ACC - Atlantic Division Preview

The Atlantic Division has one major question to offer, who will challenge the Seminoles?

Florida State (7-2)

Bobby Bowden is finally out in Tallahassee and the Jimbo Fischer era has begun. Standout QB Christian Ponder, a legitimate Heisman candidate, is my pick for ACC Player of the Year. Ponder is surrounded by a herd of solid receivers and a great O-line and has the chance to be one of the best in the country. The question for the Seminoles is can they stop anybody? Finishing 10^th in the ACC in scoring D last year, new D-Coordinator Mark Stoops will hope to answer that. If FSU can get it together on defense, they could likely be heading back to the BCS.

Clemson (6-1)

Kyle Parker passed up first round money in the MLB to return as QB for the Tigers, but the departure of CJ Spiller is arguably the biggest loss of any team in the conference. Clemson plays UNC and G.Tech from the Coastal and has out of conference games against two SEC teams in Auburn and rival South Carolina. The Clemson faithful are looking for a 9-10 win season, but I think 7-8 is realistic.

Boston College (8-1)

No team does more with less in this conference than Boston College. The are very well coached and will control many games with their rushing attack. BC will be a 2^nd tier team in the ACC, look for them to finish to compete with Clemson for 2^nd in this division but not much more.

NC State (75-1)

QB Russell Wilson didn’t live up to his lofty expectations for the Wolfpack last year but still threw for over 3,000 yards, 31 touchdowns and led his team to a scoring average over 30 ppg. NC State only returns two starters on the offensive and defensive lines combined so look for that to be a major issue. After getting beat up all year, Wilson will wish he would have concentrated on baseball rather than this football crap.

Wake Forest (75-1)

Constant overachievers in recent year, the Deacons are going to need more of the same to become bowl eligible this year. A rough patch of games early on features Wake @ Stanford, @ FSU, G.Tech, Navy and @ V Tech. They should be dogs in all of them.

Maryland (100-1)

The Terps return only 12 starters to a team that finished 2-10 in 2009. Reaching even a low level bowl would be a miracle but still not enough to save Ralph Friedgen’s job as head coach. Don’t be surprised if he Lou Pinnela’s his way out of town early.

ACC – Coastal Division Preview

The Coastal division certainly looks to be superior to the Atlantic this season. G Tech, Miami, UNC and V Tech all have their sights set on an ACC title and BCS berth. Here’s a breakdown of each team, what they have facing them in 2010 and their current odds to win the ACC title.

Virginia Tech – 2-1 (Favorite)

V Tech returns two 1,000 yard rushers in Ryan Williams (09) and Darren Evans (08 - missed 09 with ACL injury), as well as starting QB Tyrod Taylor, to an offense that averaged over 30 points a game. The blockbuster game of opening weekend is on Labor Day and pits the Hokies against BCS darling Boise State. BCS powers from all across the country will be cheering for V Tech as they hope to derail the Broncos title hopes. This is the kind of game Boise shines in and I expect the Hokies to start the year off 0-1. The schedule is very favorable after that until November when they welcome G Tech to Blacksburg but then head to UNC and Miami back to back weeks. Should they get through those three games even at 2-1, they could very well be staring at Coastal division title.

Georgia Tech – 6-1

The reigning ACC Champs. Is there anything more fun in football than watching the option? QB Josh Nesbitt returns to an offense that averaged close to 35 points per game. The loss of RB Jonathan Dwyer will hurt, but Anthony Allen should be ready to fill the void. Expect them to be right in the thick of things come November in the Coastal division.

UNC – 7-1

Butch Davis has really built a solid program in Chapel Hill. The Heels return 19 starters (10 on offense, 9 on defense) and look to improve on an 8 win season from a year ago. UNC starts off the year with an interesting game against LSU, that should be a good one. They have a bye the second week and then play Georgia Tech. Those two games should be very telling in how the season will go for them. I have a feeling we may have a “situation” in Chapel Hill this year.

Miami – 11-4 (2^nd choice)

Is this finally the year the new and improved Canes return to college football glory? I have my doubts. As good as QB Jacory Harris is at times, he plays his worst against his best competition. That is not good news for the Canes who are going to be in a dog fight in this division and also have out of conference games at Ohio State and at Pitt. As the second choice to win the entire ACC, I find them way over priced and would be surprised to see them even make the ACC title game.

Virginia – 300-1

The Cavaliers welcome in a new coach, Mike London, who led Richmond to an FCS title a couple of seasons ago. I think they have the right many for the job, but the talent isn’t there yet. The Cavaliers are to the ACC what Vinny is to Jersey shore… completely irrelevant.

Duke – 300-1

Returning nine starters on offense will help, but replacing QB Thaddeus Lewis may be like trying to replace LeBron James in Cleveland, ok maybe not quite that hard. The Blue Devils really struggled on defense last year and that looks to be a major issue again this year. With non-conference games against Alabama and Navy, the Blue Devils will likely be on the outside looking in again come bowl season.

Big 10 and Big 12 Preview

The top two teams in the Big 10 this year are coming off very impressive bowl victories last year. Ohio State and Iowa will be looking to build off of those bowl victories last year to propel them to a spot in the National Championship game. When I look at these two teams, the first thing that comes to mind is that Ohio State is starting to catch up to the speed of other major conferences. I hate Ohio State and anyone that knows me or has followed this site for the last 12 months can attest to that. However, OSU is getting athletes now and not complete northen giants to wear the Scarlet and Grey. Oregon made teams look slow all last year, but in Pasedena last year, the Bucks were the more aggressive and faster team. We will get a good feel for Ohio State right out of the gate, as they play Miami (FL) early in the season. If Terrel Pryor can play at a high level like he did at the end of last year, lay 20-24 points EVERY week when Ohio State plays Big Ten teams and collect your money at the window.

Like Allydar and Affirmed, the Big 12 has, over the last 5 years, turned into a 2 horse field. Texas and Oklahoma have dominated the recruited and the scoreboards in this conference. As good as the top 2-3 are in the Big 12, the bottom 2-3 in the Big 12 are just as bad. I am hoping this year a 3rd team can make a splash for the second year in a row. If Nebraska can consistantly put up 24 points a game, they can rival the Sooners and Horns at the top of the standings.. The Cornhuskers lost a great player in Suh last year, but they return a lot on defense, including a few young great cover corners. Look for Nebraska to make one last stand in the Big 12 before moving to the Big 10.
I was extremely impressed by the young Texas quarterback, Garret Gilbert last year against Alabama. He made a few bad mistakes, but came back strong and gave Texas a chance to win.
For the 10th season in a row, the question in the Big 12 HAS to be if Bob Stoops can win a big game with a very talented Sooner team, yet again.

2010 Bluegrass Bookie

Dubs, Ferg and I have been talking about the upcoming college football season. We are going to do things a little differently around here than we did last year. We've decided to divide up the major conferences and each focus in on two. Of course, during the Saturday picks, we will be picking games from all over the country but throughout the week most of the news and updates provided by us will be for our specific conferences. We drew out of a hat and here were the results...

Ferg - Big 10 and Big 12
Dubs - Big East and Mountain West
Prime Time - Pac 10 and ACC

Being that we are all SEC homers, we decided to all post about that and throw in the Mountain West (which Dubs was dying to have). Dubs claims to be 90% in Mountain West games last year so we'll see if he can live up to that. Before the season we will all write up a preview of our conferences. Looking forward to a great year of gambling!!