory over Kentucky indicate that the Big 10 is a better conference than the SEC? No way.
The biggest game this weekend for the ACC is Clemson vs. Georgia. As a matter of fact, it is the only game that really matters on the national front.
A Clemson victory would likely catapult them into the Top 5, put them in the national title conversation, and set up a nationally relevant game against Florida State on October 18th. Florida State, the other ranked ACC team, has it’s own responsibility for carrying the ACC flag. The Noles need to win their games against inferior competition and continue their presence near the Top 10 for a majority of the season.
How many years has it been since an ACC football team has been in the national title conversation in November? It’s up to you Clemson and Florida State to buck the trend.
Non-Conference Schedule
How many non-conference ranked opponents will be played by conferences this year?
ACC: 11
Big 12: 2
Big 10: 4
Pac 12: 8
SEC: who cares
Winston Debut
As Florida State finishes up preparations for the Pittsburgh Panthers, most fans are eagerly anticipating the debut of freshman QB Jameis Winston. Winston has generated a significant amount of hype since his MVP winning Elite 11 camp in 2011. The hype reached epic proportions after Winston’s spring game performance highlighted by a 58 yd strike against All-ACC conference corner Lamarcus Joyner.
The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Virginia Tech FINAL
This was a tough one to finalize. On the one hand, Michael Vick was an outstanding player–and an outstanding athlete. On the other hand, has any player brought more negative attention to himself, criminally, short of murdering someone? On yet one other hand, however, Michael Vick did his time, as they say. And nobody has ever suffered a more severe punishment for animal abuse issues. And then you have to factor in an absence of a true candidate for the fourth spot. There are some decent athletes, but nobody with much real oomph. So… despite his issues, the Confidential has to pick Michael Vick for the fourth spot.
The Final Virginia Tech Mount Rushmore: Frank Beamer, Bruce Smith, Dell Curry, and Michael Vick.
The original article…
The Confidential’s 2013 Football Preview
For long-time followers of the Confidential, you are familiar with our weekly polls. This year, we will not begin our poll until after the Week 1 games. This is something that we would like to see the major polls also do. Watch some games before deciding 1 to 25. But what we WILL do is provide our expectations regarding the tiers for the ACC teams (plus Notre Dame and Louisville).
Louisville 2013 Football Preview
The Louisville Cardinals come into the 2013 football season with a top 10 ranking and lofty expectations after their stunning upset of #3 Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Being the favorite in all of their games has the fans dreaming of an undefeated season and a possible shot at the national championship. Perhaps their biggest challenge will be overcoming complacency. To help keep the team focus they will wear wristbands that say “earn it”. Earn it has been often mentioned during August camp and the players seem to be buying in, some even turning away from the social media. To give them more drive and focus is the lingering memory of their two upset loses last season to Syracuse and UConn. With only a few starters missing from last year team the 2013 Cardinals should be even better. Read more…
Allen Iverson to Retire from the NBA? How is this news?
If you have not done something in several years, there is really no reason to tell people that you are not doing it anymore. But not Allen Iverson. He is set to announce his retirement from the NBA “soon.” Of course, Iverson is not on an NBA team. Nor was he last year. Or the year before. Or even the year before THAT. And, really, he only played 85 games over the two seasons preceding that. In any event, this writer has played in as many NBA games as Allen Iverson since this day in 2010. So I guess I should announce my retirement. Anyway, look for Iverson to finally get around to retiring four years after his last NBA game. Exciting.
ACC Nation has a few overdue announcements to make…
The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Clemson FINAL
The Clemson final spot did not prove to be overly difficult. Although there was some debate over Larry Nance, with Horace Grant being suggested, it is hard to overlook Nance’s taking Clemson farther than anyone else AND having a stellar NBA career.
For the fourth spot, however, we are going with Banks McFadden. Although his name sounds like it should be in a movie… like Dodgeball… the guy was a stellar athlete a long time ago. Consider this biography:
He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 . . . McFadden is widely considered to be the greatest athlete in Clemson University history, lettering in three sports (football, basketball and track). In 1939, McFadden was voted the Associated Press’ “Athlete of the Year”. McFadden was also a two-time All-American in basketball (1938 and 1939) and lead the Tigers basketball team to a Southern Conference championship in 1939. Upon graduating, McFadden played football for the National Football League’s Brooklyn Dodgers. McFadden fought in World War II and upon returning to the United States went into coaching.
On September 19, 1987, Clemson University retired his basketball No. 23 and football No. 66.
So, there you go, a retired jersey in TWO sports. Not many players get that type of recognition.
The Final Verdict for the Clemson Mount Rushmore: Danny Ford, Frank Howard, Larry Nance, and Banks McFadden!
ACC & Expansion: August Discussion~Texas
The folks over at Frank the Tank have been having some fun with expansion scenarios involving Big XII teams. As always, it is the imperialistic Big 10 looking to find colonies (schools) in new lands (markets). One person even posed the Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas/UConn idea. Well, our ACC is in a battle for survival. It is “eat” or “be eaten.” The Confidential believes that it is the ACC that needs to have its eyes on Texas. Any conference would be glad to have Texas, if the ACC can pull it off, it would cement the conference in the top 4. But how to do it?
The ACC School Mount Rushmores: Pittsburgh FINAL
Well, there were not too many comments on the Pittsburgh Mount Rushmore, making it a challenge for the Confidential. Ultimately, the Confidential is going with Mike Ditka. People forget how good he was a Pitt–an All-American tight end that led the team in receiving for all three years. From there, he solidified his name as a NFL player and coach. While he has had some controversially dumb things to say, there is no question that he is the epitome of “toughness,” which is an attribute that is associated with Pittsburgh, in general.
Pop Warner had great success, but he had success in a lot of places. And his replacement had even more success. Johnny Majors had a great peak with a National Championship, but then departed for his alma mater. Hugh Green was the real challenger to Ditka. But Green’s college dominance is offset by notable lack of accomplishment on or off the field thereafter. Great player, but falls slight short of being an icon.
The Final Pittsburgh Mount Rushmore: Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Jock Southerland, and Mike Ditka.
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