Best Guess: Predicting ACC Bowl Berths

What a season to remember for the ACC! Where many projected a down year, the ACC has proven definitively that they are the best Football Conference in the land (in the regular season). But, as many will recall last season, the Big 10 was projected as the best regular season Football Conference.

Let’s prove them wrong two years in a row!

I’m going to make projections as to which ACC team will be berthed where, and paired with whom.

This is uniquely my projection, and will likely not be a final reflection of the Bowl selection process.

Folks, this is simply for fun!

Here’s how it’s mapped out:

The ACC Bowl Selection Process

The First is easy: Playoff selection. The top ranked ACC team(s), if finding themselves in the top four, will be projected to the College Football Playoff.

Second: The secondary highest ranked ACC team not selected in the College Football Playoff OR winner of the ACC Championship game if not selected in the College Football Playoff is IN the Orange Bowl versus either the SEC, Big 10, or Notre Dame.

Third: The next highest ranked ACC team OR second highest ranked ACC team if ACC is left out of the College Football Playoff will EITHER be selected for a second New Years 6 Bowl berth OR  if no eligible seats are available in the NY6  and if the Orange Bowl features a Big 10 team, this will be filled in the Citrus Bowl instead. If the ACC opponent in the Orange Bowl is NOT a Big 10 opponent, the ACC will land in the Camping World Bowl.

Fourth: Tier One Bowls follow. Supposing the ACC gets teams in the Playoff, will have a team in the Orange Bowl versus the Big 10, get teams eligible for the NY6 bowl, get a team in the Citrus Bowl & will have a team in the Camping World Bowl (can range from 5-10* teams doing this), the ACC will need to fill vacancies in their Tier One Bowls. In the statistically impossible category, the ACC can fill their team allotments for bowl eligibility in this tier, utilizing all 14 programs in the Conference.

Fifth: Tier Two Bowls are all that remain. Assuming that, minimally, the ACC has five teams fill categories one through three, as well as four teams filling category four, then the remaining bowl eligible teams will be slotted here.

And with that, it’s time to make PROJECTIONS:

College Football Playoff: Clemson (12-1) is IN the College Football Playoff as the Number One seed, slotted for the Sugar Bowl (Twitter Handle: @SugarBowlNola) versus (my projection) Alabama.

Orange Bowl: Miami (10-2) is IN the Orange Bowl (@OrangeBowl) versus Wisconsin (highest ranked Big 10/SEC non-champion or Notre Dame).

Camping World Bowl: Virginia Tech (9-3) is IN the Camping World Bowl (@CWBowl) versus West Virginia. I know that West Virginia played in this bowl last season, however with Oklahoma to the Playoff and TCU to a NY6 bowl, I have a hard time believing that they’d send OSU to Orlando when they could be slotted in the Alamo Bowl versus the PAC-12. Bowls are about match-ups and proximity. The more fans that pay for tickets, the better. So, WVU to Orlando!

Belk Bowl:  North Carolina State (8-4)  is IN the Belk Bowl (@belkbowl) versus South Carolina.

Music City Bowl: Louisville (8-4) is IN the Music City Bowl (@MusicCityBowl) versus Mizzou.

Pinstripe Bowl:  Boston College (7-5) is IN the Pinstripe Bowl (@PinstripeBowl) versus Michigan State. They try to rotate from teams that have already played, so Northwestern, Penn State & Indiana (not elegible) are OUT. Leaves Michigan State.

Sun Bowl: Wake Forest (7-5) is IN the Sun Bowl (@HyundaiSunBowl) versus Arizona State.

Independence Bowl: Florida State (6-6) is IN the Independence Bowl (@IndyBowl)versus Florida Atlantic University.

Military Bowl: University of Virginia (6-6) is IN the Military Bowl (@MilitaryBowl) versus Memphis.

Quick Lane Bowl: Duke (6-6) is IN the Quick Lane Bowl (@quicklanebowl) versus Purdue.

This is solely projection and not final. Please follow the above bowls ACC Football fans, as well as the following: Rose Bowl (@rosebowlgame), Peach Bowl (@CFAPeachBowl), Cotton Bowl (@CottonBowlGame), Fiesta Bowl (@Fiesta_Bowl), Citrus Bowl (@CitrusBowl), Tax Slayer Bowl (@taxslayerbowl), Birmingham Bowl (@Birmingham_Bowl) & the Gasparilla Bowl (@GasparillaBowl) all Bowl affiliates of the Atlantic Coast Conference!

Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page