Good morning, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans.
We’re less than a month before college football starts 😉 It’s summertime and I needed some college football related reading before actual college football starts. Towards that end, make sure you purchase @PickSixPreviews Power 5 college football preview.
? Book Graphics Detail (5 of 5)
Want to explain a bit more of the detail of my 2019 Season Preview book.
• 5-Year Game Grader trend
• Best/Worst Game Grades, last 5 yrsLINK: https://t.co/uM8cR3BxWO pic.twitter.com/rsofLrsj5n
— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) August 2, 2019
Who is @PickSixPreviews?
In 2012, Brett Ciancia started up Pick Six Previews with co-founder Mike Nowoswiat. Over the past seven seasons, their Power Five conference (and Bowl Championship Series) predictions have been rated the “Most Accurate” in the nation by Stassen.com (who has been tracking prediction accuracy for decades). Ciancia and Nowoswiat are Football Writers Association of American Members. They have also been featured guests on radio shows and podcasts across the country (Ciancia was recently on the longest running #ACC podcast in the country, the @AllSportsDACC podcast). Ciancia also recently made his television debut on NBC Sports. He is also a voter for several national awards, such as the Biletnikoff, Outland, Nagurski and All-America Team.
Who is the Publisher?
Ciancia is the publisher.
What is the Cost?
$15. It is a downloadable preview.
What do you get?
Ciancia performs a deep dive analytical review into every single Power 5 conference football team. He developed a game grader formula which he uses to predict the season performance of a college football team. From his preview: “Essentially, several game stats are factored in including yardage differential, turnover margin, yardage per play differential, and scoring margin, among others. Depending on how dominant the team’s statistical performance was, they are graded on a scale of 1 to 100. Then, the raw score is adjusted for the opponent’s strength, explaining how a team can receive a grade over 100, or how a near-perfect game can fall below 100 if the opponent was weak.” Ciancia predicts the records of every Power Five college football team (running through a host of statistics – and the impact that recruiting has on every Power Five college football team), his top non-conference college football games (clearly, an emphasis on the Power Five), his All American teams, the Power Five conference winners, and his College Football preview picks. The preview is so jam-packed with relevant statistics that I cannot do justice here for it in this short blog post.
Here is a Tweet Cap of some @PickSixPreviews observations on ACC Football Teams (we are an ACC blog and focus on ACC teams):
2/ @PickSixPreviews has decent look at his favorite non-conference games this year. You bet your ass I’m intrigued by Appalachian State vs. South Carolina. I think there’s a chance that the Gamecocks are paying for a loss.
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) July 31, 2019
4/ @PickSixPreviews on Syracuse (Babers): “When he took over, just 4 players in the program ran a 4.6 or faster. This spring, 17 players broke that time.”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) July 31, 2019
6/ @PickSixPreviews on BC: “On the one hand, he is able to consistently churn out winning seasons despite the geographical disadvantage in a region that proportionally does not produce the same level of high school football talent that their division opponents reside in.”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) July 31, 2019
8/ @PickSixPreviews on Miami QB play, “I am confident the quarterback play will improve in general, and could even be the best overall quarterback group in the division…”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) July 31, 2019
10/ @PickSixPreviews on Wake Forest: “The all-time context is important in showing Dave Clawson’s success here, getting Wake to punch above their normal level. This is what Clawson does.”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
12/ @PickSixPreviews more on Virginia: “Mendenhall is a heck of a developer, and has done a nice job so far here, but the personnel losses are too much to handle.”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
14/ @PickSixPreviews More on Pittsburgh: “But here we are, 4 years in, and he has zero Top 25 defenses to show for it. The average defensive rank is #53 and Pitt finds themselves in weekly shootouts… It poses the question, what is the long-term expectation here at Pitt?”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
16/ @PickSixPreviews More on North Carolina: “Brown has always been a CEO head coach, meaning he builds an excellent staff and delegates much more responsibility to the coordinators than most…” (@PickSixPreviews likes the coordinator hires – knows that Mack is a recruiter, bro)
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
18/ @PickSixPreviews on Georgia Tech: “The move away from the triple option will require multiple seasons and recruiting cycles to be fixed. But I firmly believe in the Collins hire. The high school football geography is just too rich to limit your program to an option offense.”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
20/ @PickSixPreviews Yes, I’m not even posting what @PickSixPreviews thinks about Clemson – that should be obvious to everyone who watches college football. Clemson is an outstanding football program. Period. Likely favorite to repeat as national champion.
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
Update – let’s not forget the Hokies (out of order here – sorry):
10/ @PickSixPreviews More Virginia Tech: “It’s one thing to light up the scoreboard at Memphis against a weak AAC. But here in Power 5 football, after the 2016 debut, have defensive coordinators caught on to Fuente’s scheme, and is it too basic and predictable to succeed here?”
— Matthew (@hokiesmash_ASD) August 3, 2019
Verdict – should you buy it?
In a word – YES – this should be the easiest decision you make (here is the link) – especially if you are an alumnus of a Power five school. Ciancia’s book focuses more on program history, offensive and defensive coaching schemes, and player development – but goes much deeper on these aspects than other college football preview magazines.
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