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27 Feb 2013
2 Comments

The 2013 Greg Schiano Pansiness In Scheduling Award for the ACC

Nobody rode the coattails of weak scheduling any farther than Greg Schiano.  As noted here previously, Rutgers rise to mediocrity was accompanied by a rather obvious shift to absolutely putrid OOC scheduling.  Well, it worked…as Rutgers is now in the Big 10 and Schiano is now in the NFL.  In the meantime, let’s take a look at the OOC schedules for the ACC teams.  In the spirit of the Oscars, who gets the Greg Schiano award for the ACC in 2013?

First, let’s look at the OOC schedules (courtesy of http://www.theacc.com):

  • Boston College: Villanova, @ USC, Army, @ New Mexico State
  • Clemson: Georgia, South Carolina State, The Citadel, @ South Carolina
  • Duke: North Carolina Central, @ Memphis, Troy, Navy
  • Florida State: Nevada, Bethune-Cookman, Idaho, @ Florida
  • Georgia Tech: Elon, @ BYU, Alabama A&M, Georgia
  • Maryland: Florida Int’l, Old Dominion, @ UConn, West Virginia
  • Miami: Florida Atlantic, Florida, Savannah State, @ USF
  • North Carolina: @ South Carolina, Middle Tennessee, East Carolina, Old Dominion
  • NC State: Louisiana Tech, Richmond, Central Michigan, East Carolina
  • Pittsburgh: New Mexico, Old Dominion, @ Navy, Notre Dame
  • Syracuse: Penn State (Neutral site), @ Northwestern, Wagner, Tulane
  • Virginia: BYU, Oregon, VMI, Ball State
  • Va Tech: Alabama (Neutral site), Western Carolina, @ East Carolina, Marshall
  • Wake Forest: Presbyterian, Louisiana-Monroe, @Army, @ Vanderbilt

Old Dominion might have the toughest schedule East of the Mississippi, with games against Maryland, Pitt, and North Carolina.  Heck, let’s add them to the conference!  Just kidding.

Notably, only a handful of teams play more than one AQ-conference team.  Clemson plays Georgia and South Carolina.  Maryland plays West Virginia and UConn (kinda, sorta).  Miami plays Florida and USF (kinda sorta).  Syracuse plays Penn State and Northwestern.  So those 4 teams can be eliminated from the Schiano Award.

Virginia Tech plays Alabama, Virginia plays Oregon, Florida State plays Florida, Pitt plays Notre Dame, and Boston College plays Southern Cal.  That is five teams that are taking on elite teams, kings of the sport.  We can eliminate them too.  That leaves but 5.

Georgia and Southern Carolina may or may not be Kings, but they are darn goods teams.  We can eliminate North Carolina and Georgia Tech.  Down to 3 teams.

Wake Forest plays @ Vanderbilt and @ Army.  Two road OOC games against decent programs.  Heck, Greg Schiano would not have scheduled a road game against Vandy in the same year as a road trip to Army, so we’ll eliminate the Demon Deacons.  Down to 2.

The two finalists are Duke and North Carolina State.  Duke’s toughest game is either Navy or @ Memphis.  Yep… one of the worst teams in all of FBS may be Duke’s “toughest” game.  For North Carolina State, home games against Louisiana Tech and East Carolina are the choices.  Wait a minute… North Carolina State is not even going on the road at all!  Four home games and zero games against any BCS-level programs?  Methinks we have a winner here.

The 2013 Greg Schiano Pansiness in Schedule Award for the ACC goes to… the North Carolina State Wolfpack!

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Opinion, Sarcasm, Satire and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
27 Feb 2013
14 Comments

Conference Realignment–What if the ACC, Big 10, SEC, and Big XII Worked Together?

So far, conference realignment has been about taking… usually in the form of a happy conference (stealing a school), a happy school (happy to be stolen) and–cue the sad trombone–a sad conference (losing a school).  So far, the unhappy conference has usually been the Big East, but the Big XII has lost Missouri, Texas A&M, Colorado, and Nebraska, while the ACC has lost Maryland.  Only the Pac-12, SEC, and Big 10 have been exclusively happy.  In the meantime, there are rumors upon rumors of the ACC being carved up, with fewer (but existing) rumors regarding the Big 10 eying more Big XII schools.  But what if the ACC, Big 10, SEC, and Big XII sat down and worked on a plan that would keep each of these conferences roughly happy, while allowing each conference to arguably expand its market base?

