Well I am first. I think the ACC will have a great year. Thanks Mike Tranghese for allowing your best teams to go down south for greener pastures.
Zac
· 5 months ago
Why should "Mikee" even care? He's leaving. Rememba? Thing is, I wasn't at all sorry to see Miami go. Geographically it made no sense for either the Canes or the Big East. Besides, Prez Shalala is a convicted Liar. There's enough of that going on in the Big East without having to include her. BC, without question doesn't belong in the ACC. BUT, what really broke my heart was seeing VA Tech leave. That rival was every bit as big as Pitt/WVU. Somehow, someway, if we do nothing else, we need to renew the Black Diamond Trophy.
Regan
· 5 months ago
Please take BC back. We don't want them.
hokiebird15
· 4 months ago
even tho im a tech fan and a "newbie" to the acc, i agree 100%... theyre a good team but they just dont belong... more of a bigten school and really nowhere close to us geographically... but this poses the question, who would be the best replacement for bc? or what team currently in another conference can you see in the acc?
Hokienut
· 3 months ago
Part of the problem with the WVU Vs. Va tech was that the West Virginian Fans are a bit mean, and agressive. Tech couldnt even have games there anymore because of how many people got hurt. Ex. couches being thrown at people..... WVU just needs to tame down, and then they might be worthy of playing against Va Tech once again.
NMLSooner
· 5 months ago
BP, you just called out the SEC fans. Get ready. For example, I'm guessing you'll hear how Vandy could have won the ACC last year.
Ben Prather
· 5 months ago
You say that like I am new here ... Yes, the comment count on this one should be interesting.
NMLSooner
· 5 months ago
u rite, u rite. my bad.
Zac
· 5 months ago
I've asked that question a number of times over the past 4 seasons. "What type of schedule would you rather have your team play, a schedule consisting of FL, TX, USC, WI, BYU, Purdue, SC, KS, WY, Army, N Eastrn, Syracuse, OR the likes of playing GA Tech, MD, or NC week after week after week? Like I've said in the previous "Who's Overrated" thread, this could be the year of the ACC & the Pac-10.
Regan
· 5 months ago
I would love to have more ACC teams stepping up and having at heavier teams on the schedule. MARY and UVA had the guts to have it out with some Pac-10 schools and actually split the games.
14 games against FCS teams is really not cool. That means two teams are even double-dipping; and when those teams are CLEM and FSU, it should tick some people off....(don't worry, I am...)
Porcine
· 5 months ago
I don't think we have ever played. Condidering Terry Don went here, I'm a little surprised it hasn't been considered.
Regan
· 5 months ago
I have compiled lists of teams that my teams have never played.
Teams Clemson has never played (by Conference):
SEC: ARK
Big Ten: IND, IOWA, MICH, MCST, NW, PUR, WISC
Big 12: ISU, KAN, KSU, OKST, TEX
Big East: CINC, CONN, LOU, RUTG (cannot confirm yet), USF
Arkansas vs. Clemson for the national championship. You heard it here first.
Regan
· 5 months ago
Rock the Party :)
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
We only play 1 FCS opponent, Coastal Carolina. Middle Tennessee State is in the Sunbelt Conference. I think our OOC is good actually. We step out of conference against TCU and South Carolina, so that alone makes our OOC schedule more respectable than most of the teams in the country who might step out against 1 respectable opponent.
Florida State doesn't double dip this year either. They play BYU, South Florida, and Florida, with the lone FCS opponent being Jacksonville State.
The 2 ACC schools that double dip from the FCS are Duke and North Carolina. Duke plays Richmond and NC Central (along with Army and Kansas) OOC, while UNC plays the Citadel and Georgia Southern (along with UConn and East Carolina).
Virginia Tech's OOC schedule is flat out awesome though. They deserve a lot of credit for scheduling Alabama, Nebraska, East Carolina, and Marshall.
Regan
· 5 months ago
I was referring to last year's schedule. In it, the ACC played 14 games vs. FCS teams, and CLEM and FSU each double dipped, playing two each.
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
Gotcha. I didn't realize it was about 2008. Alabama and South Carolina is a better OOC schedule than most of the country as well though.
Regan
· 5 months ago
True there, good point. This year, the ACC also has 14x FCS teams, and 3x ACC teams double dip (NCSU, UNC, DUKE)
Clemson will have TCU, SCAR, MTSU, and Coastal Carolina, which will be good; I look forward to even bigger OOC games down the road...
As far as the ACC vs. Conference Breakdown, in 2009 it will be:
ACC: vs. Big 12: 4x vs. Big East: 5x vs. Big Ten: 1x vs. C-USA: 5x vs. FBS Ind.: 3x vs. MAC: 2x vs. MWC: 3x vs. Pac-10: 2x vs. SEC: 7x vs. Sun Belt: 2x vs. WAC: 0x vs. FCS: 14x
Hokienut
· 3 months ago
Va Tech does have a pretty awesome schedule! Very tough... We'll see how they do :/
Oh no Joe don't start it Duke>Vandy>Ole Miss> Fla>OU>TTech>UT>OU
Regan
· 5 months ago
Niiiiiiiice... :)
Porcine
· 5 months ago
cough, Wake Forest, cough.
Hotty_Toddy
· 5 months ago
no, really?
Porcine
· 5 months ago
yes, really?
vtmechE
· 5 months ago
1. i fully believe it will happen, last year's conference was young, new coaches breaking in, and a lot of the seniors who weren't that good, are now for the most part gone from each team
2. the first few weeks will say a lot, ole miss, baylor, cal, rutgers, alabama, kansas, nebraska, tcu, usc and south carolina just to name a few, the acc goes through with only a few losses, and no lopsided losses, consider the monster year underway
3. possible national title contenders: virginia tech, georgia tech (maybe), unc (another maybe), clemson, wake forest, and i'll toss in maryland for fun, all have a legitimate shot at going undefeated
4.sophomore slumps for young coaches? i don't think so, paul johnson wants the division crown, cutcliffe wants a bowl game, swinney wants a division crown
if anything, the situation at BC, miami, and florida state will be under some heavy criticism, and could bring down the league, but i see another solid year, and possibly a national title participant
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
I predict that for the 2nd year in a row, the preseason ACC favorite will go down in flames in the Georgia Dome...
(Is it too early to talk shit??? LOL)
Zac
· 5 months ago
"Is it too early to talk shit???"
NEVER!!!
Zac
· 5 months ago
"Is it too early to talk $hit???"
NEVER!!!
(By the way, another of this may pop up later, given it's with a "moderator" over some four-letter-word thing...)
Hokienut
· 3 months ago
YES!!!! I think Va Tech can either bring there game... and win it. Or they will lose it. I dont think Va Tech has it in them to get a huge loss like Clemson. that would be to devastating. EVen if Tech loses, they still have have a National Title Hope.
hokiebird15
· 4 months ago
if va tech does go undefeated this season it will be amazing.. they really have to show some poise and maturity beyond there years if theyre goin undefeated... as for the acc championship, its well in reach for the hokies
Regan
· 5 months ago
The ACC last year went: 3-4 vs. Big East 1-1 vs. Big Ten 4-1 vs. Big 12 (no games vs. TEX, OU, TXT, MIZZ, or OKST) 1-2 vs. Pac-10 6-6 vs. SEC (two losses were to FLA, the eventual NC; WAKE beat MISS, lol) 5-1 vs. FBS Independents (2 wins over ND) 4-1 vs. C-USA 2-0 vs. MAC 0-1 vs. Sun Belt (Talk about Maryland dropping the ball...) 1-0 vs. WAC 0-0 vs. MWC 12-0 vs. FCS teams
The ACC went 4-6 in Bowl games, but of those 6 losses, 5 were of 7 points or less.
