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28 Jan 2013

The First Weekly Confidential Correspondent Poll: January 28, 2013

Well, the ballots were distributed to the Confidential’s correspondent pool.  With 5 precincts reporting, here is the top 12 for the ACC as of January 28, 2013:

1.  Duke  (2 first place votes)   56 points

2.  Syracuse (1 first place vote)   54 points

3.  Miami (2 first place votes)  49 points

4.  North Carolina State   44 points

5.  (tie) Notre Dame and Pitt  37 points

7.  Louisville  30 points

8.  Virginia   25 points

9.  Maryland   23 points

10.  North Carolina 17 points

11. Florida State  11 points

12. Clemson  6 points

Notes:

Georgia Tech was placed #12 on a ballot each, but Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Boston College did not crack anyone’s top 12.  Sorry to those teams.

It is clear that name value still matters, as Duke and Syracuse suffered losses but stayed in the top 2.  Meanwhile, not everyone is persuaded that Miami is for real.  Was it just a hot January?  We’ll see.

North Carolina State is generally #4 or #5 in each poll.  It gets interesting thereafter, with the teams very hard to place.  Is Louisville the team that was ranked #1 in the country or the one that has lost 3 in a row?  What are Notre Dame, Pitt, and Maryland REALLY?  And it is odd to see North Carolina so low.  But do its rivals really care?  Enjoy the middle of the pack.  Virginia could find itself several places higher soon enough. 

Anyway, what do YOU think.  Does Duke still deserve the #1 spot?  Does Syracuse?  Miami?  Someone else?

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Correspondent Poll, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
22 Jan 2013

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 22, 2013

This is particularly complex with Pitt, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  This is how the Confidential ranks the ACC basketball teams as of January 22, 2013:

1.     Syracuse (18-1) – The Orange eked out two impressive wins over #1 ranked Louisville and plucky Cincinnati, all without their 6th starter, James Southerland. Syracuse may have the #1 spot in the conference right now, but the margin of error is very slim. Next up: @ Villanova.

2.     Duke (16-1) – Duke recovered from their loss against NC State with a win over Georgia Tech, all while missing Kelly from the line-up. Next up @#25 Miami, vs. Maryland.

3.     Louisville (16-2) – Louisville was about 15 seconds away from taking down the Orange and staying atop the rankings, instead their time on top ended prematurely. Next up: @ Villanova, @ Georgetown, @ Pitt.

4.     Miami (13-3) – Miami’s record has been flawless for the first half of January, notching recent wins against Maryland and Boston College and garnering a top-25 ranking. Things are going to get a lot tougher for the ‘Canes when Duke brings their talents to South Beach. Next up: vs. Duke, vs. Florida State, @ Virginia Tech.

5.     North Carolina State (15-3) – The Wolfpack follow-up their monumental win against Duke by losing a heartbreaker to Maryland, but righted the ship by getting the job done against Clemson. Next up: @Wake Forest, @UNC.

6.     Pittsburgh (15-4) – The Panthers were able to move-on from the OT loss to Marquette and picked-up two nice wins against Villanova and UConn and should pick up two more this week. Up Next: @Providence, vs. DePaul, @ Louisville.

7.     Notre Dame (15-4) – The Irish bounced back from tough back-to-back losses against UConn and St. John’s by barely beating a surprising Rutgers team. And then a loss to Georgetown.  Up next: @ USF, vs. Villanova.

8.     Virginia (12-5) –Did you see what Virginia did to Florida State?  Allowing 36 points in a game is just unreal.  Up Next: @ Virginia Tech, vs. Boston College.

9.     Maryland (14-4) – The Terps have been very mercurial since league play started in January, particularly struggling offensively; perhaps just getting ready for their future in the Big Ten. Next up: vs. Boston College, @ Duke, @ FSU.

10.  North Carolina (12-5) – It’s too early to tell if Roy’s Boys are back on track, or if the past two wins over Florida State and Maryland are just an aberration. Up Next: vs. Georgia Tech, @NC State, @ Boston College.

11.  Florida State (10-7) – It’s a good thing that the Seminoles haven’t played many games lately, because they have just been down-right bad. One expects the football team to score 36 points, not the basketball team. Sheesh. Next up: vs. Clemson, @ Miami, vs. Maryland.

12.  Clemson (10-7) – The Tigers needed a win against North Carolina State to help keep the positive momentum going. Next up:@ Florida State, vs. Virginia Tech, and vs. Georgia Tech.