Consider that the Big 10 has eyes on the Southeast market, but is leery of alienating its midwestern base/roots.  While some people talk about expanding to 18 or 20, these additions always involve Michigan and/or Ohio State moving to the eastern side.  On the other hand, the Big XII has a grant of rights that makes it more difficult to pry away a school.  But what if everyone sat down and came up with a plan that would kind of/sort of make everyone happier.

First, the Big XII would give up its GOR rights for Kansas, allowing them to slide to the Big 10.  In exchange, the ACC would give up Pitt, who would slide to the Big XII.  The SEC would give up Missouri.  In exchange for Missouri, the ACC would give up North Carolina State.  Missouri would go to the Big 10.  The Big 10 would be at 16, the SEC at 14.  At 10 members, the Big XII would have the option of taking Cincinnati and USF to move into further new markets (Ohio and Florida), while also adding a conference game.  The ACC could take UConn–adding a new market to replace the NC State “market” lost.  The ACC could also take Temple, adding a private school in the Pennsylvania market.

This would result in:

SEC East: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, NC State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky

SEC West: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi, Miss State, and Texas A&M.

Big 10 West: Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa

Big 10 East: Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland, Michigan, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State

Big XII South: Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Big XII North: West Virginia, Pitt, Cincy, USF, Iowa State, Kansas State

ACC Atlantic: UConn, BC, Temple, Louisville, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, (ND)

ACC Coastal: Syracuse, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Miami, (Navy–same deal as ND, only less money?)

Issues:

Big XII loses Kansas–a major basketball power.  However, Kansas is also terrible at football.  The Big XII stays strong in football at the top by adding Cincy and USF–two beatable teams in great markets for recruiting.  Cincy and USF are on the upswing in hoops too.  Pitt is very established in hoops.  A nice home-and-home pod with Pitt and Cincy for West Virginia.

SEC loses Missouri, but picks up NC State.  A market for market swap that probably hurts the SEC somewhat.  But the SEC adds a school that gives inroads into North Carolina, while further fitting in better on the Eastern side.  If, in 10 years, the SEC and Big 10 decide to carve up the ACC–the SEC has a lure for North Carolina–State is already there.  Meanwhile, NC State is more of an SEC school in terms of football zeal by the fans.  The basketball program could thrive freed from the shadow of Duke and UNC too.

The Big 10 gets a stronger Western flank with Missouri and Kansas.  With both schools freed of games against the powers of the SEC and Big XII, they could thrive.  The divisions finally start to make geographic sense, allowing for a 9 game schedule–7 games inter-division, plus two games against other division.

The ACC loses NC State and Pitt–two decent football programs.  UConn and Temple are a downgrade… but this staves off a loss of the major football powers and the major markets/leaders.

 

Of course, in a perfect world, the existing conferences could sit down and make complete geographic sense.  But that cannot happen.  In the interim, however, the conferences could work to share markets to allow all TV deals to slide upwards.  Although it is will get the most criticism, the Big XII would really be the big winner here.  The adds of Pitt, Cincy, and USF would open up three major recruiting markets, without exactly taking on terrible metro markets (Pitt, Cincy, Tampa).

What do you think?  Even if impossible, does it make sense?

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference Realignment, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
15 Feb 2013

State of the Pack: Basketball Red Zone

OK, now we find out who the Wolfpack really are.  Are we the team that was the ACC preseason favorite or the one that lost so many games they were supposed to win? Admittedly, winning the regular season is a ship that has sailed; it’s pretty much down to Duke and Miami at this point.

However, the close win over Clemson gave some reason to hope.  This game was the kind the Pack had been losing; a close contest in front of a rabid road crowd (no other kind in the ACC).  But when the Tigers had State on the ropes a funny thing happened; for perhaps the first time this season, the Wolfpack responded and were able to eke out a win over a lower-ranked team.

This is an excellent time to discover that State can win these games.  If you look at the rest of the season, there are no ranked teams left.  Per the most recent poll in the Confidential, and despite Virginia being ahead of them in the standings, NCSU is the third-best in the ACC (current membership, not the “futures”) at this point.  With apologies to our own Mr. Tar Heel, every game is winnable from here on out and I would not be surprised if we did finish 24-7 going into the conference tournament.  Of course, we could also go the other way, but my glass is half full and so, I believe, is the Pack’s.

