As previously noted, Big 10 fans do not like the Capital One Cup. Now, the world could be polite and let the Big 10 have its complaints and criticisms. But not the Confidential. The Confidential is creating its own “Cup,” this one being so very ACC-centric that it will be sure to anger Big 10 fans. Here is the scoring system:
Congratulations to the North Carolina Tar Heels! Their women have claimed the Capital One Cup!
The Confidential is proud to add a new link to the sidebar: Laxpower.com. After last week’s very popular article regarding the future of lacrosse, the Confidential stumbled on this website. It has just about everything a lacrosse fan could want.
If you are a fan of college football, then you are at least slightly interested in how players from your favorite school fare in the NFL. Perhaps you are even a big fan of the NFL too. Did you know which schools have placed the most players in the NFL Hall of Fame?
Here is the top 10 list, as per the best source we have–the NFL Hall of Fame itself:
That’s right. Miami, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame.
Not Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. You do not see the Big 10’s Wisconsin, Michigan State, Maryland, Rutgers, or Nebraska. You do not see the SEC’s Florida, Auburn, Georgia, or L.S.U. You do not even see the Big XII’s Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, or even Texas.
Just recent additions to the ACC, courtesy of the now-destroyed Big East.
Recently, the ACC had a very good NFL draft in 2013. Looking backward, who are the Hall of Famers, by school, from the ACC? Here you go:
So there you have it. The ACC has put quite a few people into the NFL Hall of Fame, led mostly by teams that are new to the ACC fold.
By the way, who has been to Canton? Did you like the NFL Hall of Fame or find it disappointing?
The recent records speak for themselves. The Boston College Eagles have been terrible lately. But ACC fans should not necessarily conclude that Boston College is not carrying its weight. In fact, Boston College has more than carried its weight since joining the ACC 10 years ago.
First, the ugly. The last few seasons for Boston College have been terrible. Charles Barkley-esque “turrible.” Just look at these recent records:
You do not need a calculator to understand that the Eagles have been awful.
But let’s not get carried away with Boston College’s recent woes. Did you know:
So, while Boston College has fallen on hard times, just think of where they were before this recent sports drought? In addition to opening up the Boston market to the ACC, the Eagles have more than held their own in the ACC. And all of this while on an extreme geographic island without traditional rivals (like Syracuse and Pitt).
What is the goal of an athletic director at one of the schools in the top several conferences? Is it to win national championships in the revenue sports? Is it to make consistently good showings in the revenue sports? Or is it to have a broad array of athletes participating in non-revenue sports? Well, the Big 10 folks like to talk about how it is the latter. So what if they are not winning national championships, they are offering teams in skee-ball and hula hoops. And all that leads to success in the Capital One Cup.
Or does it?
Last week, we analyzed the last decade of ACC performances in football and basketball. There were some surprises. For example, Boston College in football and Florida State in basketball. But what does it mean overall? How about a ranking of the performances of all schools in both sports? Here you go.
The other day, the Confidential ran through the most successful ACC football teams for the past decade. Today, ESPN’s Travis Haney has a list of the 10 most talented football teams for 2013. Three of the top 10 teams in talent are in our very own ACC. Moreover, Clemson is in the next five.
The top 10 is, itself, a whos-who of college football elite. Obviously, one can find Alabama, Texas, and Ohio State on the list. But where does the ACC stack up?
Well, Florida State is #4 on the list. Here is some of the blurb on the Seminoles from the article:
Schlabach’s ranking: 14
Kiper’s top 50 prospects: 3
Kiper’s positional prospects: 14
Four-year recruiting class average rank: 4.5Considering the above numbers/rankings, there is no reason for Florida State to lose games the way it did to NC State in 2012 or Virginia in 2011. Injuries and inexperience played a part in those losses and others, but the Seminoles are better on paper than any team in the ACC. At least FSU managed a BCS berth — and win — last season, but it should have been a bigger year.
Pretty fair, actually. FSU has to stop losing to inferior opponents.
In a bit of a surprise, Miami is #8. Here is some of Haney’s explanation:
Schlabach’s ranking: NR
Kiper’s top 50 prospects: 0
Kiper’s positional prospects: 11
Four-year recruiting class average rank: 16.5Am I reaching here? Maybe, but there isn’t a whole lot to differentiate among programs such as Miami, Michigan, Clemson or the ones listed below. I just find the Hurricanes interesting because of how many players return, including the entire offense. They’re kind of easy to forget about, because of the self-imposed bowl ban, but they did win five of their seven games in the ACC — and no team has a hold on the league, not even the Seminoles.
And Notre Dame finished #10. Haney listed Clemson at #12, meaning 25% of the top 12 is in the ACC, while 33% of the top 12 is ACC or ACC-affiliated. Niot bad!
Here is the full list:
So… that’s 6 SEC schools, 3/4 ACC schools, 2 SEC schools, 2 Pac-12 schools, and 1 Big XII school.
An argument could be made for Nebraska, Wisconsin, USC, Virginia Tech, and Louisville to be on this list. But, alas, such is not the case.
What do you think… is ESPN stretching for the ACC now that they have a long-term partnership or is this a legit ranking?
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:
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?
On Monday, I noticed two offseason polls of interest: the first one was a post Spring football poll for 2013 by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and the second poll was for college basketball on CBS Sportsline.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each:
Football Top 25
ACC (3) 4. Louisville, 12. Clemson, 14. Florida State
Big 10 (5)
Big 12 (5)
SEC (6)
Pac 12 (4)
Notre Dame was ranked #10.
I’m excited about the GOR signed last week, but I’m embarrassed by the lack of solid football programs in the conference. The potential is there-I’m speaking about Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, NC State-for the ACC to consistently have at least five teams in the Top 25.
Basketball Top 26
On the other hand, the new ACC received a ton of respect in the Sportline Poll. Four ACC teams were ranked in the Top 11 and seven were ranked overall.
ACC (7) Louisville, Duke, UNC, Syracuse in Top 11
BIG 10 (5)
BIG 12 (1)
Pac 12 (2)
SEC (3)
Florida State and Louisville were the only ACC schools to appear in both (football and basketball) polls. FSU will certainly move up in basketball if Andrew Wiggins picks the Seminoles in the next two weeks.
Strength in Basketball Helpful for ACC Network?
Most media pundits have pointed to the direct correlation between football performance and television money. However, few mention the fact that conference network money is driven by “quality” inventory beyond football. I believe the number of solid basketball programs with diehard fan bases will make the ACC Network viable for ESPN and profitable for all of the teams that recently made a commitment to the conference. How many people are going to be watching the SEC network? (FYI: I will not watch.) All of the notable football games are covered by the national networks. Are people going to watch Alabama vs. Vanderbilt in basketball? Meanwhile, the Big 10 has a similar advantage to the ACC with several viable non-football programs to provide year round inventory and interest.
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