13.  Boston College (9-8) –  Boston College looks to stem the losing streak and avoid slipping to the bottom of the ACC. Next up: @Maryland, @ Virginia, vs. UNC.

14.  Virginia Tech (11-6) – VPI beat Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, but lost to Boston College. Next up: vs. Virginia, @ Clemson, vs. Miami.

Right/wrong?  Disagree?  If not, let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
15 Jan 2013

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 15, 2013

This is particularly complex with Pitt, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  This is how the Confidential ranks the ACC basketball teams as of January 8, 2013:

1.  Duke (15-1)–The Blue Devils lost.  But they have beaten Louisville–so how can the Cardinals slide up to #1.  Yet.

2. Louisville (16-1)–The ACC’s newest addition is now #1 in the country.  They beat UConn on Monday and get Syracuse this weekend.

3.Syracuse (16-1)–The Orange have another academic casualty–James Southerland.  They still did pretty well without Fab Melo last year though.

4.North Carolina State (14-2)–The Wolfpack did what nobody else could do this year–beat Duke.  Still, with two losses, hard to move them into the top 3.

5. Notre Dame (14-2)--The Irish were on a roll, but then they ran into UConn.  The Irish will hold onto a top 5 spot for now.

6. Miami (12-3)–Miami has nice wins over Michigan State, North Carolina, and Maryland.  3-0 in the ACC is a great start.

7. Maryland (13-3)–The Terps do not have many good wins.  The losses to Miami and Florida State do not help the resume either.

8. Pittsburgh (13-4)–The Panthers were looking good at 12-1 with its only loss being to Michigan.  They have now lost 3 of 4 Big East games.  The win over Georgetown is nice though.

9. Virginia (11-5)–The Wahoos do not have a more impressive resume than North Carolina.  But they did beat North Carolina, whose resume is not that great either.

10. North Carolina (11-5)–North Carolina is not looking great this year at all.  It is going to be a battle to make the Big Dance.

11. Florida State (10-6)—The Seminoles are looking decent at 10-6, at least compared to how the season started.  A win over UNC would have been nicer though.

12. Wake Forest (9-6)–The Demon Deacons were #16 a week ago.  But now they are 2-1 in conference, with the only loss being to Duke.  12-16 is a crapshoot anyway.

13. Clemson (9-6)–The Tigers have the best win among the bottom 4–Virginia.  Better than nothing.

14. Boston College (9-7)–The Eagles have a win over Virginia Tech.  So that gets them the #14 spot this week.

15. Virginia Tech (10-6)–After starting 7-0, the Hokies have lost 6 of 9.  They even lost to Boston College.

16. Georgia Tech (10-5)–The Yellow Jackets are 0-3 in conference play, so that means the cellar.

Right/wrong?  Disagree?  If not, let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
11 Jan 2013

ACC Releases College Football Schedule for 2013.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, set to expand to 14 teams for 2013, has released the football schedule for this fall.

First, the divisions.  The ACC insists on eschewing the geographical split, instead opting for this setup:

Atlantic Division Coastal Division
Boston College Virginia Tech
Clemson Georgia Tech
Florida State Miami
Maryland Virginia
NC State North Carolina
Syracuse Pitt
Wake Forest Duke

Obviously, each team plays every team within its division.  Then, in order to get to 8 total games, each team has a primary crossover and a rotating crossover.  The team’s primary crossovers are listed in the above chart, with Boston College being paired with Virginia Tech, etc.  Syracuse and Pitt will be primary crossovers.

The secondary, rotating  crossovers are not as straightforward.  For 2013, the secondary crossover pairs are: Boston College-North Carolina; Clemson-Virginia; Florida State-Pittsburgh; Maryland-Virginia Tech; NC State-Duke; Syracuse-Georgia Tech; and Wake Forest-Miami.

Pittsburgh begins ACC conference play with home games against Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida State.  It will travel to Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Duke, and Virginia Tech.  Syracuse begins conference play by hosting Boston College, Wake Forest, Clemson, and Pitt.  Syracuse will travel to Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, and North Carolina State.

In notable games, Florida State will travel to Clemson in 2013.  Florida State will host Miami.  Miami will travel to North Carolina.  North Carolina will travel to Georgia Tech.  Georgia Tech will travel to Clemson.  With the ability to host both Florida State and Georgia Tech, Clemson has to be considered the early favorite.  The return of Tajh Boyd helps that too.

The Confidential does not know about you… but football cannot come around again soon enough!!!