RazzMaTazz
· 5 months ago
There’s no doubt that there was parity in the ACC last year. The question is whether that was parity among equally good teams, equally bad teams, equally mediocre teams, or equally inconsistent teams. And that’s why, as your president, I pledge to enact a legislation requiring all college football teams to play meaningful OOC games that the American people want to see, rather than cupcakes.
The ACC faired reasonably well in OOC play last season—especially if you compare ACC schools of similar league standing to their OOC opponents of similar (or greater) league standing. For example, SEC-West champ Alabama (8-0 SEC regular season) beat Clemson (which was a mediocre 4-4 ACC team), but Clemson beat South Carolina (which was a similarly mediocre 4-4 SEC team). ACC bottom dweller, Duke (1-7) beat SEC mid-level (4-4) Vanderbilt. Middle-ACC Wake (4-4) beat upper-SEC Ole-Miss (5-3) and Wake also beat middle-SEC Vandy. Upper-middle-ACC GT (5-3) beat upper-SEC Georgia (6-2) but GT did lose to lower-middle SEC LSU (3-5). SEC/national champ Florida (8-1) beat upper-middle-ACC FSU (5-3), but FSU beat upper-middle Big-10 Wisconsin and lower Big-12 Colorado. Middle-ACC Maryland (4-4) beat upper Pac-10 Cal (6-2). And ACC champ VT beat Big East champ Cincy.
Next season, the ACC is second only to the Pac-10 in scheduling games against non-con BCS opponents. Pac-10 (50 percent), ACC (42 percent), Big Ten (32 percent), SEC (29 percent), Big 12 (23 percent). So the ACC is doing pretty well on scheduling good games.
The problem with the ACC is that it’s full of good teams, but I don’t think any ACC team could hang with Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, or USC. In order for the ACC to really gain respect, a top tier, play-with-anyone team or two needs to emerge.
There are certainly several great OOC games this season that will be a good barometer on the ACC. All of the ACC’s OOC games are very winnable (not necessarily favorable but winnable) except for FSU-UF & Miami-Oklahoma. The ACC composite schedules are here: http://www.theacc.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools...
It does seem possible for an ACC team to get through the season with a pretty clean (or even perfect) record. The question is, if an ACC team, and TWO other teams from the SEC, Big 12, Pac-10, or Big 10 went undefeated, would the ACC team get a title shot? I think that the answer is no. Would a once-defeated SEC, Big-12, Pac-10, or Big-10 team jump an undefeated ACC team. That probably depends on how the ACC fares OOC.
By the way, Phil Steele has VT as the top-ranked ACC-Coastal team and Clemson as the top-ranked ACC-Atlantic team, so I’ll be looking forward to a Clemson-VT ACCCG!
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
Good Post I had to look it up ACC 4-1 vs B-12 Miami over Texas A&M Wake over Baylor FSU over Colo V Tech over Nebraska Nebraska over Clemson The OOC games for the ACC look pretty darn good we get to see a rematch of Neb vs V Tech and Baylor vs Wake This time the B-12 teams will be visiters OU @ Miami and Kansas vs Duke Given the OOC games if Miami with OU FSU with FLa V Tech with Bama & Neb Clemson with TCU If any of these teams were to go undefeated with OOc games against ranked opponents then perhaps they should get a nod over a 1 loss SEC or B-12 team
Zac
· 5 months ago
TC, a lot of these match-ups remind me an awful lot of OSU/TX. If you recall, your Horns went into the Shoe and beat the Buckeyes one season, only for OSU to return the favor in Austin the following year. Consider the parallels, as you pointed them out: VA Tech won at NE, now NE visists VA Tech; Wake won at Baylor, now Baylor visits Wake. If Baylor wins at Wake, they could be this year's KS (when the Jayhawks did well a few seasons back). On the other hand, if NE wins theirs, hands down, who ever wins the Big-12 South could have their hands full at the Big-12 Championship. Either way it should be fun to watch.
61 days till Indiana St/Quincy. Can't wait!!! (Hey, what channel's that one on, anyway?)
Ramblin' Gator
· 5 months ago
Clemson has a new coach, a whole lot of optimism and not much track record. FSU and Miami look like they will improve this year, but I'm not expecting a large jump in performance. BC has its own set of administrative issues. GT lost key defensive personnel and needs to figure out how to complete more than 8 passes in a game. UNC and VT look poised to have good seasons, but I don't think 2009 will be the year when the ACC bounces back. Now 2010 could be a different story.
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
We do have an unproven coach and a lot of optimism, but I will go ahead and guarantee* that we finish with a better record in 2009 than in 2008.
* - As long as CJ Spiller doesn't suffer an injury that keeps him out of more than 1 game.
Ramblin' Gator
· 5 months ago
Agreed. I think Dabo is a good coach, though I'm always a little skeptical when new coaches arrive or arise and waves of optimism appear. Sometimes it works out great (Paul Johnson at GT) and sometimes not so great (Mike Sherman at TAMU).
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
I think that skepticism is very justified.
Dabo has done fantastic things assembling a staff, although there is an unproven OC. Dabo's situation is more like Johnson than Sherman in that Bowden certainly didn't leave the cupboard bare by any stretch of the imagination. Sherman had talent when he took over, but not to the extent that Johnson and Swinney had/have.
A trademark of the Bowden era at Clemson was losing to teams that we shouldn't lose to. If Swinney can simply fix that, it will be a tremendous improvement.
70 days until the kickoff of the 2009 Clemson season. 68 days until the 2009 season kicks off with South Carolina @ NC State.
RazzMaTazz
· 5 months ago
I never thought of it that way... If Clemson could just stop losing to teams that they shouldn't lose to.
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
It really has been our trademark in recent years. Just look back through the schedules. We'd have been in at least 2 ACCCGs, and would have quite a few more wins if only we'd beaten the teams that we were supposed to beat.
Ben Prather
· 5 months ago
Yeah, I like it when Utah wins the games they shouldn't.
For Utah it has a history of going both ways.
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
In some programs it may take a couple of years to get things going, I believe that G Tech, Nebraska & Baylor should be better next season and these teams made real good hires-Texas A&M on the other hand went to H in a handbasket, Sherman better produce quickly because A&M was plum embarassing last season.They have everything in place to be successful-they better win or Adios to Sherman- Turner Gill would be an excellent choice as a replacement
Ramblin' Gator
· 5 months ago
I'm still scratching my head over TAMU hiring Sherman. I still can't see how this was a good idea, but it's too soon to judge.
hokiebird15
· 4 months ago
look for a tight race between vt and nc in the coastal
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
Do any of you think that any ACC team has a tougher schedule than (for instance) Kansas?
Kansas -- 2009
vs Northern Colorado at Utep vs Duke vs Southern Miss (decent barometer) vs Iowa St. (up to this point not so bad you say, now look below) at Colorado vs Oklahoma at Texas Tech at Kansas St. vs Nebraska at Texas vs Missouri (neutral Kansas City)
Those final seven games are going to be a pretty brutal stretch for the Gayhawks... I mean Jaybirds.
Phil Steele has Kansas St. finishing tied for 2nd in the North with Colorado this year BTW. His preseason magazine has been the most accurate over the last 10 years for anyone who might not agree (not that it makes you wrong if you do :).
