The Confidential

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Archive for the tag “predictions”

24 Sep 2014

The Tar Heel Football Gauntlet- One Week In

Last week, we looked at North Carolina Football’s difficult four-game stretch and examined some of the statistics and intangibles they held that may or may not be good indicators of future success. While there were some bold predictions and unlikely scenarios presented, it all seemed semi-plausible until East Carolina completely dismantled the Tar Heels on the way to a 70-41 victory last Saturday. In a record-setting performance, the dynamic Pirates offense, led by quarterback Shane Carden, totaled 789 yards of offense. With an 0-1 record  one week into the gauntlet, and a 2-1 record overall, it’s important to take last week’s performance into account when looking at North Carolina’s next three games. For the sake of some hope of predictability, we’ll just look at the most immediate game, Saturday AT Clemson, for now.

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Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in ACC only and tagged , ,
16 Sep 2014

To Make or Break a Season- The Tar Heel Football Gauntlet

The North Carolina football team may have had last week off, but they certainly didn’t have any time to rest. After two underwhelming victories against motivated, but overmatched opponents, the Tar Heels had a lot of work to do. Despite being 2-0, the season was already heading in the wrong direction without significant changes in a number of different areas. Poor tackling and a stagnant running game were two of the biggest problems, but that’s only scratching the surface. This week it’s back to business, and things are about to heat up pretty quickly. Four games in four weeks, three of them away against ranked or probably should be ranked opponents (ECU), leaves little room for error.

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Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in ACC only and tagged , ,
10 Nov 2013
4 Comments

ACC Bowl Picture: A case for 11 teams

With 3 weeks remaining in the regular season, the ACC bowl picture is starting to take shape. Six teams have already secured their positions in post season (Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech, Duke, and Georgia Tech).

Unfortunately for some, their hopes of post season play are gone (Virginia), while North Carolina St. and Wake Forest are not eliminated but have uphill challenges to get to eligibility.

For the rest of the conference however, there is still a lot of promise. In fact, depending on how things shake out down the stretch, the ACC could potentially send 11 teams Bowl Games.
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Posted by Vinnie Saltine in Bowls, Football and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
08 Nov 2013
3 Comments

2013-2014 ACC Basketball Preview: Ranking the Teams

Amazingly, another college basketball season is upon us.  This year, the ACC is joined by Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame.  Next year, Louisville replaces Maryland.  So we have 16 teams to rank!  And here is how they stack up:

  1. Read more…
Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Predictions and tagged , , ,
21 Jul 2013
8 Comments

Sunday Poll

It is a Sunday in July.  Basketball is a distant memory.  Baseball and lacrosse are over.  The Grant of Rights has expansion talk limited to the Big 10 imperialists.  Football is close, but perhaps not close enough.  So let’s change that with a poll.   Who do you think is winning the ACC this year?  Schools are shown randomly.  Do not forget to comment below as to why someone is going to win…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Predictions, Rankings and tagged , , , ,
20 Jul 2013
2 Comments

College Fantasy Football: A Look at the Top ACC Wide Receivers

The Confidential previously announced that it will be sponsoring free fantasy football leagues.  As we begin to head towards the season opener, we will take a look at the ACC’s top playmakers–ergo, the top fantasy football studs–for 2013.  The first analysis was quarterbacks.  Then we did the running backs.  Today, we will look at the wide receivers.

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Predictions, Rankings and tagged , , ,
14 Jul 2013
2 Comments

College Fantasy Football: A Look at the Top ACC Running Backs

The Confidential previously announced that it will be sponsoring free fantasy football leagues.  As we begin to head towards the season opener, we will take a look at the ACC’s top playmakers–ergo, the top fantasy football studs–for 2013.  The first analysis was quarterbacks.  Today, we will look at the running backs.

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Predictions, Rankings and tagged , , ,
05 Jun 2013
26 Comments

Lacrosse & The Future

By now, we have all heard that Johns Hopkins is going to the Big 10.  Some folks are really happy, such as the Frank the Tank faithful.  As they should be.  As a preface, there should be no illusion that this is a disaster for the ACC.  This is not the conference apocalypse.  There should not be any wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But it is kind of bad news, right?

Here is why.

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference Realignment, Lacrosse, Opinion and tagged , , , , , ,
17 May 2013
1 Comment

Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams Stock Falling

Few questioned the decision by Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams to forego his last two years of college basketball and enter the NBA draft.  After all, NBA draftniks had been drooling and fawning over MCW for the entire season.  The phrase “certain lottery pick” is enough to convince the Confidential that any player should turn pro.  But this one is getting ugly.

The good news for MCW is that Chad Ford has stated to Syracuse.com that scouts either “love” or “hate” MCW.  So some scouts still love him.  But others hate him?  That seems harsh… presumably they just dislike his game.  But that is bad news.

Even worse is this quote from Ford:

“I know his agent thinks that I’m insane to have him, I think right now, I have him projected outside the lottery,” Ford said. “I think Dallas is a very good possibility for him at 13 and Sacramento is a good possibility for him if Anthony Bennett is off the board. Other than that, I just haven’t identified the other teams where I think he is a fit and they’re high on him.”

The good news for MCW is that he is still likely to be a first-round pick and get guaranteed money.  If so, the decision to go pro was unquestionably a sound move.  If the flaws in his game were not corrected next year, that extra year of college would be wasted.

But it is still a shame to see someone leave school when the “potential” outweighs the “actual.”  If only the NBA and college basketball could work together to allow kids a chance to continue to develop their game in college, without making that a risky proposition from a business sense.

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Draft, Syracuse correspondent and tagged , , , , , ,
02 May 2013
3 Comments

ACC & 2014 NFL Draft

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?

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Draft, Football, Predictions, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

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