From 2006 until 2013 the SEC champion would go on to win the National Championship. Florida, LSU, Alabama and Auburn all claimed National Titles during that time frame. The ACC, on the other hand, would go on to lose five out of seven Orange Bowls against teams such as Iowa, West Virginia, Louisville, Stanford and Kansas….yes that Kansas who has won one game in two years. Since 2013 the ACC has slowly built themselves into the best conference in America. It starts up top with Florida State and Clemson; two teams that can go toe to toe with any top teams in College Football (Clemson was one onside kick away from winning a national title last season). Louisville has the most exciting player in the nation in Lamar Jackson who has an outstanding shot at winning the Heisman trophy at the end of the season. Up and coming teams such as Virginia Tech, North Carolina Miami, and Pittsburg make up the middle of the conference. Georgia Tech, whom this author predicted would win the coastal is one game above .500 with two road games against North Carolina and Virginia Tech coming up….ouch. Wake Forest, Virginia, Duke, Syracuse, NC State and Boston College make up the rest of the ACC that is either playing .500 football or a game above or below.
So why is the ACC the best football conference?
Depth: The ACC used to be Florida State and everyone else, but in 2013 it began to change. Clemson began to emerge as a national power beating LSU and Ohio State in back to back bowls, the ACC added Louisville in 2014 and in two years Bobby Petrino has the Cardinals in the top five. Florida State is still a contender every year for the ACC title and in the National Title conversation but other teams such as Clemson and Louisville have joined Florida State as ACC super-powers. Clemson is a sure fire college football playoff contender. Clemson is going to make the playoff regardless of this weekend’s game against Florida State as long as they win the ACC (with games against Syracuse, Pittsburg and South Carolina at home they have a really good shot). Seven teams are currently undefeated in the top ten with tough games remaining: Alabama still has to play Auburn and more than likely Florida in SEC title game, Michigan still has Ohio State (a very motivated Ohio State team that can ruin their rival’s playoff shot and make a case for their own spot), Washington has Utah this weekend and either Utah again in Pac-12 title game or Colorado who is playing really well offensively and can score with anyone in the country. Nebraska plays at Wisconsin than at Ohio State in the next two weeks. Baylor and West Virginia play each other in late November, and the question is if Baylor wins out will the playoff committee vote them into the playoff? I doubt it. To summarize the season is still fairly young so a loss to Florida State is not the end of the world for Clemson. Louisville is in the conversation for the playoff but with a loss within their own division, a few teams have to lose in order for Louisville to be considered. Florida State is out of the running for the playoff hunt and ACC title due to the two losses, however, next season with Deondre Francois coming back Florida State will again be in the thick of the ACC and playoff hunt.
The SEC is typically in the conversation to have multiple teams make the playoffs, but the SEC has turned into Alabama and everyone else. Alabama is the king of college football and will be until Nick Saban retires. What other teams from the SEC can claim to be in the playoff hunt recently? Georgia? three loss team in back to back seasons and this year is 4-3, Ole Miss? they are another three to four loss team, Florida? maybe in a few years, Tennessee? not with two losses. Currently, the SEC has only one true contender for the playoff and that is Alabama. The ACC boasts two teams. The Big Ten has two playoff caliber teams in Ohio State and Michigan, but not much else. Yes, Nebraska is undefeated but has Wisconsin and Ohio State coming up in back to back games. Could the third best team in the Big-10 (Nebraska) beat the third best team in the ACC Florida State? The ACC also boasts North Carolina and Virginia Tech; young teams that both challenging for the coastal divisional championship. Miami, Syracuse, and Virginia all had new coaching hires over the off-season and given the historical success of each coach you would expect these teams to improve next year.
Star Power: The SEC may have more collective draft picks than the rest of the conferences combined, but the ACC is catching up. Last season the ACC had twenty-six players drafted. For the past three seasons, the ACC has had 115. The ACC boasts three of the best quarterbacks in the country in Deshawn Kizer of Clemson, Brad Kaaya of Miami (both projected first round quarterbacks in next year’s NFL draft) and Lamar Jackson of Louisville. Mitch Trubisky of North Carolina is a sleeper that may be selected in the first two rounds. The future of the position looks bright with Deondre Francois of Florida State being only a freshman. Dalvin Cook is a projected first round pick in next year’s draft followed by Clemson’s Wayne Gallman and Pittsburg’s James Conner who will end up in the second or third round (not bad considering the level of talent that will be featured in next year’s draft at the running back position). Wide Receiver Mike Williams of Clemson and Isaiah Ford of Virginia Tech could end up being first rounders. Defensively Derwin James and DeMarcus Walker of Florida State are first round talents along with Devonte Fields of Louisville. CBS sports line projected six ACC players to be drafted in the first round of next year’s draft; looking at the 2018 draft class the ACC could potentially have another six players drafted in the first round. No other conference in America and can boast two sure fire first round picks at the quarterback position in next years draft and have another top pick at quarterback two years down the road.
Potential: For the past several season’s Dabo Swinney has had to replace multiple stars for Clemson both offensively and defensively and each year Clemson wins at least ten to eleven games a year; Florida State is in the same boat and Jimbo Fisher has been able to win at least ten games a year. Bobby Petrino has Louisville in the top five with a sophomore quarterback and will certainly be pre-season top five next season. Virginia Tech is making strides under first-year head coach Justin Fuente and could challenge for the Coastal Division title; Miami’s Mark Richt is improving the Hurricanes, Pittsburg under Pat Narduzzi has lost three games by eleven points. Virginia’s Bronco Mendenhall has more of an uphill battle but won ninety-nine games at BYU. Once Fuente, Richt, Narduzzi and Mendenhall begin to recruit their own players to fit their respective schemes the ACC will have a collection of teams that can rival any conference in America. Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville are all playoff contenders; once Miami and Virginia Tech gain ground then they will be ACC contenders possibly playoff contenders.
The ACC has caught up to and surpassed the SEC as the best college football conference in America. The ACC boasts three teams that are annual playoff contenders in Clemson, Florida State and Louisville, two teams that have shown tremendous progress under first-year coaches and will challenge for ACC supremacy soon: Virginia Tech and Miami. Along with those five teams, the ACC will have two more teams that will be serious ACC threats down the road: Pittsburg and Virginia.
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