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference News, Football and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
08 Jan 2013
1 Comment

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 8, 2013

This is particularly complex with Pitt, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  This is how the Confidential ranks the ACC basketball teams as of January 8, 2013:

1.  Duke (14-0)–The Blue Devils are either loved or hated.  But you have to hand it to this team–they are really taking care of business.

2. Louisville (13-1)–The ACC’s newest addition’s only loss came to Duke.  Louisville has better wins (Missouri, Kentucky) than Syracuse (Arkansas).

3.Syracuse (13-1)–The Orange overcame a scare against South Florida.  Only blemish on the season remains Temple.

4.Notre Dame (14-1)--The Irish have the same record as Syracuse, but Syracuse went on the road to beat Arkansas.  Notre Dame’s best win is over Kentucky–impressive, but just slightly behind the Orange.

5. Maryland (13-1)–The Terps have the worst resume of the four 1 loss teams.  The best win is over Northwestern, who has never made a Big Dance.  Yep, never.

6. North Carolina State (12-2)–The Wolfpack have not lost in a long, long time.  Sunday’s game against Duke will be a big one.

7. Pittsburgh (12-3)–The Panthers were looking good at 12-1 with its only loss being to Michigan.  Then Pitt lost to Cincy and (gasp) Rutgers.  What happened to Pitt hoops?

8.Miami (10-3)–Miami has nice wins over Michigan State and now Georgia Tech.  Only losses were to Arizona and Indiana.  Looking pretty good.

9. Virginia (11-3)–The Wahoos would have been behind the Tar Heels, but Sunday’s head-to-head win solves that.  A nice win over Wisconsin helps offset some bad early losses.

10. North Carolina (10-4)–North Carolina has not looked like a typical North Carolina team this year.  10th place?

11.Georgia Tech (10-3)—The Yellow Jackets are rebounding nicely after a poor 2011-2012.  Still looking for a high quality win though.

12. Virginia Tech (9-5)–After starting 7-0, the Hokies have lost 5 of 7.  Not exactly murderer’s row either.

13. Florida State (9-5)–The Seminoles seem  to have righted the ship slightly.  Still hard to explain losses to South Alabama and Mercer.

14. Clemson (8-5)–The Tigers are going to have a tough season, end of story.  Playing for a NIT bid.

15. Boston College (8-6)–The Eagles already look better than last year’s version.  Will it be enough to get farther away from the cellar?  We’ll see.

16. Wake Forest (7-6)–The Demon Deacons do not have a truly awful loss.  But they should have a few more wins, given the schedule.

Right/wrong?  Disagree?  If not, let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
07 Jan 2013

ACC Football Rankings: January 7, 2013

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Next year, we’ll add in Louisville too.  Anyway, this is how the Confidential ranks the ACC football teams as of January 7, 2013:

1.  Florida State (12-2)–The Seminoles took care of business against Northern Illinois.  Only Florida and North Carolina State were able to trip up the Seminoles.

2. Clemson (11-2)–Clemson had itself a nice little season too, losing only to South Carolina and Florida State.  Improved on a very good 2011 season.

3. Syracuse (8-5)–The Orange demolished a good West Virginia team in the Pinstripe Bowl.  The five losses all came to bowl-eligible teams.

4. North Carolina (8-4)–The Tar Heels did get a bowl bid due to sanctions.  Still, this team looks to be on the rise.

5. Miami (7-5)–The Hurricanes once again missed out on a bowl to due self-imposed penalties.  Al Golden has the team pointed in the right direction though.

6. Virginia Tech (7-6)–The Hokies win over Rutgers in the Russell Athletic Bowl gives Virginia Tech the edge over North Carolina State.  The two schools did not play this year.

7. North Carolina State (7-6)–At 7-5, the Wolfpack fired their coach, Tom O’Brien.  And now they are 0-1 in the post-O’Brien era.  Nicely done.

8. Georgia Tech (7-7)–The Yellow Jackets were able to beat USC and its stable of NFL-ready talent.  A nice way to end the 2012 season.

9. Pittsburgh (6-7)—The Panthers were relegated to the BBVA Compass Bowl for the second year in a row.  Ole Miss handled them pretty well, winning 38-17.