All starts with Saturday’s game vs Va Tech.  Playing at home, we should show out and not be challenged.  This being the ACC, however, I would be satisfied with a nail-biter victory over Erick Green and company.  In the event of a loss, this post will self-destruct…sorry, watching Ghost Protocol on Netflix…

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC only, Basketball, NC State Correspondent, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , ,
14 Feb 2013
3 Comments

Rutgers Very Nervous: Big 10 Will Not Schedule FCS Games

According to Barry Alvarez, or more accurately according to CBS Sports quoting Alvarez, the Big 10 will no longer schedule games against FCS schools.  The most immediate reaction is extreme nervousness in Rutgers.  However, Rutgers has perfected the art of scheduling crappy FBS teams, so the need for panic is overblown.

For fun, let’s just look at Rutgers’ history in the Big East era (stats courtesy of http://www.jhowell.net/cf/scores/Rutgers.htm#2012).  From 1993 to 2000, Rutgers record was a well below-average 24-63. But at least there are some decent OOC opponents each year, such as Penn State, Notre Dame, and Texas.  In fact, one year–1999–featured Texas, California, and Wake Forest, three major conference opponents.  There were three seasons where Rutgers took on two major conference opponents, 1993, 1995, and 2000.  Not that Duke is that strong an opponent, but it’s still reasonable.

But then in 2001, a scheduling philosophy emerged–cupcake city.  From 2001 to 2011, the BEST OOC opponents scheduled by Rutgers for each season were as follows:

  • 2001: A 1-10 California team
  • 2002: Tough schedule–Tennessee and Notre Dame
  • 2003: Michigan State
  • 2004: Michigan State
  • 2005: Navy (only BCS foe was Illinois)
  • 2006: North Carolina
  • 2007: Maryland
  • 2008: North Carolina
  • 2009: Maryland
  • 2010: North Carolina
  • 2011: North Carolina
  • 2012: Arkansas

Thus, between 2003 and 2011, the toughest opponent Rutgers faced was some combination of North Carolina, Michigan State, Maryland, and Navy.   But it is not like Rutgers was scheduling in quantity, with three BCS foes.  Instead, for the most part, it was Army and Navy that would provide the more difficult 2nd and 3rd games.  The rest of the schedule would be MACtion and FCS.  Not surprisingly, playing these soft schedules led to a historical surge in wins.

Sure, you say… the Big East was too strong for Rutgers to schedule tough.  Really?  In 2002, equally inept Temple scheduled South Carolina and Oregon State.  Pitt scheduled Notre Dame and Texas A&M.  Boston College scheduled Stanford and Notre Dame.  West Virginia scheduled Wisconsin and Maryland.  Syracuse scheduled Auburn and North Carolina.  Virginia Tech scheduled LSU and Texas A&M (in addition to rivalry game against Virginia).  Miami scheduled Tennessee and Florida (in addition to rivalry game against Florida State).

OK, perhaps you can rationalize that because that was the older, tougher Big East.  Fast forward to 2007.  Rutgers OOC slate was Maryland (6-7), Buffalo (MAC), Navy (8-5), Army (3-9), and Norfolk State (FCS).  In contrast, Syracuse scheduled Washington, Illinois, and Iowa.  Pitt scheduled Michigan State and Virginia.  Louisville had Utah, Kentucky, and NC State on the slate.  UConn–just making the move to FBS–scheduled Virginia and Duke.  South Florida challenged itself with North Carolina and Auburn.  Cincinnati had a weak schedule too, with only Oregon State having any relevance. West Virginia had Maryland and Mississippi State.  Again, if Rutgers was not the weakest schedule, it was second weakest to only Cincinnati.

2012?  With the recent success, surely Rutgers would have taken on some tough opponents?  Nah.  Rutgers deserves credit for scheduling a trip to Arkansas–the first game against an arguable king of college football since 2002.  But the rest of the schedule was Tulane, Howard, Kent, and Army.  Wow.  Again, the other Big East schools were way ahead of Rutgers.  Temple could not get a 5th OOC game, but still found room for Penn State and Maryland.  UConn missed a bowl, but scheduled North Carolina State and Maryland.  Pitt had Virginia Tech and Notre Dame on the slate.  South Florida faced local kings Miami and Florida State.  Syracuse had an incredible Northwestern, Minnesota (road), USC (neutral), and Missouri (road).  Cincinnati was weak–with only Virginia Tech being a tough foe.  Finally, Louisville had North Carolina and Kentucky.  Again, Cincinnati is the only school providing Rutgers competition for weakest schedule.