I didn't take the time to look at all of the ACC schedules (or even all of the Big XII for that matter) but I would guess the schedule above compares pretty well in difficutly.
Zac
· 5 months ago
Hmm, interesting schedule, let's see...
The 1st 2 should be a wash. KS can't overlook Duke, but this one's at home; the same can be said for S MS. IA St, new coach, et. al.; again, should be wash.
At CO: If KS's defense bails em out like they did in Boulder 2 seasons ago... OK: Well, at least this one's at home. TX Tech: Lost way too much on offense. Their defense isn't strong enough to carry em this far. KS St: Your boyz should end 3 years of frustration. NE: Like OK, at least it's at home. TX: They have my sympathies. MO: They won in Columbia, despite Chase Daniels. I'll give em this one.
Synopsis: If they're undefeated by the time they visit the Buffs, they'll be undefeated when OK visits Lawrence. That's when their winning streak ends, but they'll go 3-2 the rest of the way. If they're not undefeated or even lose in Boulder, the best they'll do is 7-5.
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
I meant to say... "Do any of you think that any ACC team has a tougher --CONFERENCE-- schedule than (for instance) Kansas?"
Big Difference.
Florida St. definitely has a harder schedule (factoring non-conference games in) than Kansas in 2009, but I do not beleive they have a tougher conference slate than Kansas... or Baylor.
That is kind of the point we're all revolving around here... how -conference- slates match up in difficulty. Not necessarily the overall schedules. I think the XII matches up pretty well.
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
I totally agree- For example -many folks have said that TCU should have been in the B-12- but had they played against the B-12 opponents they would have not enjoyed the same success as they have against MWC opponents. I like TCU and coach Patterson and the Frogs have a good program, but they dont face OK St,TTech,OU, Neb, UT,KU, Mizzu in consecutive weeks like Baylor- They have Clemson, BYU & Utah thats about it- even though BU ends up 4-8 or 3-9 heck look who they are facing. The B-12 is a real scary place
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
This is probably a better example
Baylor -- 2009
at Wake Forest vs Connecticut vs Northwestern State vs Kent State at Oklahoma at Iowa State vs Oklahoma State vs Nebraska at Missouri vs Texas at Texas A&M vs Texas Tech
Zac
· 5 months ago
Now, let's try the Bear's schedule...
Wake: Baylor worked hard in this one last year, but clearly wasn't ready to play. Wake caught a few breaks off Baylor mistakes. 1st game, on the road, tough ACC school, it's a lot to ask. All I can say is it's winnable, but they'd better come to play.
UConn: Huskies won a thriller in Hartford last year. I'll be root'n for em, but I Iike the Bears to win in a thriller at home.
NW St is a gimmie; the state of Kent is not. In how many languages can you say "Bear-Trap".
OK: In Norman, they have my sympathies.
IA St: Visiting the Cyclones is doable; despite a new coaching staff, could be another Bear-Trap.
OK St: I hope this one's on TV. It could be one the most exciting games played all year.
NE: Well, at least this one's at home. Catch the Huskies nap'n and...who knows?
MO: I don't care where the Bears play this one; it's doable. I'll be disappointed if they don't win it.
TX: See NE.
A&M or TX Tech, see MO.
I think 7-5 or 8-4 is quite doable; 9-3 may be a stretch, but I wouldn't be disappointed if that happened.
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
Good stuff Zac,
It seems to be a consensus that Missouri will be down this year. MU usually does about as good as their defense... which has always been their Achilles heel.
They have a lot of questions to answer on offense as well this year and I guess that is where a lot of the skepticism is coming from. I like their offense but they need to prove they can run the ball consistently. They haven't done that yet.
Snyder had MU's # (as well as KU) I think we beat MU 13 years in a row before he retired. Many of those W's were before Pinkel to be fair though. We'll see what kind of coach Pinkel is this year.
I tend to think Mizzou will be better than most are giving them credit for.
Our schedule is pretty solid this year as well since we run through the ACC Atlantic, plus Georgia Tech, and OOC games with TCU and South Carolina.
Honestly though, all of this is pure speculation as no one really has any idea how good any of these teams will be. On Baylor's schedule, I would say that Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Nebraska are all huge question marks. Personally I expect Nebraska to be the best of that bunch, but we'll see.
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
Florida State's schedule is definitely rough this year. A big part of that is their out of conference games against Florida, BYU nad South Florida. The last link from your first paragraph is from 2008 if I'm not mistaken. Let's try this one.
Phil Steele has Florida St. as the 2nd toughest in 09' and the Oklahoma Sooners as the 3rd toughest. The Kansas and Baylor schedules I posted are still very good examples as far as toughness from a conference schedule standpoint.
The Big XII is no joke to play in. I don't think there are many in the country that would make it through any of the conference slates I have listed unscathed. Including this one.
Oklahoma -- 2009
vs BYU vs Idaho St. vs Tulsa at Miami (FL) vs Baylor vs Texas (Red River - Neutral) at Kansas vs Kansas St. at Nebraska vs Texas A&M at Texas Tech vs Oklahoma St.
That is one rough schedule... so is Florida State's though.
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
KSU wild thanks for the link Strenght of schedule cannot really be determined until after the season-While I found this interesting Mr Steel has Texas Tech's schedule ranked at # 19 I dont understand The have North Dakota---DivII Rice--C-USA had a good season last year,but lost a lot of players New Mexico ---come on even the Aggies beat those Lobos-MWC Houston----C USA not one OOC opponent from a BCS conference They have two of their biggest rivals at home- OU & Tex A&M Mr Steel also has Alabama ranked real low-like 80 Heck they play in the SEC west and play V-Tech OOC
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
It's pretty tough to rate a strength of schedule before the season even starts but I think Phil Steele (more so than many) makes a real effort to NOT just look at what a team did the year before, and assume they will do about the same the year after. You are right that no one will really know for sure until they finish the season.
For instance, he has Alabama at 68, which does seem low for an SEC team... but that is based partially on the fact that the only real out of conference foe they will face is Virginia Tech. The other 3 are Florida International, North Texas and Tennessee-Chattanooga.
As far as the conference schedule goes they play Kentucky(7-6), Tennessee(7-6) and S. Carolina(5-7) from the SEC East. If they had to play Florida or Georgia instead of one of the teams I mentioned I'm sure they would be way higher in SOS.
I think Baylor and Kansas' conference schedule is harder than OU's... but OU has a tougher non-conference schedule and that is why Mr. Steele has them so much higher. All in all I would say his rankings are pretty accurate, but it is an inexact science for sure.
Hook em'
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
Thanks yup- inexact science is true- you never really know what's going to happen-or how tough a team really is, because evey year is different- for example in 08 both Texas A&M & Arkansas had down seasons-these two usually have tough teams and attend bowls-knock off Nat Champs etc etc Had both these teams done better like 06 & 07 then Texas 08 SOS would have been tougher. Glad yall got coach Snyder back-since Freeman is gone what's it look like at QB for the Cats?
ksuwild
· 5 months ago
Carson Coffman looks to have the starting job for now but will be in a serious battle with 4 star rated (junior college transfer) Daniel Thomas when he arrives.
Coffman's best asset is his decision making ability and game smarts. He is a decent athlete and is accurate, but there are questions about his arm strength. He did have a good spring game where he threw for over 300 yards with no interceptions.
Daniel Thomas is out of the mold of Ell Roberson and Michael Bishop and probably has the most potential of the bunch. He's a great athlete with a big arm but there are questions about his throwing accuracy. Bill Snyder has had a lot of success with dual threat QB's, so we K-Staters are eager to see how this plays out.
