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The ACC Question of the week is back with our esteemed friend and college football writer @MattZemek, Editor at @TrojansWire .
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The ACC football season and the college football bowl season are mercifully over. (The national championship game isn’t a bowl game, since it is the second postseason game for the two teams involved. Bowls are one-game postseasons. The title game is a tournament game.) The focus turns to ACC basketball now, but before we move to the hardwood, let’s tackle one more football question heading into the offseason:
Which non-Clemson ACC team is the one to watch next fall?
Remember, Notre Dame won’t be an ACC member in the 2021 season. Remember, too, that we will go back to the split-division setup with an Atlantic and Coastal Division. This puts Clemson in position to stroll to the ACC Championship Game without the threat of losing twice to Notre Dame and getting knocked out of the playoff. No one will challenge Clemson in the Atlantic.
Not Louisville. Not Florida State. Not Syracuse. Not Wake Forest. Not Boston College. Probably not North Carolina State, though the Wolfpack might be the one intriguing team in that division.
The action in 2021 will revolve around the Coastal Division, which has regularly been the more up-for-grabs division in ACC football over the past decade. Clemson and Florida State fought for the Atlantic for a few years, but the Coastal has been the true source of unpredictability in the conference. Accordingly, the chase for the Coastal in 2021 should be the league’s most interesting plot point.
Given what has just happened in ACC football, the non-ACC Championship Game event which should garner the most interest in the 2021 regular season is the rematch between Miami and North Carolina.
The Hurricanes bring back D’Eriq King — hopefully in full health after his bowl injury — and Carolina brings back Sam Howell. Both Miami and UNC had bad defenses in 2020, but there is reason to think the Canes and Tar Heels can and will improve on that side of the ball in 2021.
Is Miami the most intriguing ACC team in 2021? Is North Carolina?
Yes. Let’s see those two teams pursue excellence… and a spot opposite Clemson in Charlotte 11 months from now.
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