While the Big 10 shifts away from FCS games, Rutgers will still be able to sprinkle in the MACtion and Army/Navy games.  At least playing a Big 10 schedule will provide some toughness.  Although Penn State’s sanctions and Maryland’s woes mean that the two rivals will be well-below par.  But at least Rutgers will see what it is like to play multiple football kings in a single season.  It has not happened much in the past 20 years and almost never in the past dozen.  Winning is impressive, but only when you beat good teams too.  Going big time might mean a return to small time win totals.

Posted by acaffrey in Football, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,
07 Feb 2013
7 Comments

Reviewing Signing Day 2013: How Did The ACC Do?

Well, another signing day has come and gone for college football.  Your question, naturally, is how did the ACC do?  Actually, your real question is how YOUR team did.  But you’ll have to settle for this broad analysis for now.

Our friends over at ESPN have taken the time to rank the recruiting classes.  The ACC did quite well.  Future partial member Notre Dame was deemed to have the #4 class.  Florida State cracked the top 10 at #9.  Clemson was not far behind at #13.  We’ll have to see whether the Confidential correspondents agree with that order.  Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Miami finished from #19 through #21.

So that is 5 of the top 21 teams being current ACC, with Notre Dame being a 6th team.  By comparison, the Big 10 had two teams in the top 21, with Ohio State and Michigan in the top 6.  Nebraska and Penn State at least finished at #24.  The Pac-12 had 3, with UCLA, USC, and Washington all slotting between #12 and #18.  The Big XII had two, with Texas and Oklahoma finishing #15 and #16.  The rest of the top 21 was SEC… meaning 8 of the top 21 teams were SEC.

All 14 SEC teams finished in the top 38, which is simply amazing.  Indeed, where the ACC struggles is with the second tier.  Only Virginia cracked the top 40.  See this:

SEC               10 in top 25                    14 in top 40

ACC               5 in top 25 (+ ND)        6 in top 40 (+ ND)

Pac-12           3 in top 25                      7 in top 25

Big 10            4 in top 25                      6 in top 25 (+ Rutgers)

Big XII          2 in top 25                      5 in top 25

Really, none of this is surprising.  The biggest problem with the ACC is that the lower-echelon teams are not given enough credit–fairly or unfairly.  But the ACC has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of at the top.  It is as strong as anyone–it just needs to win more BCS games and get more titles to prove it.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Opinion, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , ,
06 Feb 2013

Why Debbie Yow was right

I know this is a controversial subject, at least among Wolfpack fans, but I believe that Debbie Yow was right to let Tom O’Brien go. To support my position, let’s take a look at O’Brien’s tenure at State:

2007 – After 3 straight 9-3 seasons and eight straight bowl apperances at Boston College, TOB announces that he will be taking his talents to South Beach…er, NC State.  Most State fans, including yours truly, are pretty ecstatic.  His reason for what most view as a lateral move is the fan support he saw when BC visited Raleigh; State seems to be to him as Notre Dame is to Lou Holtz, a destination rather than a stepping-stone (like the Pack was for the aforementioned Holtz).  But an instant miracle is not in the cards; State finishes 5-7 and does not go bowling.

2008 – Fair enough, Coach needs some time to recruit. The team starts slow but provides a feel-good ending with 4 straight wins including a thrashing of UNC that leaves them bowl-eligible. They lose to Rutgers in the PapaJohns.com bowl, but it’s a start.

2009 – This one qualifies as a lost season.  Only a season-ending win vs the Heels that knocks them out of bowl eligibility gives State fans anything to cheer about.  The low point for Coach had to be the 52-20 drubbing the Pack took at BC.  Let the grumbling begin…

2010 – The high point, the one O’Brien will point to when he tells the story of his time at State.  He calms his critics with an 8-4 mark followed by a rout of West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl, 23-7.  This is the TOBPack we dreamed of.