There's also current redshirt freshmen Collin Klein and Joseph Kassanavoid. Klein is big and athletic at 6-5, 211 and is a good pocket passer more similar to Josh Freeman than the rest.
While Kassanavoid, who is 6-4, 226 is a dual threat bruiser with a Tim Tebow mentality. He has a strong arm but is not as accurate as Klein in the passing department. He will lower his shoulder against anyone and take them head on.
Then you have Chris Harper (Oregon transfer) and Grant Gregory (South Florida transfer) coming in for 2010. Both are dual threat... with Harper being the better runner, and Gregory the better passer so it should get very interesting next season.
All in all I think we are in pretty good shape at QB, we just need someone to step up and take control. I hope Daniel Thomas is a better passer than I have heard because he sounds like a potential game breaker.
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
You're right. It is from last season. To be honest I didn't even read it other than the rankings.
Typically I agree with Phil Steele, but on those rankings I have a few problems with it. I definitely don't believe that GT is 27th and we are 45th. South Carolina probably does have the toughest schedule, and FSU is right up there. Although, all of this will change even after the first games are played. It should be interesting to review it at the end of the season.
The biggest difference with the ACC from the rest of the conferences, and of course this is based off of last season, is that the bottom of the ACC was better than everyone else's bottom. There's no question that the top of the Big XII was better than the ACC. The ACC was simply a more balanced conference and therefore more difficult to go through, much like the SEC has been in years past.
I think that most believe that the teams in the ACC will be better this year than last, but inevitably some of them are going to take a step back. It will be interesting to see if some of them really step up. If they do, the ACC will look much more like a conference usually does, and not the anomaly that was the ACC in 2008. Never can I remember a time when the 1st place team was not very far away from the 12th place team.
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
Thanks Joe-those OCC games should help the ACC teams just found out the BU @ Wake game set for 3:30 kickoff on ABC regionally and ESPN 2 most the rest of the country
RazzMaTazz
· 5 months ago
I think you hit the nail on the head. The ACC has arguably had one of the stronger bottoms and middles but it hasn't had a top dog that could hang with the top dog(s) of the SEC, Big12, and USC.
Zac
· 5 months ago
OK's schedule is a very deceptive. On the surface it doesn't look bad. But if you're think'n that way, better look again.
They open at home with last year's MWC runner up & 10 game winner, BYU (suffered disappointing loss to Arizona). Though I expect the Sooners to prevail, it is winnable for the Cougars; if they do, watch out.
Ahem, skipping to Tulsa...what's this? It's an 11 game winner (includes convincing bowl win). I don't know what Tulsa has coming back, but if they're loaded or reloaded, and if BYU roughs up the Sooners enough (even in a loss), this too could be a challenge for OK.
I don't care how "bad" the Cane's season was last year (finished with 3 consecutive losses; includes bowl). Miami is never a gimmie game. AND, it's played in their back yard; not fun!
Baylor will be much improved and will present a more than better-not-overlook challenge.
TX - The Red River Battle-of-Wills - NUFF SAID!!!
KS: If 120 pts isn't scored between these two, it'll be a miracle. IF OK loses to TX AGAIN, it could well be a KS miracle. (There would go any chance at the Big-12 Title.)
KS St: Sorry, KSU wild. The Sooners may be tired by this time, but it's in Norman. They'll be all over this one.
NE: IF the Huskers have gotten through their slate unscathed (even if they only show one loss) sorry Crimson & Cream, I have to go with the Big Red in Lincoln (provided everybody on NE's team knows to keep their big mouths shut!).
Of the last three A&M will be the "more" improved, and that's not say'n much as TX Tech & OK St should be off a bit. Still, none can be over-looked.
Synopsis: With one exception, the least of these teams would be like playing a middle-of-the-pack ACC team week after week after week. Though a few won't be as good as last year, a couple more improve. All in all, this schedule's a tall order. I see em 9-3 to 11-1 (even if they beat TX). Should they go undefeated, they should be a lock for the NC. Even 1 loss, pluss the Big-12 Championship could get em there. Tall order!!! JMHO...
Clemson_Joe
· 5 months ago
Upon further review, Georgia Tech has a very good schedule.
They play the ACC Coastal (UNC, Miami, VT, Virginia, Duke) plus Clemson, Wake Forest, and Florida State. OOC they go up against Georgia, Miss. State, and Vanderbilt. They have one cupcake with Jacksonville State, but they deserve 1 week off.
In my opinion, that's one of the toughest in the ACC, and the country. I don't understand why that was left off of the top 25 hardest schedules in the country.
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
Thanks KSU-Wild coach Briles is in his second year at Waco and there is a lot of optimism buzzing around. Then you look at the schedule and reality sets in and in all honesty other than Northwestern st they all look pretty tough. The first two games are going to be great matchups and if the Bears survive those two it could build confidence and momentum that would carry them through the next two, which are both at home. Then its hello Norman OK one of the toughest places in the country to get a W. At IA st aint going to be funny, the Cyclones are not going to lay down, but I expect BU to win big. Looking at the last six games OK St is going to be a tough ranked opponent. Nebraska should be improved from last year and this game looks like a tossup to me. I'll take BU over the Tigers on the road- dont think their D can slow down R Griffin & Co. and they lost a lot of players from last year. The next one will be better than expected UT will probably win, but this aint no automatic victory for the Horns. The A&M game is at Kyle feild home of the 12th man-This is going to be an awesome game-could go either way-last years game got outa hand after QB Johnson threw three picks- kinda hard to beat anybody with 3 ints- this years gane ought to be closer. Texas Tech will not fall off much from last year- Leach always seems to have QB's and WR's to work his offense, but can their D stop BU at home? This is one brutal friggin schedule I'll say the Bears go bowling for the first time in years. Sicem=Bears
UFSUX
· 5 months ago
We are gonna Kill the SEC this year. Also, FSU is going to give the Gators the biggest whooping of the decade. Check out the preview of what the ACC is going to do to the SEC:
They have a whack schedule. THey can't compete with the big boys, especially since Percy Harvin the drug abuser left.
Zac
· 5 months ago
Coondawg, is that you?
(Sorry, guys; had to ask.)
"BC"
· 5 months ago
conference ratings for 2009: 1. SEC (duh) 2. Big 12 T3. Pac 10 T3. ACC 5. Big 11 6. MWC 7. Big East
Ben Prather
· 5 months ago
Looks about right. I would continue:
8. WAC 9. C-USA 10. Sun Belt 11. MAC
Thats right, I got the Sun Belt over the MAC in 2009.
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
WHAT IF... fans of the ACC actually gave a sh*t about football???
WHAT IF... fans outside the ACC gave a sh*t about ACC football???
WHAT IF... pigs could fly???
WHAT IF... you could tell the difference between butter and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"???
WHAT IF... the ACC actually aligned their two divisions geographically like normal conferences???
WHAT IF... the slutty fan-favorite F$U whores were actually smart enough to get into the school they get on their knees for each Saturday in the Fall???
WHAT IF... Randy Shannon lifted his ban on guns for his gangster-ass play-uhs???
WHAT IF... Georgia Tech could recruit the dumb asses that the other schools stock up on each year???
WHAT IF... Frank Beamer's goiter could suit up & play???
WHAT IF... the ACC Championship game ever drew more than 20,000 bored fans???
WHAT IF... the American people would put forth as much effort solving the real problems we have as they do mourning dead celebrity child molesters???