10. Duke (6-7)–The Blue Devils beat North Carolina to move to 6-2 and bowl-eligibility.  They would never win again.

11. Wake Forest (5-7).

12. Virginia (4-8).

13. Maryland (4-8).

14. Boston College (2-10).

Do you agree with these rankings?  If not, let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
18 Dec 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: December 18, 2012

This is particularly complex with Pitt, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  This is how the Confidential ranks the ACC basketball teams as of December 18, 2012:

1.  Duke (9-0)–The Blue Devils are sitting pretty at 9-0, with plenty of good victories.  An easy choice for #1.

2. Syracuse (10-0)–The Orange are 10-0, which is great.  Next up, Temple.  Congrats to Jim Boeheim on win #900 too.

3. Louisville (9-1)–So far, only #1 Duke has toppled Louisville.  With wins over Missouri and Memphis, Louisville has an argument to be #2.  But undefeated trumps one loss.

4.Notre Dame (10-1)—The Irish have now beaten Purdue and Kentucky.  That’s good enough for #4 here.

5. Pittsburgh (9-1)--The Panthers are off to a good start, but lacking a real quality win yet.   Only loss is to a very very good Michigan team.

6. Maryland (7-1)–The Terps have been good, losing only to Kentucky.  Still waiting on an impressive win though.  Northwestern is it right now.

7. Miami (6-1)–Not sure why Miami only has 7 games, but they have won 6 of them.  A bad loss, but a nice win over Michigan State.

8.North Carolina State (8-2)–The wins over Stanford and UConn look good.  The two losses are reasonable. 

9. North Carolina (8-2)–At 8-2, the Tar Heels really lack a quality win.  Losses to Butler and Indiana are understandable though.

10. Virginia (8-2)–10 through 12 are a toss-up.  The Wahoos have terrible losses early, but now have wins over Tennessee and Wisconsin.

11. Virginia  Tech (8-2)— Va Tech has ugly losses, but a great win–over Oklahoma State.  Gives them the slide edge over Georgia Tech.

12. Georgia Tech (7-2)–No shame in the two losses, but it’s hard to find even a decent win for the Yellow Jackets.  The worst of the two loss teams so far.

13. Clemson (6-3)–The Tigers have tough losses–Gonzaga, Illinois, and Arizona.  Clear edge over the rest.

14. Florida State (6-4)–At 6-4, the Seminoles are still the ACC’s disappointment so far.  Not sure what the deal is.

15. Wake Forest (5-5)–At least Wake is at .500.

16. Boston College (5-5)–At least BC is at .500.

Right/wrong?  Disagree?  If not, let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
10 Dec 2012
2 Comments

ACC Basketball Rankings: December 10, 2012

This is particularly complex with Pitt, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  This is how the Confidential ranks the ACC basketball teams as of December 10, 2012:

1.  Duke (9-0)–The Blue Devils are hated by many.  But you cannot deny how successful this season has gone.  An impressive 9-0.

2. Syracuse (8-0)–The Orange have two good victories, but no truly great ones.  A decent OOC slate, but the real meat comes in the Big East regular season.

3. Louisville (8-1)–The ACC’s newest addition has only lost to Duke.  A win over Missouri is the big victory on the schedule.

4.Pittsburgh (9-1)--The Panthers are looking to rebound after last year’s disappointing season.  Only loss is to a very very good Michigan team.

5. Notre Dame (8-1)–The Irish lost to St. Joseph’s, which is not uber-embarrassing.  Still, that has them behind several teams.  The win over Kentucky was nice, but less impressive now.

6. Maryland (7-1)–The Terps have been good, losing only to Kentucky.  Still waiting on an impressive win though.

7. North Carolina State (6-2)–The Wolfpack have been somewhat disappointing at only 6-2.  But the losses are not awful and they do have a win over surprising UConn.

8.Virginia Tech (7-1)–Despite losing to WVU, the Hokies have decent wins, such as Iowa and Oklahoma State.  Not too bad.

9. North Carolina (7-2)–As good as 7-2 looks, the Tar Heels have not beaten anyone of note.  The best win might be Mississippi State, a lower tier SEC team.

10. Miami (5-1)–Miami’s win over Michigan State was very impressive.  Need to see the Hurricanes against major competition a few more times before having them elevate over the teams ahead of them.

11. Virginia (8-2)—The Wahoos struggled in the first few games, but are rounding into form.  With wins over Tennessee and Wisconsin, look for this team to rise to the top half.

12. Georgia Tech (6-2)–No shame in the two losses, but it’s hard to find even a decent win for the Yellow Jackets.  Time will tell.