2011 – State falls back to 7-5.  There is good news, with a last-game rout of Maryland 56-41, a powerful defensive performance vs UNC 13-0, and a thrilling Belk Bowl win against Louisville 31-24.  But after the 2010 season this really felt like somewhat of a step back. And there would be more of the same in…

2012 – Really? 6-6? Had to beat BC in the final game to get to a bowl again?  Then they lost to Vandy, though that one was on Dana Bible as our Yow had already pulled the trigger and frankly, the team looked a bit lost in this one.

Now, does the body of work mandate a firing?  No.  Is Tom O’Brien a bad coach? No.  I wish him all sucess in his new post as Associate Head Coach at Virginia and feel that he will return to the HC ranks at some point if he so desires.

But here’s the point: O’Brien had taken State about as far as he was likely to.  Yes, we went bowling four times in his six seasons, but we were almost always just this side of mediocre.   Sometimes it is just time, and this was one of those cases.

Will Dave Doeren do better? I don’t have a crystal ball, but he did take a team from a non-BCS conference to the Orange Bowl, a place State has yet to go.  Admittedly this is a completely different challenge than facing the likes of Clemson, Florida State and Virginia Tech on a regular basis, not to mention the newcomers about to change the face of the ACC.  But I look forward to finding out.

As for Yow, I am still pretty psyched about that basketball coach she chose. So let’s give this thing a chance.

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC only, Football, NC State Correspondent, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,
06 Feb 2013
1 Comment

Signing Day!

Today is the day that teenagers–at least the slow-to-decide or overly-dramatic ones–decide which college football franchise they will be associated with  for the next 4-5 years.  There are lots of battles to watch today–will Clemson overcome Florida State in the recruiting rankings?  Can Louisville or Miami make a run at them?  Can the new coaching staffs at North Carolina State, Boston College, and Syracuse close strong?  Will Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Virginia keep themselves close to the upper echelon, despite disappointing seasons?  Is Notre Dame back?  How about the rest of tobacco road–will Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest show that they are not just places for hoops recruits?  And does anyone, anywhere really give a crap about Maryland?

Well, we know the answer to the last question–no!  Even the Big 10 shrugs with a “meh,” and refers to maps and markets.  But everything else is unanswered.  Tune in here and elsewhere for recruiting information on this huge day.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Recruiting and tagged , , , , , , , ,
04 Feb 2013

The Weekly Confidential Correspondent Poll: February 4, 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 February 4, 2013:

1.  Duke (3 first place votes)     58 points

2.  Miami   (2 first place votes)   55 points

3.  Syracuse    47 points

4.  Notre Dame   41 points

5.  Louisville   40 points

6.  NC State   35 points

7.   Pittsburgh   32 points

8.  North Carolina   29 points

9.   Maryland  21 points

10.  Virginia   19 points

11.   Florida State  11 points

12.  Clemson  3 points

Notes:

Clemson edged Wake Forest 3-2, to land the coveted 12th spot in the standings.

The correspondents are starting to both believe in Miami and question Syracuse.  Nobody had Duke below #2.

Speaking of Syracuse, the Orange and Fighting Irish face off on Monday for the much desired number three spot in the poll.  Syracuse needs a win badly.

Louisville, Pitt, and NC State are a solid number 5 through 7, but the Tar Heels at 8 and only a few points behind them is surprising.

Maryland is only narrowly ahead of Virginia.  Unfortunately, Maryland does not have any ACC rivals, or they would be even better.  Bring on Rutgers and Iowa!

One half of the top 8 continues to be Big East.  Maybe the ACC is not helping football enough, but the basketball improvement will be obvious.  Of course, all four went to bowl games too.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Correspondent Poll, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
02 Feb 2013

ACC Hoops Weekend–1st Weekend of February 2013

As we draw ever closer to March madness, the weekends become more and more important for ACC basketball fans.

Saturday, February 2, 2013:

#6 Syracuse suffered only its second loss in 30 conferences games last Saturday.  With an injury to Dajuan Coleman, the Orange are down to seven scholarship players.  They travel to Pittsburgh for a nooner, who narrowly lost to Louisville on Monday.  Going to be a great matchup.

But the big game of the day has to be #14 Miami @ #19 North Carolina State.  These are the two teams to beat DePaul.  Meanwhile, Miami has won 8 straight.  Tune in at 4:00 p.m. for this one.

