I previously previewed the Mountain West conference and did a ranking of the conferences this off-season. The ACC comes into the year off a postseason that saw Clemson and Florida State winning BCS bowl games, the former over LSU and the later over Northern Illinois. 2013 also sees the first of two seasons of changes to the league membership with the addition of Syracuse and Pitt to the conference. Syracuse will join Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, NC State, Boston College and Wake Forest in the Atlantic; Pittsburgh will join, Miami (FL), Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia and Georgia Tech in the Coastal. The conference might once again have two participants in the BCS but the second more than likely won't be as strong and Pittsburgh will certainly make the bottom of the league worse.
Atlantic: |last year W-L, returning offensive starters, returning defensive starters, %yards returning, %tackles returning|
Best Team: Clemson|11-2, 7, 6, 67%, 64%| Clemson certainly loses some pieces from last years team, but the return of Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins should help to offset the loss of Andre Ellington and DeAndre Hopkins to the NFL. There is still plenty of talent thanks to an uptick in recruiting under Dabo. Defense will still have some issues but they will only have to do so much with an offense that should put up points in droves.
Worst Team: Wake Forest|5-7, 8, 8, 85%, 65%| Wake Forest brings back a good amount of talent on both sides of the ball, although how much will that really make a difference. A bad team in 2012 returns much of the same core for 2013 begs a question of how much hope there is and with the other teams at the bottom of the Atlantic (division not ocean) looking in better shape than '12 as well Wake looks poised to stay much closer to the bottom of the conference than the top.
Intriguing Team: Florida State|12-2, 7, 4, 43.5%, 64%| Florida State loses a boatload of talent this off-season as is reflected in their returning yards this season. The biggest of which may be at QB and DE. The biggest question should be whether precious and talented youngsters can step up and fill in the many holes left on both sides of the ball. Also good luck guessing which easy win is a loss on the schedule.
Coastal:
Best Team: Miami (FL)|7-5, 10, 9, 84%, 79%| Miami brings back a team that outdid most projections in 2012. This was a team left for dead with bowl sanctions and distractions left and right. Miami brings back a sophmore who broke on the scene as a freshman at running back and enough talent to make them favorite in the Coastal. Returing talent shouldn't be the issue but with the NCAA ruling reining over them again this season the distarction still has the ability to derail what should be a successful team for Al Golden and co.
Worst Team: Pittsburgh|6-7, 5, 9, 21%, 76%| This is a team that lost to Youngstown State in 2012 and almost beat Notre Dame as well. The season turned out middling at best and that is probably the best thing that could be said. Most of the offense is gone from last year and a couple of dismal recruiting seasons leave little to get excited about in the Steel City. The defense has a chance to be fringe average to above average which will ultimately just make this season worse because of low scoring affairs with little excitement.
Intriguing Team: Virginia Tech|7-6, 4, 9, 66%, 76.5%| 2012 was a disappointing year for the Hokies, with a defense that wasn't up to par and an offense led by Logan Thomas. The Hokies underperformed the expectation of a Frank Beamer team and there in lies the problem, we expect Beamer's teams to win the Coastal even if it isn't the best team in the division. Logan Thomas will be the key here, Thomas was sub-par in decision making but he still has the ability to make a major difference on every game.
Conference Standings:
Atlantic: Clemson, Florida State, Syracuse, Maryland, NC State, Boston College, Wake Forest
Coastal: Miami (FL), Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh
Championship Game: Miami (FL) Winner: Clemson
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