WHAT IF... my cat's breath didn't smell like cat food???
WHAT IF... this is all a dream and I wake up and find Patrick Duffy taking a shower in my bathroom???
OU_Ron
· 5 months ago
What if it's not a dream..
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
STOP SPOILING MY PATRICK DUFFY DREAM!!!!
Zac
· 5 months ago
Gee, Foster, that's a lot of "What-If's" there. You work at Browns Ferry?
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 5 months ago
Ooooh. It was all a dream sequences are such a sellout, Foster!
That being said, I woke up the other morning and found Bama Babe in my shower. But actually, I was still dreaming...
:-)
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
It was either Patrick Duffy(he entered my head b/c I was watching some "Step By Step" episodes with Suzanne Summers and more importantly, Stacy Keenan, yummy) or the Newhart finale with Bob waking up next to Suzanne Plechette(who was super hot in her day, RIP)...
WHAT IF... I sold out???
NEVER!!!
1Tomcat
· 5 months ago
Thanks for the terrific link on Big-12 Heck Bama fans have always been dreamers right? Hookem-Horns
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
We dream that we'll one day beat your Longhorns... 0-7-1 all time...
I remember the '82 Cotton Bowl... I was 9yrs old and asked my father why Bear Bryant smoked so many cigarettes on the sidelines...
Thanks Foster I would love to see a Texas vs Bama or Texas vs Florida or Texas vs any team in the nation
Zac
· 5 months ago
You'll have to wait for the Fiesta Bowl to get WVU. That is, unless Ed Pastilong retires soon! (The BASTAGE!!!)
NMLSooner
· 5 months ago
That "goiter" as you call it on Frank Beamer's neck is the result of 30 surgeries over 4 years he had after receiving a severe burn from an explosion...at the age of 7.
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
I am well aware of Coach Beamer's flamability issues...
NMLSooner
· 5 months ago
you called it a goiter, so I wasn't sure you were...unless his neck has some other protrusion that I'm unaware of. I guess I just haven't studied his neck well enough to be sure. : )
fosterkeats
· 5 months ago
I met him at "The Atlanta Touchdown Club's Cold Chicken Cordon Bleu & Watered-down Ice Tea" luncheon a few years back... A really nice man...
I was also less than 25 feet from Lee Corso, I should've decked that douche bag...
RazzMaTazz
· 5 months ago
Sporting News' Matt Hayes ranked the top ten non-con schedules. The ACC fared well with 3 teams in the top ten. The Pac-10 has 4 teams. The SEC, Big12, and Big10 each have one. http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/ar...
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 5 months ago
Good article. Smells like a good thread. You guys email us with stuff like this, especially this time of year.
AUtigerman
· 5 months ago
Nothing like an SEC attack to get me out of hybernation.
Ill agree that the ACC is the most equally balanced conference. However thats where ill have to stop. The top ACC teams rarely compete when it counts with the Big Boys. How bout LSU shallacking of Georgia Tech for example. (I Had GT in this one)cost me 300 bucks.
By the way and not that it matters. I had the Big 12 as the best conference in 08. Too many good teams in SEC with down years to be ranked #1.
A trend to watch this year with Georgia Tech is when a team has more than a week to prepare for them. That seems to have been the recipe to beating them last year.
RazzMaTazz
· 5 months ago
I agree. As a guy who played running back and D-back on a high school team that ran the option exclusively, I'd say that the option-offense is not any harder (and arguably easier in terms of defensive personnel athleticism) to defend IF you're used to it. If you're not used to it, it's easy to blow your defensive assignments and get burned.
Last season, LSU was the only FBS school that had 2 weeks or more to prepare for GT, and perhaps as a result, LSU's defense contained GT's option, held GT's offense to its lowest score of the season, and LSU consequently, won the time-of-possession battle thereby enabling the LSU's offense to do its part in the 38-3 rout. (I expected LSU to win due to the 1-month prep-time.) All of GT's other opponents had one week to prepare for GT, except Clemson and UNC, both of whom had 9 days. Clemson was in turmoil with the firing of Bowden during its 9 days, so I don't think that counts as even 7 days. (But even so Clemson lost narrowly 21-17.) UNC handed GT their worst regular season loss (28-7) while holding GT to their 2nd lowest score of the season. So basically (if we can exclude Clemson because of the HC & OC firing turmoil) that tends to indicate that the teams that had more time to prepare for GT's option, were able to contain it. Of course, considering the sample size of the data, that could just be a coincidence.
Next season only one FBS team gets more than 1 week to prepare for GT during the regular season-- and that's Miami which gets 10 days. (In fact no FBS team even gets a cupcake in the week prior to playing GT.) Unfortunately, Clemson has only 5 days to get ready for GT, so we'll get to test the prep-time theory in the opposite direction. In fact, I think Clemson is likely to lose to GT largely due to the lack of prep-time.
Since Clemson plays MTSU (a relatively manageable OOC game) for its season opener, 5 days prior to playing GT, some fans have opined that Clemson will spend part of it's summer/MTSU prep-time to get ready for GT's option offense. But MTSU (an FBS team that solidly beat UMD last season) is not a cupcake, and so Clemson really can't afford to take MTSU lightly, nor can Dabo afford to open with a loss to MTSU. Clemson's coaches propbably won't admit to spending pre-MTSU practice time preparing for GT (for fear of disrespecting & inspiring both MTSU & GT) but I'd love to know how much, if any, time Clemson will spend preparing for GT over the summer.
My gut feel is that option-offenses largely died out of college & pro football for good reason, and that the main reason that a few teams have success with the option is because opponents have almost no experience defending it. Therefore, I expect GT to continue to have success with the option except in games where teams have more than 1 week to prepare. But consequently, as long as GT runs the option, I expect GT to always open the season with a cupcake so that no good team has an entire summer to prepare for GT's option. And I expect that GT will tend to lose its bowl games. I could be wrong. As a college football fan, I'm very interested to see how GT's option works out over the next few years.
All Comments
14 games against FCS teams is really not cool. That means two teams are even double-dipping; and when those teams are CLEM and FSU, it should tick some people off....(don't worry, I am...)
Teams Clemson has never played (by Conference):
SEC: ARK
Big Ten: IND, IOWA, MICH, MCST, NW, PUR, WISC
Big 12: ISU, KAN, KSU, OKST, TEX
Big East: CINC, CONN, LOU, RUTG (cannot confirm yet), USF
Pac-10: ARIZ, ASU, ORE, ORST, UCLA, WASH, WSU
MWC: AF, BYU, CSU, NMX, SDST, UTAH, WYO
MAC: AKR, BOWL, BUFF, KENT, MIAU, OHIO, EMCH, NIU, TOL, WMCH
WAC: BSU, FRES, HAW, NMST, NEV, SJST
Sun Belt: ARST, FIU, IDA, ULL, UNT, TROY
We need to get Arkansas off this list. :)
Florida State doesn't double dip this year either. They play BYU, South Florida, and Florida, with the lone FCS opponent being Jacksonville State.
The 2 ACC schools that double dip from the FCS are Duke and North Carolina. Duke plays Richmond and NC Central (along with Army and Kansas) OOC, while UNC plays the Citadel and Georgia Southern (along with UConn and East Carolina).
Virginia Tech's OOC schedule is flat out awesome though. They deserve a lot of credit for scheduling Alabama, Nebraska, East Carolina, and Marshall.
Clemson will have TCU, SCAR, MTSU, and Coastal Carolina, which will be good; I look forward to even bigger OOC games down the road...
