Good evening, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans. I know people like to read quick blog posts – and I’ve tried to encapsulate each ACC team’s football season in some one or two-liners.
Here we go:
Clemson
- Clemson just keeps winning games – and is a powerhouse football program. The Tigers have the nation’s best football program. That is all.
North Carolina State
- Kudos to Dave Doeren for getting six wins in ACC play – that hasn’t been done at NC State in over two decades.
Louisville
- The Cardinals closed out the season pretty well with an 8-4 record, including a curb stomping of their rival Kentucky. We’ll be interested to see how well Louisville does next year without Lamar Jackson, who has arguably been one of the most electric players over the last three years in college football.
Wake Forest
- Back to back bowls for Dave Clawson (at Wake Forest!) – seven wins in 2017 – and a very experienced team coming back in 2018. Clawson is a proven program builder.
Boston College
- The Eagles won five of their last six games (and came within a quarter of winning six in a row), including wins over Florida State and Louisville. Addazio probably picked up the most notable conference wins during his tenure.
Florida State
- The Seminoles should not have to be fighting to get to a bowl, but here we are. As the season went on, it was clear that their problems were much more than just losing Deondre Francois (their offensive line was absolutely the worst in the ACC Atlantic Division – and might be the worst in the ACC).
Syracuse
- Syracuse has had difficult schedules over the last three seasons. In 2015, the Orange played LSU, South Florida, and Central Michigan. In 2016, Orange played South Florida. In 2017, played LSU. You get what I’m saying here. If the Orange followed the Boston College model of scheduling, the Orange would be bowling just as much as the Eagles. Syracuse has an experienced team coming back next year – and they will be bowling.
Miami
- What can you say? After 13 years, Miami finally won the Coastal Division – and is playing in their first ACC Championship Game.
Virginia Tech
- Justin Fuente has the possibility of a 2nd ten-win season in two years – and has upgraded the talent on the Hokies roster. As long as Bud Foster is in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech will be in the thick of the Coastal Race. Pretty soon, the entire roster will all be Fuente recruits (which show you that he’s putting his stamp on the team) – you might see a team that can make a run at the College Football Playoff (or at least be in the conversation) in the next couple of years.
Georgia Tech
- Paul Johnson has earned some time at Georgia Tech based on his records in prior years, but here’s thinking next year’s team cannot miss a bowl game – or Johnson’s seat will be a quite a bit warmer in 2019 (Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof might have some questions to answer in the off-season).
Virginia
- Virginia is going to a bowl game. Many had Virginia at no more than three wins (yes, I’m raising my hand). Bronco Mendenhall maximized the roster as much as he could.
Duke
- Duke lost six games in a row, but won their last two (including wins over Georgia Tech and a good Wake Forest team) to become bowl-eligible for the 5th time in six years.
Pittsburgh
- So, yeah, Pat Narduzzi basically slayed Miami’s college football playoff hopes. Say want you want about Narduzzi, but last year, Pittsburgh defeated Penn State and Clemson – and this year the Panthers defeated Miami.
North Carolina
- It’s well documented that North Carolina had a boatload of injuries this year – it’s also well documented that the Tar Heels were barely a bowl eligible team with every player healthy. Coaches Hot Seat has Larry Fedora in its top 20 hottest seats. I think it’s a little early for that – but it would behoove Fedora to get to a bowl next year. No bowl next year, and Fedora will have the nation’s hottest seat in 2019.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Weekend!
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