A couple of more big non-conference games and a couple of more losses for the ACC. It's a story that just keeps getting repeated year after. Sometimes they are close games and sometimes they are blowouts, but in the end they are losses just the same, and I’m getting kind of sick of it.
Every ACC team is guilty of it too.
In 2008 ACC Pre-season favorite Clemson loses to Alabama 34-10.
In 2009 ACC Pre-season favorite Virgina Tech loses to Alabama 34-24 and they lost to Boise St. this past weekend 33-30.
Florida State hasn't beat Florida since 2003.
Georgia Tech has beat Georgia just once since 2000 and lost 24-14 to Iowa in the Orange Bowl. They also got crushed by LSU 38-3 in the 2008 Chick Fila Bowl
Miami loses to Wisconsin in the 2009 Champ Sports Bowl
Boston College lost to both Notre Dame and USC last season.
North Carolina gets beat by LSU last week.
Heck don't even get me started on the rest of the ACC teams. The ACC just keeps losing almost every one of their highest profile games.
It's not that the ACC doesn't ever win big games. There have been a handful of "nice" wins. Miami defeated Sam Bradfordless Oklahoma team and Florida State went on the road and beat a top 10 ranked BYU last season. Georgia Tech’s lone victory over Georgia was just 2 years ago. That’s Bulldog team was consensus top 5 pre-season team. These type wins are too few and too far between though.
For people like me that are ACC fans, it’s hard defending the conference when the scoreboard is telling a different story. Don't bother giving me the argument that you root for teams and not the conference. National perception of your conference means everything when it comes TV Contracts, national media coverage and recruiting. The SEC gets this.
Is the ACC an inferior football conference, as others would have you believe? What's going here?
Here's my theory... I call it the Florida State effect. When the Noles were dominating the ACC at a ridiculous clip, they were faster than other ACC teams at just about every position. The rest of conference recruited speed to match Florida State and they caught up as the Seminoles gradually declined. You ended up with pretty fast teams (not FSU mid 90s fast) that turned the ACC turned into a finesse league.
Typically when the ACC has lost these out of conference games it's been in the trenches. For the ACC to begin winning these type games consistently they have to get better upfront. I thought UNC might have got there this year against LSU, but by their own accord they had 13 players suspended.
What can you say about the Hokies? They competed but they couldn't run the ball on Boise St. That's the first sign you lost the battle at the line of scrimmage.
The ACC gets two more chances this weekend when Miami heads to Ohio State and Florida State travels to Oklahoma and there will more opportunities as the season continues.
At some point these moral victories have to starting turning into actual wins on a consistent basis.
Every ACC team is guilty of it too.
In 2008 ACC Pre-season favorite Clemson loses to Alabama 34-10.
In 2009 ACC Pre-season favorite Virgina Tech loses to Alabama 34-24 and they lost to Boise St. this past weekend 33-30.
Florida State hasn't beat Florida since 2003.
Georgia Tech has beat Georgia just once since 2000 and lost 24-14 to Iowa in the Orange Bowl. They also got crushed by LSU 38-3 in the 2008 Chick Fila Bowl
Miami loses to Wisconsin in the 2009 Champ Sports Bowl
Boston College lost to both Notre Dame and USC last season.
North Carolina gets beat by LSU last week.
Heck don't even get me started on the rest of the ACC teams. The ACC just keeps losing almost every one of their highest profile games.
It's not that the ACC doesn't ever win big games. There have been a handful of "nice" wins. Miami defeated Sam Bradfordless Oklahoma team and Florida State went on the road and beat a top 10 ranked BYU last season. Georgia Tech’s lone victory over Georgia was just 2 years ago. That’s Bulldog team was consensus top 5 pre-season team. These type wins are too few and too far between though.
For people like me that are ACC fans, it’s hard defending the conference when the scoreboard is telling a different story. Don't bother giving me the argument that you root for teams and not the conference. National perception of your conference means everything when it comes TV Contracts, national media coverage and recruiting. The SEC gets this.
Is the ACC an inferior football conference, as others would have you believe? What's going here?
Here's my theory... I call it the Florida State effect. When the Noles were dominating the ACC at a ridiculous clip, they were faster than other ACC teams at just about every position. The rest of conference recruited speed to match Florida State and they caught up as the Seminoles gradually declined. You ended up with pretty fast teams (not FSU mid 90s fast) that turned the ACC turned into a finesse league.
Typically when the ACC has lost these out of conference games it's been in the trenches. For the ACC to begin winning these type games consistently they have to get better upfront. I thought UNC might have got there this year against LSU, but by their own accord they had 13 players suspended.
What can you say about the Hokies? They competed but they couldn't run the ball on Boise St. That's the first sign you lost the battle at the line of scrimmage.
The ACC gets two more chances this weekend when Miami heads to Ohio State and Florida State travels to Oklahoma and there will more opportunities as the season continues.
At some point these moral victories have to starting turning into actual wins on a consistent basis.
