Every year, there seems to a conference that becomes the pundits' whipping boy. The fact remains that if they don't play in a conference situated in the southeastern part of the country, they have taken a turn at the critics' whipping post.
Some of the past philosophies include that the Pac-10 couldn't stop opponents from scoring (see Oregon '01, or USC '05), the Big 10 cannot keep up in speed or intensity with the SEC (see the last two BCS championship games, but never mind Michigan beating Florida in the last Capital One Bowl), the Big East is devoid of a "power program," and the Big 12 is full of underachievers.
All conferences begin the season with the mentality that they have something to prove. Inter-conference matchups, as tantalizing as they may seem, often end up in laughers or snoozers because of the obvious superiority of a team from one conference to a team in another. All conferences aside, the one with the most to prove this season is the one that resides along the Atlantic Ocean.
Will football ever make to the next level in the ACC? Make no mistake, basketball is king on the Atlantic Coast, but clearly the move to bring the Big East trio of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the conference over the last three years was a power move to bolster the football pedigree. Sure, having Boston College hockey or Hurricanes baseball is a boost, but I doubt ACC commissioner John Swofford had that in mind to in bringing the three programs over.
Why does the ACC have so much to prove? In the grand scheme of the picture in college football, they haven't mattered in the last eight years. Here's a look why.
BCS Performances Have Left Much to Be Desired
Florida State, which was a BCS mainstay through 2006, played in the first two BCS title games, winning the title in the 2000 Sugar Bowl with a 46-29 win over Virginia Tech. January 4, 2000: that is the first, last, and only time that an ACC team has won BCS bowl game (1-9). Quite an embarrassing for a conference that considers itself among the elite, sometimes getting crushed and outclassed like Maryland in the '02 Orange Bowl by Florida, who was an at-large, and Wake Forest in the 2007 Orange Bowl against Louisville. Add to that the fact that the ACC has never had a second team represented in the BCS as an at-large in a season, and we have an undiversified portfolio. No team since the Seminoles against Oklahoma in the 2001 Orange Bowl has even played in a BCS championship game.
Regular Season Inter-Conferences Power Matchups = Disaster
Last season was a doozy. Remember Virginia Tech's ballyhooed trip to the bayou to face LSU? That game may have set a record for most people asleep by halftime. Florida State's win at Colorado didn't impress many, and even though Maryland pulled off what was a big win at then-No. 10 Rutgers, it was cancelled out by getting destroyed on a Thursday night by West Virginia again, this time in College Park. Virginia held a 14-point lead against Texas Tech in the 2008 Gator Bowl with less than six minutes, only to fall to the Red Raiders 31-28. We can also harken back to Miami getting handled at Louisville two years ago as a friendly reminder. Fear not, maybe Boston College can beat Notre Dame soon, like that's never happened. Wait...
Lack of a Truly Dominant Team
True, the ACC has become better top to bottom since 2001. Florida State ran an impressive streak of nine straight outright or shared conference championships and their dominance during the 1990s and early part of this millennium bought recognition to a powerhouse as an ACC school. Since their decline, three different schools have won the ACC title, while three less than impressive Seminole squads have won the ACC championship, only to fall in their BCS bowl game.
Miami, which had high hopes of winning multiple championships, has failed to win the ACC since joining in 2004. Virginia Tech has won the conference twice, failing in both BCS bids. There hasn't exactly been a team from ACC that has truly made heads turn since King Bobby and 'Noles were a mainstay in the Top 5 at the end of the season polls in the '90s. Some can say the SEC is same way, except they have better quality top to bottom and send the majority of their schools to quality bowls. What motivation is there to go to Charlotte or maybe to San Francisco and be on the same sideline as your opponent? Way to go!
Looking Ahead to 2008
This year with Clemson favored to win the conference, one thing seems for certain. No guarantees should be made on who will win it all. The last four years, the team picked in the preseason media polls failed to live up to expectations. Clemson hasn't exactly been the model of a strong finisher, faltering down the stretch the last couple of seasons after promising starts. Some may point to a more competitive ACC than ever before. That's all good and well, but some may agree that it's better to have a conference with a majority at the elite level than the entirety in mediocrity. You can make the case, however, that a conference is only as strong as its weakest link.
"Duke? Football, you mean?"
The People rest, your Honor.
Hopefully, for commissioner John Swofford's sake, the level of play and dominance can be established from Chestnut Hill to Coral Gables. Besides, for those of us on the East Coast with no "Game Plan" package, ACC football is all we have until primetime. Please, make it a little easier to watch!
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