As far as the ACC vs. Conference Breakdown, in 2009 it will be:
ACC:
vs. Big 12: 4x
vs. Big East: 5x
vs. Big Ten: 1x
vs. C-USA: 5x
vs. FBS Ind.: 3x
vs. MAC: 2x
vs. MWC: 3x
vs. Pac-10: 2x
vs. SEC: 7x
vs. Sun Belt: 2x
vs. WAC: 0x
vs. FCS: 14x
Duke>Vandy>Ole Miss> Fla>OU>TTech>UT>OU
2. the first few weeks will say a lot, ole miss, baylor, cal, rutgers, alabama, kansas, nebraska, tcu, usc and south carolina just to name a few, the acc goes through with only a few losses, and no lopsided losses, consider the monster year underway
3. possible national title contenders: virginia tech, georgia tech (maybe), unc (another maybe), clemson, wake forest, and i'll toss in maryland for fun, all have a legitimate shot at going undefeated
4.sophomore slumps for young coaches? i don't think so, paul johnson wants the division crown, cutcliffe wants a bowl game, swinney wants a division crown
if anything, the situation at BC, miami, and florida state will be under some heavy criticism, and could bring down the league, but i see another solid year, and possibly a national title participant
(Is it too early to talk shit??? LOL)
NEVER!!!
NEVER!!!
(By the way, another of this may pop up later, given it's with a "moderator" over some four-letter-word thing...)
3-4 vs. Big East
1-1 vs. Big Ten
4-1 vs. Big 12 (no games vs. TEX, OU, TXT, MIZZ, or OKST)
1-2 vs. Pac-10
6-6 vs. SEC (two losses were to FLA, the eventual NC; WAKE beat MISS, lol)
5-1 vs. FBS Independents (2 wins over ND)
4-1 vs. C-USA
2-0 vs. MAC
0-1 vs. Sun Belt (Talk about Maryland dropping the ball...)
1-0 vs. WAC
0-0 vs. MWC
12-0 vs. FCS teams
The ACC went 4-6 in Bowl games, but of those 6 losses, 5 were of 7 points or less.
The ACC faired reasonably well in OOC play last season—especially if you compare ACC schools of similar league standing to their OOC opponents of similar (or greater) league standing. For example, SEC-West champ Alabama (8-0 SEC regular season) beat Clemson (which was a mediocre 4-4 ACC team), but Clemson beat South Carolina (which was a similarly mediocre 4-4 SEC team). ACC bottom dweller, Duke (1-7) beat SEC mid-level (4-4) Vanderbilt. Middle-ACC Wake (4-4) beat upper-SEC Ole-Miss (5-3) and Wake also beat middle-SEC Vandy. Upper-middle-ACC GT (5-3) beat upper-SEC Georgia (6-2) but GT did lose to lower-middle SEC LSU (3-5). SEC/national champ Florida (8-1) beat upper-middle-ACC FSU (5-3), but FSU beat upper-middle Big-10 Wisconsin and lower Big-12 Colorado. Middle-ACC Maryland (4-4) beat upper Pac-10 Cal (6-2). And ACC champ VT beat Big East champ Cincy.
Next season, the ACC is second only to the Pac-10 in scheduling games against non-con BCS opponents.
Pac-10 (50 percent), ACC (42 percent), Big Ten (32 percent), SEC (29 percent), Big 12 (23 percent).
So the ACC is doing pretty well on scheduling good games.
The problem with the ACC is that it’s full of good teams, but I don’t think any ACC team could hang with Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, or USC. In order for the ACC to really gain respect, a top tier, play-with-anyone team or two needs to emerge.
There are certainly several great OOC games this season that will be a good barometer on the ACC. All of the ACC’s OOC games are very winnable (not necessarily favorable but winnable) except for FSU-UF & Miami-Oklahoma. The ACC composite schedules are here: http://www.theacc.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools...
It does seem possible for an ACC team to get through the season with a pretty clean (or even perfect) record. The question is, if an ACC team, and TWO other teams from the SEC, Big 12, Pac-10, or Big 10 went undefeated, would the ACC team get a title shot? I think that the answer is no. Would a once-defeated SEC, Big-12, Pac-10, or Big-10 team jump an undefeated ACC team. That probably depends on how the ACC fares OOC.
By the way, Phil Steele has VT as the top-ranked ACC-Coastal team and Clemson as the top-ranked ACC-Atlantic team, so I’ll be looking forward to a Clemson-VT ACCCG!
I had to look it up ACC 4-1 vs B-12
Miami over Texas A&M
Wake over Baylor
FSU over Colo
V Tech over Nebraska
Nebraska over Clemson
The OOC games for the ACC look pretty darn good
we get to see a rematch of Neb vs V Tech and Baylor vs Wake
This time the B-12 teams will be visiters
OU @ Miami and Kansas vs Duke
Given the OOC games if Miami with OU
FSU with FLa
V Tech with Bama & Neb
Clemson with TCU
If any of these teams were to go undefeated with OOc games against ranked opponents then perhaps they should get a nod over a 1 loss SEC or B-12 team
61 days till Indiana St/Quincy. Can't wait!!! (Hey, what channel's that one on, anyway?)
* - As long as CJ Spiller doesn't suffer an injury that keeps him out of more than 1 game.
Dabo has done fantastic things assembling a staff, although there is an unproven OC. Dabo's situation is more like Johnson than Sherman in that Bowden certainly didn't leave the cupboard bare by any stretch of the imagination. Sherman had talent when he took over, but not to the extent that Johnson and Swinney had/have.
A trademark of the Bowden era at Clemson was losing to teams that we shouldn't lose to. If Swinney can simply fix that, it will be a tremendous improvement.
70 days until the kickoff of the 2009 Clemson season.
68 days until the 2009 season kicks off with South Carolina @ NC State.
For Utah it has a history of going both ways.
Kansas -- 2009
vs Northern Colorado
at Utep
vs Duke
vs Southern Miss (decent barometer)
vs Iowa St. (up to this point not so bad you say, now look below)
at Colorado
vs Oklahoma
at Texas Tech
at Kansas St.
vs Nebraska
at Texas
vs Missouri (neutral Kansas City)
Those final seven games are going to be a pretty brutal stretch for the Gayhawks... I mean Jaybirds.
Phil Steele has Kansas St. finishing tied for 2nd in the North with Colorado this year BTW. His preseason magazine has been the most accurate over the last 10 years for anyone who might not agree (not that it makes you wrong if you do :).
I didn't take the time to look at all of the ACC schedules (or even all of the Big XII for that matter) but I would guess the schedule above compares pretty well in difficutly.
The 1st 2 should be a wash. KS can't overlook Duke, but this one's at home; the same can be said for S MS. IA St, new coach, et. al.; again, should be wash.
At CO: If KS's defense bails em out like they did in Boulder 2 seasons ago...
OK: Well, at least this one's at home.
TX Tech: Lost way too much on offense. Their defense isn't strong enough to carry em this far.
KS St: Your boyz should end 3 years of frustration.
NE: Like OK, at least it's at home.
TX: They have my sympathies.
MO: They won in Columbia, despite Chase Daniels. I'll give em this one.
Synopsis: If they're undefeated by the time they visit the Buffs, they'll be undefeated when OK visits Lawrence. That's when their winning streak ends, but they'll go 3-2 the rest of the way. If they're not undefeated or even lose in Boulder, the best they'll do is 7-5.
Big Difference.
Florida St. definitely has a harder schedule (factoring non-conference games in) than Kansas in 2009, but I do not beleive they have a tougher conference slate than Kansas... or Baylor.