13. Clemson (5-3)–The Tigers have tough losses–Gonzaga, Illinois, and Arizona.  This team may peak late in the season.

14. Florida State (5-4)–At 5-4, the Seminoles are easily the ACC’s disappointment so far.  The losses to Mercer and South Alabama stand out.

15. Wake Forest (4-5)–The Demon Deacons did beat Mercer, but few other teams.  The losses are not horrible, but just way too many to get to NIT-level play.

16. Boston College (4-5)-Losses to Charleston and Bryant land Boston College in its familiar, cellar position.  So it goes in Beantown.

Right/wrong?  Disagree?  If not, let us know.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
04 Dec 2012

Boston College Hires Steve Addazio

After a few miserable seasons, the Boston College Eagles need to go in a new direction.  With many options, the Eagles nabbed Steve Addazio from Temple.  Other rumored candidates for the job included Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, Ball State coach Pete Lembo and New Orleans Saints offensive line coach Aaron Kromer.  Notably, none of those candidates had head coaching experience. Addazio certainly had the edge there.  Addazio has done fine for Temple, leading them to a 13-11 record in two seasons.

A few interesting tidbits about the move.  First, Syracuse will be joining the ACC next year.  Addazio’s son, Louie, is a tight end for Syracuse.  Apparently, Addazio likes facing Syracuse and his son.  He also had this to say after the Syracuse-Temple game this year:

“Obviously, I’m rooting for them in a bowl game,” he said. “Syracuse has got a special place in my heart. Aside from Friday, I’m certainly cheering for them.”

Second, after dismissing Frank Spaziani, one would think that Boston College would find an Irish-American coach.  Instead, they hire a guy named Addazio?  Sin é an corr.

Still, this seems like a good hire.  A guy with Northeast recruiting ties and SEC coaching experience.  A good fit.

 

Posted by acaffrey in Football and tagged , ,
27 Nov 2012
7 Comments

Navy to the ACC?

There are some Internet rumors out there about Navy being in consideration for the ACC.  Interesting.

First, if adding Navy means that Notre Dame joins the ACC full-time, then it is game over and you have to do it. Adding Notre Dame would legitimize the ACC in a way that no other addition could.

Second, if not, Navy could be added with the same program as Notre Dame.  Perhaps both teams would play 5 games.  Perhaps both teams would be willing to play 6 games.  After all, the matchup between the two schools would now be a conference game.  For scheduling purposes, it would make some sense to have two teams doing so.

Of course, the problem would be figuring out how to coordinate divisions.  With Notre Dame and Navy both appealing to northern teams, it would be hard to divide geographically.  Ideally, you’d want to separate Notre Dame and Navy.  But then they would have to play extra games to face each other.  It gets challenging.

An interesting move would be to add Navy and Army for football only if ND is willing to go “all in.” Picture this:

USA Pod: Syracuse, Army, ND, Boston College

NE Pod: Pitt, Navy, Virginia, Virginia Tech

NC Pod: NC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest

SE Pod: Miami, FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech

The USA Pod and NE Pod always play each other, forming the NORTH division.  The NC and SE Pod always play each other, forming the SOUTH division.  The best teams in the North and South play in the CCG.  Each team in the North would also play one team from the NC and SE pods each.  Each team in the South would also play one team each from the USA and NE pods.  The goal would be to match teams by level as much as possible.

With 9 opponents set, this would only leave Notre Dame three OOC games, presumably USC, a Big 10 school, and another school.  But if ND were agreeable to that, so be it.

Obviously, there would be some issues.  ND, Virginia Tech, and FSU are good anchors.  North Carolina is a weak anchor for the NC pod.  Although they were 8-4 this year.  Meanwhile, having Clemson, Miami, and Georgia Tech in one pod is pretty strong.  But, again, the pods are not actual divisions–just for  scheduling purposes.  It remains a North/South split.  On balance, the North/South split is not that bad.

In fact, just allowing the geography to play itself out makes more sense than trying to manipulate balance.  This year, Florida State is playing 6-6 Georgia Tech.  It would be better to be playing an 10-2 team from the North–regardless of difficulty of schedule in getting there.  For strength of schedule purposes, it benefits a Florida State or Clemson to play the toughest schedule possible.  Of course, THIS year, Notre Dame would be the best team, with a 10-2 record overall.

In any event, that remains a bit of a pipe dream on many levels.  For now, the discussion is UConn, Louisville, and Navy.  Unfortunately, there is no real discussion about Cincinnati right now.

Time will tell as to which, if any, is chosen.

 

 

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

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