Has Virginia re-established itself as the ACC Coastal favorite? | answered by @mattzemek

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QUESTION: Has Virginia re-established itself as the ACC Coastal favorite?

The Virginia Cavaliers performed brilliantly against the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. If you were convinced by that performance, you have every right to be.

Yet, it is quite another thing to say that Virginia firmly established itself as the ACC Coastal favorite.

Would I learn toward Virginia as the team I would probably pick to win the Coastal at this point? Yes.

However, that doesn’t mean this is clearly Virginia’s division to lose.

I won’t go too deep into the reasons for this; I will provide the reasons, but I will unpack them in other articles as this week continues.

Start with Week 9. Virginia must to go Louisville to play a Cardinal team which is far better than many people thought it would be in August. A convincing win in Louisville would tell me Virginia is headed for Charlotte.

This leads to my next reason for withholding a “Virginia is the clear favorite in the Coastal” viewpoint for at least one week: Virginia owns Duke.

If you have followed the various ACC Coastal matchups this decade, you know that much as North Carolina vexes Pittsburgh but can’t solve Virginia Tech, so it also is that Virginia has Duke’s number. Bronco Mendenhall regularly solves Duke, whereas David Cutcliffe usually has Georgia Tech’s coaching staff for breakfast. It is what it is. I wouldn’t get TOO excited about Virginia drilling Duke, even though UVA was very sharp.

The third main reason to offer for a “Virginia is not yet in the clear” argument is that Miami — the team which beat Virginia earlier in October — lost at home to Georgia Tech. Virginia is capable of another Robert Anae offensive clunker. That doesn’t mean it WILL happen, but it certainly could.

Finally, let me put it very plainly: If you think you have a firm grip on the ACC Coastal with over a month left to play, be my guest. Being sure about the ACC Coastal hasn’t generally worked out well… unless you are sure you don’t have a clue what’s going to happen next.

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