That is kind of the point we're all revolving around here... how -conference- slates match up in difficulty. Not necessarily the overall schedules. I think the XII matches up pretty well.
Baylor -- 2009
at Wake Forest
vs Connecticut
vs Northwestern State
vs Kent State
at Oklahoma
at Iowa State
vs Oklahoma State
vs Nebraska
at Missouri
vs Texas
at Texas A&M
vs Texas Tech
Wake: Baylor worked hard in this one last year, but clearly wasn't ready to play. Wake caught a few breaks off Baylor mistakes. 1st game, on the road, tough ACC school, it's a lot to ask. All I can say is it's winnable, but they'd better come to play.
UConn: Huskies won a thriller in Hartford last year. I'll be root'n for em, but I Iike the Bears to win in a thriller at home.
NW St is a gimmie; the state of Kent is not. In how many languages can you say "Bear-Trap".
OK: In Norman, they have my sympathies.
IA St: Visiting the Cyclones is doable; despite a new coaching staff, could be another Bear-Trap.
OK St: I hope this one's on TV. It could be one the most exciting games played all year.
NE: Well, at least this one's at home. Catch the Huskies nap'n and...who knows?
MO: I don't care where the Bears play this one; it's doable. I'll be disappointed if they don't win it.
TX: See NE.
A&M or TX Tech, see MO.
I think 7-5 or 8-4 is quite doable; 9-3 may be a stretch, but I wouldn't be disappointed if that happened.
It seems to be a consensus that Missouri will be down this year. MU usually does about as good as their defense... which has always been their Achilles heel.
They have a lot of questions to answer on offense as well this year and I guess that is where a lot of the skepticism is coming from. I like their offense but they need to prove they can run the ball consistently. They haven't done that yet.
Snyder had MU's # (as well as KU) I think we beat MU 13 years in a row before he retired. Many of those W's were before Pinkel to be fair though. We'll see what kind of coach Pinkel is this year.
I tend to think Mizzou will be better than most are giving them credit for.
Our schedule is pretty solid this year as well since we run through the ACC Atlantic, plus Georgia Tech, and OOC games with TCU and South Carolina.
Honestly though, all of this is pure speculation as no one really has any idea how good any of these teams will be. On Baylor's schedule, I would say that Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Nebraska are all huge question marks. Personally I expect Nebraska to be the best of that bunch, but we'll see.
http://www.philsteele.com/Blogs/June09/DBJune9....
Phil Steele has Florida St. as the 2nd toughest in 09' and the Oklahoma Sooners as the 3rd toughest. The Kansas and Baylor schedules I posted are still very good examples as far as toughness from a conference schedule standpoint.
The Big XII is no joke to play in. I don't think there are many in the country that would make it through any of the conference slates I have listed unscathed. Including this one.
Oklahoma -- 2009
vs BYU
vs Idaho St.
vs Tulsa
at Miami (FL)
vs Baylor
vs Texas (Red River - Neutral)
at Kansas
vs Kansas St.
at Nebraska
vs Texas A&M
at Texas Tech
vs Oklahoma St.
That is one rough schedule... so is Florida State's though.
Strenght of schedule cannot really be determined until after the season-While I found this interesting Mr Steel has Texas Tech's schedule ranked at # 19 I dont understand
The have North Dakota---DivII
Rice--C-USA had a good season last year,but lost a lot of players
New Mexico ---come on even the Aggies beat those Lobos-MWC
Houston----C USA
not one OOC opponent from a BCS conference
They have two of their biggest rivals at home- OU & Tex A&M
Mr Steel also has Alabama ranked real low-like 80
Heck they play in the SEC west and play V-Tech OOC
For instance, he has Alabama at 68, which does seem low for an SEC team... but that is based partially on the fact that the only real out of conference foe they will face is Virginia Tech. The other 3 are Florida International, North Texas and Tennessee-Chattanooga.
As far as the conference schedule goes they play Kentucky(7-6), Tennessee(7-6) and S. Carolina(5-7) from the SEC East. If they had to play Florida or Georgia instead of one of the teams I mentioned I'm sure they would be way higher in SOS.
I think Baylor and Kansas' conference schedule is harder than OU's... but OU has a tougher non-conference schedule and that is why Mr. Steele has them so much higher. All in all I would say his rankings are pretty accurate, but it is an inexact science for sure.
Hook em'
Had both these teams done better like 06 & 07 then Texas 08 SOS would have been tougher.
Glad yall got coach Snyder back-since Freeman is gone what's it look like at QB for the Cats?
Coffman's best asset is his decision making ability and game smarts. He is a decent athlete and is accurate, but there are questions about his arm strength. He did have a good spring game where he threw for over 300 yards with no interceptions.
Daniel Thomas is out of the mold of Ell Roberson and Michael Bishop and probably has the most potential of the bunch. He's a great athlete with a big arm but there are questions about his throwing accuracy. Bill Snyder has had a lot of success with dual threat QB's, so we K-Staters are eager to see how this plays out.
There's also current redshirt freshmen Collin Klein and Joseph Kassanavoid. Klein is big and athletic at 6-5, 211 and is a good pocket passer more similar to Josh Freeman than the rest.
While Kassanavoid, who is 6-4, 226 is a dual threat bruiser with a Tim Tebow mentality. He has a strong arm but is not as accurate as Klein in the passing department. He will lower his shoulder against anyone and take them head on.
Then you have Chris Harper (Oregon transfer) and Grant Gregory (South Florida transfer) coming in for 2010. Both are dual threat... with Harper being the better runner, and Gregory the better passer so it should get very interesting next season.
All in all I think we are in pretty good shape at QB, we just need someone to step up and take control. I hope Daniel Thomas is a better passer than I have heard because he sounds like a potential game breaker.
Typically I agree with Phil Steele, but on those rankings I have a few problems with it. I definitely don't believe that GT is 27th and we are 45th. South Carolina probably does have the toughest schedule, and FSU is right up there. Although, all of this will change even after the first games are played. It should be interesting to review it at the end of the season.
The biggest difference with the ACC from the rest of the conferences, and of course this is based off of last season, is that the bottom of the ACC was better than everyone else's bottom. There's no question that the top of the Big XII was better than the ACC. The ACC was simply a more balanced conference and therefore more difficult to go through, much like the SEC has been in years past.
I think that most believe that the teams in the ACC will be better this year than last, but inevitably some of them are going to take a step back. It will be interesting to see if some of them really step up. If they do, the ACC will look much more like a conference usually does, and not the anomaly that was the ACC in 2008. Never can I remember a time when the 1st place team was not very far away from the 12th place team.
just found out the BU @ Wake game set for 3:30 kickoff on ABC regionally and ESPN 2 most the rest of the country
They open at home with last year's MWC runner up & 10 game winner, BYU (suffered disappointing loss to Arizona). Though I expect the Sooners to prevail, it is winnable for the Cougars; if they do, watch out.
Ahem, skipping to Tulsa...what's this? It's an 11 game winner (includes convincing bowl win). I don't know what Tulsa has coming back, but if they're loaded or reloaded, and if BYU roughs up the Sooners enough (even in a loss), this too could be a challenge for OK.
I don't care how "bad" the Cane's season was last year (finished with 3 consecutive losses; includes bowl). Miami is never a gimmie game. AND, it's played in their back yard; not fun!
Baylor will be much improved and will present a more than better-not-overlook challenge.
TX - The Red River Battle-of-Wills - NUFF SAID!!!
