The Rodney Dangerfield of the ACC
OK, the Wake Forest secondary will have some big holes to fill, two wideouts are gone and Jon Abbate's early departure to the NFL will hurt, but can the 2006 ACC football champions get a little national love?
Of the three preseason Top 25s I've seen (College Football News, SI.com's Stewart Mandel and espn.com's Mark Schlabach) only Schlabach has the Deacons ranked.
Mandel has the Deacs "On the cusp" of his Top 25, but CFN's staff drops Wake all the way to No. 51, saying, "Fine, this is way too low for the defending ACC champions, but the rest of the league is far better this year." Oh, really? Based on what evidence? Does anyone know that new staffs at BC, Miami, UNC and N.C. State will have an immediate, positive impact? Will Chan Gailey stay at Georgia Tech or go back to the NFL? Can Al Groh get Virginia turned back around or will the huge extension he got a couple of years ago come back to haunt the program? Will the offensive staff purge turn FSU back into a national power? Will Clemson and the IPTAY crowd ever be truly happy with Tommy Bowden? The only team besides Wake with any kind of stability is Virginia Tech, which did get its due in the early 2007 picks (No. 13 CFN, No. 10 Mandel/SI.com, No. 7 Schlabach/espn.com). But unless the Hokies suddenly find a quarterback their fans won't find lacking when they inevitably compare him to Michael Vick, Tech's got some questions to answer, too.
I guess the Deacons will go into next season still feeling like they have to prove something, not only to the nation but to the ACC. Oh, well. I'm sure coach Jim Grobe wouldn't have it any other way.
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