2009 ACC Football Predictions Part 1

Its that time of the year, summer is ending, school is starting up again but most importantly another year of ACC football is starting up again. Teams are finishing up practice and are now gameplanning for their first game. The ACC as a whole is looking to prove that it is once again one of the top conferences in the NCAA and that is can compete with the SEC, the Big XII, the Big Ten and the Pac-10 for the national title. The ACC looks to have some strong teams this year that can do just that, with Virginia Tech starting the year off at #7 overall in the polls, Georgia Tech at #15, Florida State at #18 and North Carolina at #21 overall. In this edition, we are going to take a look at the Atlantic division and how I think it will pan out.

The Atlantic Division continues to look as close as ever. The past two years the top teams have finished a game or less apart and it looks to be the same again this year. Here is a look at the teams in the Atlantic and a quick peak at their OOC schedule and the games against the Coastal teams:

Boston College:
OOC Schedule: vs. Northeastern, vs. Kent State, at #23 Notre Dame, vs. Central Michigan
vs. Coastal: at #7 Virginia Tech, at Virginia, vs. #21 North Carolina

Clemson:
OOC Schedule: vs. Middle Tennessee State, vs. #17 TCU, vs. Coastal Carolina, at South Carolina
vs. Coastal: at #15 Georgia Tech, at Miami (FL), vs. Virginia

Florida State:
OOC Schedule: vs. Jacksonville State, at #20 BYU, vs. South Florida, at #1 Florida
vs. Coastal: vs. Miami (FL), vs. #15 Georgia Tech, at #21 North Carolina

Maryland:
OOC Schedule: at #12 California, vs. James Madison, vs. Middle Tennessee State, vs. Rutgers
vs. Coastal: vs. Virginia, at Duke, vs. #7 Virginia Tech

North Carolina State:
OOC Schedule: vs. South Carolina, vs. Murray State, vs. Gardner-Webb, vs. Pittsburgh
vs. Coastal: vs. Duke, at #7 Virginia Tech, vs. #21 North Carolina

Wake Forest:
OOC Schedule: vs. Baylor, vs. Stanford, vs. Elon, at Navy
vs. Coastal: vs. Miami (FL), at #15 Georgia Tech, at Duke

Wake Forest has the easiest schedule by far facing only 2 ranked teams (only one on the road) and having the weakest Non-Conference schedule.

Florida State has by far the hardest schedule in this half of the conference. They play 2 ranked teams in Non-Conference play (one on the road) and they have to play 2 out of the 3 ranked teams in the other half of the conference.

Here is how I think each team fares this year and how the standings will look:
Team - Record (ACC Record)
Florida State - 9-3 (6-2)
Clemson - 8-4 (5-3)
Wake Forest - 8-4 (4-4)
NC State - 7-5 (4-4)
Boston College - 6-6 (3-5)
Maryland - 3-9 (2-6)

There you have it, the Atlantic division in my view. Florida State definitely looks to be the strongest team this year. Let me tell you this too, I will be the happiest man in the world if BC proves me wrong but this is just how I see it right now.

Weekend BC Stuff

Well I got my season tickets in the mail last week, and with those came an offer for two free tickets to either the Northeastern Game, the Kent State game or the Central Michigan Game. It was 2 free tickets so I was obviously going to take them up on that offer even though the games were nothing special. But the thing you guys will probably find weird is that I chose the Northeastern game. So let me explain why, well I won't be able to go to the Kent State game because I am playing in a charity golf tournament for a friends fallen brother so my sister will have to take those tickets. Since I was really getting these tickets so I could bring my cousin to a game I realized he would be going to boot camp at the time of the Central Michigan game, so even though it was the best game, it probably wasn't the best game for me.

Okay, back on track:
There is a good article on the BC secondary, where the players feel they are being overlooked and doubted while they believe they will be very good. I believe in the players too.

Eagle All Access found a great video on Joe Haden Jr. training his kids Joe (Florida) and Josh (BC) (and his other one Jordan (committed to Florida). Definitely worthy of a watch, very interesting video.

Mike Farrell of EagleAction gives us a list (on a paid message board so I have no link for you) of the 4 true freshmen who are definitely going to redshirt this year:

Dillon Quinn (which is a surprise, could he move to OT where BC appears very thin down the line?), Sterlin Phifer (started strong but was easily passed by Finch), Andre Lawrence and Jake Sinkovec. Apparently everyone else will play this year or at least start the year with a chance to play and will dress for home games.

BC field hockey (#14 in the naion) got off to a 2-0 start beating Vermont 3-0 and smoking William and Mary 7-2.

Decent article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about Jesse Tuggle preparing his some for the spot light of him profile college football and the NFL.

I will be back later today with my ACC football previews.

I'm back!!

Finally, I am back on the Boston College campus and am ready to start my Sophomore year here at Boston College. I am ready to get this blog and lets not forget the twitter site back and running with the site.

I have been unbelievably swamped with work and classes all summer. Here is a little info on what I had to do all summer:
-Worked at State Street for 50 hours a week
-Worked on a Golf Course on Saturdays and Sundays from 5:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.
-I took a summer Liturature Course for 2 times a week
-I took a summer Accounting Course for for 3 hours a week on Wednesdays
-I helped my parents move from Chicago down here to Boston. Including 3 drives from Boston to Chicago and back.

Yeah so as you can see, I didn't have much free time and whatever free time I had, I just wanted to relax and sleep. Therefore, I didn't have time for you BC fans but I am back and ready to go for the upcoming football season. The Football team didn't have much good news all summer either so they were like me. The only good news came when Mark Herzlich said he would be back on Campus for the fall Semester, even if he won't playing but he will be a huge moral booster for the team. Here hopes to be back for the 2010 season and we are all still praying he will do just that. Stay strong Mark.

The QB battle hasn't really cleared up over the summer. Both have played somewhat well in practice however they lack experience and consistency. Also with Shinske's hurt rib, who knows how bad that is. This article in the Herald makes it seem like BC will start the year with a QB by committee plan but I HATE THOSE. I really hope one of them shines (even if it is against Northeastern) and earns the spot after week 1. We will get killed vs. Clemson with a QB by committee, in my opinion.

Here are some more links to news about BC:
An Awesome T-Shirt put out by BC. I really hope these are out in full force next year on campus.

Nice article in the Globe about the Improvement of out QBs.

The Metrowest Daily News takes a look at our new front 7 on defense. Its little bit disturbing after seeing the defense last year, however it is a good read and I have tons of confidence in Coach Spaz.

ACC released the Basketball schedule. Can't wait for that season to start too.

EagleinAtlanta points us to a great read about Athletic Director Gene DeFillippo in Boston Magazine (who'd a thunk it).

Wicked cool article in a South Carolina paper about the players in the ACC thoughts about each teams fans. Some actually think BC are the Most Hostile.

Last but not least, I CAN'T WAIT FOR BC vs. BU at Fenway. Talk about AWESOME.