Bowl predictions
So, how about ACC bowl predictions? After a bizarre Saturday on which North Carolina stunned Miami and Maryland beat Florida State for the first time in about 15 tries, the league is out of the national championship running and has one fewer BCS contender. But, the good news is 10 of 11 schools remain in contention for a bowl game with 4 wins or more.
Who goes where? Back-from-the-dead Tar Heels to Boise, maybe? Stumbling State recovers and lands in Charlotte? The Hokies climb all the way into the Gator? Virginia to the Tangerine, er, Champs Sports Bowl? Where do you think your school's going during bowl season, and how confident are you in that prediction? Let us know.
Comments (1)
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Here's my not-so-quick take: It's a basketball league, if it's one or the other, and I'll side with Ed Hardin on that one. Florida State's a strong program, one of the nation's best, but its heyday is almost behind it (its 1990s success is, at the least). Miami still has a great team, even though it must've been sleepwalking through Kenan.
As for the rest of this league driven to expansion by football and the almighty dollar: Show me. Virginia appears to be a program on the rise, but it's not there yet. Anyone else, certainly including N.C. State (now 20-18 under Amato in ACC play and also trailing Carolina by one game in the "great victory" column in this Amato-Bunting era), needs to put up or shut up.
In short, does it really matter where they're going? You're right, only one in a BCS game. Does it matter who plays Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl? Is going to Charlotte really a "bowl" trip? Surely they jest. Same thing for Boise, for crying out loud. Almost all of those are simply 12th regular-season games, extra practice sessions and a chance to impress recruits who otherwise can't see through college football's "postseason" structure. There's no reward anymore; merely, you're a total failure if you DON'T get to a bowl game.
Besides, these games take place during our basketball season. Wake me at tipoff on Nov. 15!
Posted on November 2, 2004 10:07 AM