Another big game is #5 Duke at Florida State.  The Confidential still cannot figure out why the Seminoles are struggling.  But as Duke looks to continue its post-Miami blowout rebound, the Seminoles are going to need to play to their potential.

Notre Dame heads into Chicago to face struggling DePaul.  At 17-4, the Irish are looking to get back into the national rankings.  DePaul has lost 5 straight and is 10-10.

At noon, Virginia Tech faces off at the Dean Dome against North Carolina.  The Hokies are at 11-9, meaning the bubble–as in NIT bubble.  Perhaps they should not have made the coaching change?  Meanwhile, the Tar Heels are a mere shell of their normal selves at 14-6.  Good for some teams, subpar for UNC.

Another nooner is Clemson at Boston College.  The Tigers need every win they can get, while Boston College’s 5-game streak shows that this year will have to be about moral victories (again).  2012-2013 has been better than 2011-2012, as an example.  Clemson MUST win this game.

The final Saturday game is Maryland hosting Wake Forest.  While the Terps are busy spending their future Big 10 riches, Wake Forest is busy…. well, doing very little.  Both teams need to right the ship as they enter the game on two game losing skids.

Sunday, February 3, 2013:

The folks over at Frank the Tank see Virginia and Georgia Tech as the two schools likely to head to the Big 10.  After all, the Big 10 is collecting markets that do not succeed on the field/court.  In any event, these two programs face off at 3:00 pm on Sunday, allowing their fans to avoid most of the pre-game Super Bowl show.  Here is a question… who has a better defense in terms of points-per-game… Virginia basketball or Georgia Tech football?  You can look it up.

The other Sunday matchup is a pair of schools that are fleeing the Big East… Marquette and Louisville.  Both schools are ranked (Louisville at #12/#13, Marquette at #25) and have only four losses.  This should be a very good one.


Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
31 Jan 2013
8 Comments

Signing Day, One Week Away… Predictions

We’re getting so close to “the big day”. If you’re a true college football fan, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That’s right, the day your team signs its new recruiting class and fills team needs is approaching. Most of these high school signees, recruits, or soon to be local campus celebrities (whatever you want to call them) will represent your school on and off the football field for the next several years, so pay attention. As we head into next Wednesday, February 6th, also known to many as National Signing Day, we’ll peak at an early prediction to see how the current ACC’s top classes should stack up. Loads of blue-chip recruits are making final decisions next Wednesday. Let’s shake the magic eight ball and see what happens…

2013 ACC Recruiting Class Predictions:

1. Clemson (Currently 18 verbals, should make major noise on NSD. 3 of the top 5 recruiting battles left include the Tigers. Still in the running for blue chippers in DT Adams, DE Lawson, OT Crowder, and CB Alexander. Dabo has aces in the hole as usual; I’m calling it a top 10 class when the smoke clears. The Tigers like it near the top, may stay for a while with this class.)

2. Florida State (Currently 18 verbals, with stellar recruits on the line. While the Noles had a few recruits part ways over the last few days, they should easily make up ground with blue chip OLB Thomas, WR Cunningham, and possibly DT Bryant among others. Jimbo will make it happen once again, bank on a top 10 class.)

3. Miami (Currently 13 verbals, also in the running with many studs. While the class is currently small, they pack a nasty punch. Still in it until the end for OLB Thomas, DT Bryant, RB Collins, and WR Coley all from the South FL football hotbed. Despite rough times with the NCAA, they’re making it happen. We’ll call it a U top 20-15 class)

4. North Carolina (Currently 18 verbals, looking to throw more on the pile. While most of their guys are already locked in, the biggest battle will be against Tennessee for WR North. North stays close to home, and UNC lands the big fish. They also have a shot at TE McNeil and ATH Summers to name a few. We’ll see Tarheel blue in the top 25 next Wed.)

5. Virginia Tech (Currently 22 verbals, already almost close to a full signing class before the fax flood gates open up. All of the current commits are 3 and 4 stars. Still heavy favorites for ATH Parker and possibly DE Bellamy. The Hokies will be on the cusp of reeling in a top 25 class).

Best of the rest:

6. Pitt
7. UVA
8. NC State
9. Syracuse
10. GT
11. Wake
12. Maryland
13. BC
14. Duke

If your personal rankings stack up a little different, leave a comment below and tell us why.

Posted by JBCoop in ACC only, Clemson correspondent, Conference News, Football, Opinion, Predictions, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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