Good morning. College football’s big opening weekend is not that far away. Here is the @AllSportsDACC team’s Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) ACC football open microphone. Also joining us our guest pickers, including:
- Ethan Moore – Ethan Moore of Louisville Sports Live is here. You can follow Ethan on Twitter at @_EthanMoore and Louisville Sports Live at @LvilleSprtsLive. Ethan and and his colleague, Tayler Lynch (you can follow Tayler on Twitter at @TaylerLynch) have a radio show dedicated to UofL sports on 93.9 FM the Ville (their twitter account is @939TheVille, which is powered by ESPN) every Wednesday night at 6:00 PM EST.
- Tim Thomas (@TimThomasTLP) is the Editor/Founder of The Tech Lunch Pail (@TechLunchPailD) covering Virginia Tech sports, recruiting, and more at techlunchpail.com as well as being a VT football pregame analyst for ESPN Blacksburg. He is also a 2018 grad of Virginia Tech with a degree in civil engineering.
- Dan Caro is the owner of TreadmillHorse.com, a Virginia Tech blog that focuses on Hokies football and men’s basketball. You can follow Dan on Twitter at @Treadmillhorse.
- Sam Jessee (@SamOfSaturday) is a member of the team over at the Virginia Tech athletics blog, the Sons of Saturday. He is a host on the “Two Deep” podcast and a Virginia Tech alum
- Ben Byrd (@DukeFBCoverage) is the owner and operator of bullcitycoordinators.com – it’s a comprehensive Duke Athletics website and podcast that covers the good, bad and ugly of Duke football.
- Ben Parker (@slamdunk406) is a Foothill College and University of California – Berkeley graduate. Publisher @StanfordRivals. Returned LDS missionary. You can follow Ben at @nba_lord for NBA.
Open Microphone (a free opportunity to write anything within reason regarding ACC football, realignment, or even college sports media conglomerates):
Matthew: Sorry, SMU – I’m not as high on your team as others – and I think you will be taking your lumps this year. SMU seems to be the team that everyone is picking for 9 wins or better – but the first year in an FBS Power Five conference isn’t going to be the breeze many think it will be. I think SMU will be in a bowl – but it’s going to be a mid to lower tier bowl. And, sorry, I am not joining the Miami love fest – Mario Cristobal hasn’t really earned that kind of respect from anyone (his in-game coaching already drops him to two losses – and here’s thinking that isn’t the floor – how it great it is for Miami to win all these pre-season championships – and wouldn’t it be unique after 20 years to see FSU and Miami in the title game. I’m not buying Miami until I see it). Why didn’t he take a knee? Mario’s absolutely stunning stupidity. Everyone asking North Carolina head coach, Mack Brown, who’s the starting quarterback? Fair – but people should be asking if there’s an FBI search party for the North Carolina defense (which hasn’t been found in the Brown era). People should also be asking Mack Brown why the Tar Heels are soft when they play in-state rival, NC State. Is the Wolfpack just a more physically, well-coached team than the Tar Heels (I think the answer is yes, FWIW)?
Jeff: If you thought the ACC/Clemson/FSU lawsuits would resolve quickly you would be sorely mistaken. Things are far closer to the beginning than the end on this. I would expect ESPN to continue the ACC Media Deal as well. As far as the season, this should be a tremendous season of ACC football. The quarterback play will be outstanding. When you have great QB play, it is going to produce exciting games, great play, and upsets. I think that is what you’ll see this year in the ACC.
Ethan: My preference is that the ACC stays intact as is. If Clemson and FSU just stay patient (tough ask admittedly) perhaps an easier path, increased CFP revenue, and the success initiative will help them close the gap financially. The other schools in the conference need to step up – Louisville needs to continue their success, Miami finally needs to live up to the hype, and Virginia Tech needs to be nationally relevant again.
Dan: I hear a lot of media members talk about how the ACC will be breaking up soon but I’m not buying it. It seems like ESPN is holding all the cards here and they have a sweetheart TV deal with the ACC. Why would they give that up? And why would they not extend that for another 10 years? There are schools in the conference that hope the agreement falls apart either legally or because ESPN goes in a different direction. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. We’re all stuck here for a while. Might as well get comfortable.
Sam: If there’s one thing that the ACC needs more than anything, it’s for its football schools to start winning. I think that happens this season. I project Clemson, Florida State, Miami, NC State, and Virginia Tech to all finish with 9+ wins. That would be immense for the conference. I also think you’re going to see some moments from non-football powers that points to the depth of the league. Syracuse has amassed some real talent, Georgia Tech will fight you tooth and claw, Louisville will continue to be strong, and SMU is not just the Texas version of UVA. The counter to that is I see some programs really falling. Boston College, Pittsburgh, UVA, Duke, and Wake Forest are solid steps down in talent from everyone else in the league (throw Stanford in there, too). I’m not sure how those programs claw their way back up in this era of football without significant changes. To me, the gap is widening in the conference. When we look back on the season in early 2025, I think the ACC will have solidified itself as the third best league.
Ben: These mega-conferences may be great for money, but they aren’t great for seeing the two best teams play for a conference championship. Look at the cupcake schedules Syracuse and UNC have. Compare those to what Duke and Georgia Tech have to face. Something needs to be done to balance the schedules out. Are the mega-conferences really going to produce the two best football teams playing for a championship? Unlikely. But no matter what happens this season, College of Charleston will remain undefeated. Co Cougs!
Tim: I hope Georgia Tech fans don’t turn on Brent Key if they go 4-8 or 5-7. Their schedule is absolutely brutal facing 6 of the top 7 in the league plus Georgia and Notre Dame. GT may end up being the best four-win team in the history of college football this year. UNC’s schedule is a gift. GT and Minnesota as their third and fourth toughest games for a team that is better than people realize sets up well. They may sneak up with a 10-2 season largely due to their schedule. SMU also with a generous schedule that may boost them higher than I personally would expect. I don’t buy the hype based on their roster and what we’ve seen from transitioning teams before but I do buy the hype based on a schedule that features my bottom 5 teams in the ACC based on my Preseason Power Rankings (not schedule-based).
Looking at these schedules is also why I chose to do my Preseason ACC ballot based on power rankings rather than playing the schedule game. Georgia Tech is probably a middle-tier ACC team but will finish in the bottom third while SMU may finish in the upper half. Schedule balance is a fickle matter that will lead to some teams getting screwed and others thanking league offices after the season.
Lastly, I’m buying Miami. I can’t deny the talent that they have brought in and while I trust FSU and Mike Norvell a lot more, this sport has become more and more about the Jims and Joes. Let’s also not forget that Cristobal had some really good seasons at Oregon, winning 2 Pac-12 titles with three Pac-12 title game appearances in four seasons. Regardless, this is going to be a really fun battle this season between a strong top 6 of Miami, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and NC State.
Ben P: I’m just interested to see how things go for Stanford and Cal in their first year in the ACC. SMU, too. I also sincerely think Elic Ayomanor and Collin Wright are gonna ball out for the Cardinal. I look forward to seeing how they do.
Thanks to our panel for their continuing content! One more bonus segment this week!
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