The ACC certainly brought home the hardware last year; you had Louisville’s returning quarterback Lamar Jackson bring the Heisman trophy to Louisville. Clemson defeated the heavily favorited Alabama to become the champions of the college football world. Florida State defeated Michigan in the Orange Bowl, Along with all of that, 9 other teams also went home with bowl victories. I think you can safely say that the ACC was the dominate conference of college football last season. Look for the ACC to compete for dominance of college football yet again.
The Leaders of the Pack
With Clemson losing a key player in Deshaun Watson to the NFL, you can expect the balance of power to shift back towards the Seminole of Florida State. The Seminoles have one of the nation’s top quarterbacks returning in Deondre Francois. The Seminoles will see Derwin James who arguably is the top defensive player in the nation. Derwin James being back will compliment Deondre Francois on the defensive side of the football. The Seminoles will open their season against the Crimson Tide of Alabama in Atlanta. Whoever loses the game shouldn’t be counted out of the college football playoff. If the Seminoles lose this game, they’ll still be in the running to make it because it’s so early on in the season, and they can make up for the early season loss throughout the season.
Speaking of Clemson, as stated earlier, Clemson will be without star quarterback Deshaun Watson due to the fact he is taking snaps in the NFL now. Clemson’s path to repeat as champions won’t be so easy, they will have their fair share of difficulties along the way. They will have a non-conference game against highly hyped SEC school Auburn, they will travel to Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. One of the more important things they must overcome is whether or not Kelly Bryant,, who looks like to be the starting quarterback, can develop quickly. But don’t count out true freshman Hunter Johnson to possibly take over soon after the season starts.
Coastal Rivals
Look for Miami and Virginia Tech to compete with each other to win the Coastal division of the conference. Yes, Miami will be relevant once again. Both Miami and Virginia Tech are just about the same team. Both schools have a great offensive line. Both schools will most likely be starting a freshman quarterback. I think that is what is going to separate these two schools from each other will be who’s offense will click the fastest.
Virginia Tech will start their season at a neutral site against their rivals from their Big East days in the West Virginia Mountaineers. That will certainly be a great game to break in their offense or to see how in sync they are. Miami is slightly better than Tech in terms of talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball, it’s possible that Miami’s defense is not only the best in the conference , but perhaps the best in the nation or at least one of the best in the country.
Don’t Count These Teams Out
When it comes to Louisville, it’s hard for me to see success in their upcoming season. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lamar Jackson, but he’s gonna have one of the worst offensive lines in the conference protecting him. I can’t see him putting up Heisman like numbers this season. Sorry Lamar, love you , but you can’t do it all. I wouldn’t be surprised if Louisville catches a few random upsets throughout the season.
North Carolina’s expectations won’t be as high for them as previous seasons. Lots of talent on both sides of the ball are gone. Expect the Tar Heels to be in the middle of the pack of the coastal division. But I can see them being lower considering their difficult schedule.
Georgia Tech is a school that no one should sleep on as far as a school that can contend for an ACC title, they won’t win it, but they will be a school that will be talked about throughout the season. Tech has an outstanding offensive line. They coming off a 9 win season. Expect them to repeat that if not 10 wins this season, but will fall short of a title. However it will be a successful season for the Yellow Jackets.
The Northern Teams
For the Orangemen up there in Syracuse, the Orangemen have fallen on hard times the past few seasons. Syracuse is coming off a 4-8 season with an upset over then #17 Virginia Tech 31-17, which you can say is something you can sell as “Syracuse is on the fast track to getting it together”. Syracuse started a bunch of young men last season, which is good for them, meaning they are older and wiser, that’s about the only good thing about the team this year.
Having road games at LSU, Florida State. Clemson, Miami, Louisville, that’s very unfavorable for the school in up-state New York. Maybe they’ll get a surprise upset on the road. It’s easy to see Syracuse not being more than a .500 team.
The Pittsburgh Panthers will take a humungous step back this upcoming season. They will be quite a young team, replacing a quarterback, running back, and basically an entire front seven. They will take quite a beating throughout the season, finishing dead last in all of the conference.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.