KS: If 120 pts isn't scored between these two, it'll be a miracle. IF OK loses to TX AGAIN, it could well be a KS miracle. (There would go any chance at the Big-12 Title.)
KS St: Sorry, KSU wild. The Sooners may be tired by this time, but it's in Norman. They'll be all over this one.
NE: IF the Huskers have gotten through their slate unscathed (even if they only show one loss) sorry Crimson & Cream, I have to go with the Big Red in Lincoln (provided everybody on NE's team knows to keep their big mouths shut!).
Of the last three A&M will be the "more" improved, and that's not say'n much as TX Tech & OK St should be off a bit. Still, none can be over-looked.
Synopsis: With one exception, the least of these teams would be like playing a middle-of-the-pack ACC team week after week after week. Though a few won't be as good as last year, a couple more improve. All in all, this schedule's a tall order. I see em 9-3 to 11-1 (even if they beat TX). Should they go undefeated, they should be a lock for the NC. Even 1 loss, pluss the Big-12 Championship could get em there. Tall order!!! JMHO...
They play the ACC Coastal (UNC, Miami, VT, Virginia, Duke) plus Clemson, Wake Forest, and Florida State. OOC they go up against Georgia, Miss. State, and Vanderbilt. They have one cupcake with Jacksonville State, but they deserve 1 week off.
In my opinion, that's one of the toughest in the ACC, and the country. I don't understand why that was left off of the top 25 hardest schedules in the country.
The first two games are going to be great matchups and if the Bears survive those two it could build confidence and momentum that would carry them through the next two, which are both at home. Then its hello Norman OK one of the toughest places in the country to get a W. At IA st aint going to be funny, the Cyclones are not going to lay down, but I expect BU to win big.
Looking at the last six games OK St is going to be a tough ranked opponent.
Nebraska should be improved from last year and this game looks like a tossup to me. I'll take BU over the Tigers on the road- dont think their D can slow down R Griffin & Co. and they lost a lot of players from last year.
The next one will be better than expected UT will probably win, but this aint no automatic victory for the Horns.
The A&M game is at Kyle feild home of the 12th man-This is going to be an awesome game-could go either way-last years game got outa hand after QB Johnson threw three picks- kinda hard to beat anybody with 3 ints- this years gane ought to be closer.
Texas Tech will not fall off much from last year- Leach always seems to have QB's and WR's to work his offense, but can their D stop BU at home?
This is one brutal friggin schedule I'll say the Bears go bowling for the first time in years.
Sicem=Bears
WWW.UFSUX.com
They have a whack schedule. THey can't compete with the big boys, especially since Percy Harvin the drug abuser left.
(Sorry, guys; had to ask.)
1. SEC (duh)
2. Big 12
T3. Pac 10
T3. ACC
5. Big 11
6. MWC
7. Big East
8. WAC
9. C-USA
10. Sun Belt
11. MAC
Thats right, I got the Sun Belt over the MAC in 2009.
WHAT IF... fans outside the ACC gave a sh*t about ACC football???
WHAT IF... pigs could fly???
WHAT IF... you could tell the difference between butter and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"???
WHAT IF... the ACC actually aligned their two divisions geographically like normal conferences???
WHAT IF... the slutty fan-favorite F$U whores were actually smart enough to get into the school they get on their knees for each Saturday in the Fall???
WHAT IF... Randy Shannon lifted his ban on guns for his gangster-ass play-uhs???
WHAT IF... Georgia Tech could recruit the dumb asses that the other schools stock up on each year???
WHAT IF... Frank Beamer's goiter could suit up & play???
WHAT IF... the ACC Championship game ever drew more than 20,000 bored fans???
WHAT IF... the American people would put forth as much effort solving the real problems we have as they do mourning dead celebrity child molesters???
WHAT IF... my cat's breath didn't smell like cat food???
WHAT IF... some Douche Bag in Dallas wrote the same article referenced above but just cut & pasted in Big 12 teams???
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt...
WHAT IF... this is all a dream and I wake up and find Patrick Duffy taking a shower in my bathroom???
That being said, I woke up the other morning and found Bama Babe in my shower. But actually, I was still dreaming...
:-)
WHAT IF... I sold out???
NEVER!!!
Heck Bama fans have always been dreamers right?
Hookem-Horns
I remember the '82 Cotton Bowl... I was 9yrs old and asked my father why Bear Bryant smoked so many cigarettes on the sidelines...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt...
I was also less than 25 feet from Lee Corso, I should've decked that douche bag...
http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/ar...
Ill agree that the ACC is the most equally balanced conference.
However thats where ill have to stop. The top ACC teams rarely compete when it counts with the Big Boys.
How bout LSU shallacking of Georgia Tech for example. (I Had GT in this one)cost me 300 bucks.
By the way and not that it matters. I had the Big 12 as the best conference in 08. Too many good teams in SEC with down years to be ranked #1.
Georgia Tech 45 - 42 Georgia
Georgia 52 - 38 LSU
LSU 38 - 3 Georgia Tech
A trend to watch this year with Georgia Tech is when a team has more than a week to prepare for them. That seems to have been the recipe to beating them last year.
Last season, LSU was the only FBS school that had 2 weeks or more to prepare for GT, and perhaps as a result, LSU's defense contained GT's option, held GT's offense to its lowest score of the season, and LSU consequently, won the time-of-possession battle thereby enabling the LSU's offense to do its part in the 38-3 rout. (I expected LSU to win due to the 1-month prep-time.) All of GT's other opponents had one week to prepare for GT, except Clemson and UNC, both of whom had 9 days. Clemson was in turmoil with the firing of Bowden during its 9 days, so I don't think that counts as even 7 days. (But even so Clemson lost narrowly 21-17.) UNC handed GT their worst regular season loss (28-7) while holding GT to their 2nd lowest score of the season. So basically (if we can exclude Clemson because of the HC & OC firing turmoil) that tends to indicate that the teams that had more time to prepare for GT's option, were able to contain it. Of course, considering the sample size of the data, that could just be a coincidence.
Next season only one FBS team gets more than 1 week to prepare for GT during the regular season-- and that's Miami which gets 10 days. (In fact no FBS team even gets a cupcake in the week prior to playing GT.) Unfortunately, Clemson has only 5 days to get ready for GT, so we'll get to test the prep-time theory in the opposite direction. In fact, I think Clemson is likely to lose to GT largely due to the lack of prep-time.
Since Clemson plays MTSU (a relatively manageable OOC game) for its season opener, 5 days prior to playing GT, some fans have opined that Clemson will spend part of it's summer/MTSU prep-time to get ready for GT's option offense. But MTSU (an FBS team that solidly beat UMD last season) is not a cupcake, and so Clemson really can't afford to take MTSU lightly, nor can Dabo afford to open with a loss to MTSU. Clemson's coaches propbably won't admit to spending pre-MTSU practice time preparing for GT (for fear of disrespecting & inspiring both MTSU & GT) but I'd love to know how much, if any, time Clemson will spend preparing for GT over the summer.
My gut feel is that option-offenses largely died out of college & pro football for good reason, and that the main reason that a few teams have success with the option is because opponents have almost no experience defending it. Therefore, I expect GT to continue to have success with the option except in games where teams have more than 1 week to prepare. But consequently, as long as GT runs the option, I expect GT to always open the season with a cupcake so that no good team has an entire summer to prepare for GT's option. And I expect that GT will tend to lose its bowl games. I could be wrong. As a college football fan, I'm very interested to see how GT's option works out over the next few years.