Atlantic Coast Atlantic
The ACC was one of the most competitive conferences in the country last season. It seemed like no one wanted to step forward and win the thing. All 12 teams were almost evenly balanced. Every team lost at least three of their eight conference games, meaning that both the Atlantic and Coastal division races weren’t decided until a complicated series of tiebreakers was applied after the last week of the season. Once everything was figured out, Virginia Tech and Boston College met in a sparsely attended conference championship game. The Hokies won to move on to the Orange Bowl, where they finally got the conference a BCS bowl win over Cincinnati.
People should expect more of the same in 2009. The ACC hopes that Florida State and Miami will battle for the conference championship, as things haven’t quite gone as planned since the Hurricanes joined the conference two years ago. Both teams look to be on the rise in 2009, and their rivalry once again could help decide the national title as well as the ACC title. It is easy to see that the 2009 ACC race will be just as thrilling as it was in 2008.
Boston College has been very consistent for years. You can always count on them for two things. They will beat Notre Dame and they will likely win their bowl game. One of those traditions continued in 2008. Boston College beat the Fighting Irish for a sixth straight time with a 17-0 shutout in Chestnut Hill. Unfortunately, they saw a lengthy bowl winning streak come to an end in the Music City Bowl against Vanderbilt. A late field goal by the Commodores gave Vanderbilt its first bowl win in 53 years and snapped an eight game winning streak in bowl games for Boston College. That means there are no bowl winning shirts available in the Boston College Eagle store.
Clemson has long been one of those programs that seems like it should be better than it actually is. Last year they had a mediocre 7-6 record, but they did have some highlights. They did defeat Atlantic Division champ Boston College and in state rival South Carolina, but they needed two wins over 1-AA programs in order to qualify for a bowl game. That cowl game ended in disappointment as well. Nebraska pulled off a 26-21 win over the Tigers to ensure there would not be any Gator Bowl championship merchandise available in the Clemson Tiger store.
Florida State saw their 2008 season have many ups and downs. The Seminoles won a road game over archrival Miami, finished with nine wins, and won the Champs Sports Bowl over Wisconsin. Unfortunately, they faced yet another academic scandal that forced them to forfeit some wins from a few seasons ago. As a result, long time head coach Bobby Bowden is no longer within striking distance of Penn State’s Joe Paterno as the all-time winningest coach in Division 1 history. Still, there is enough talent returning to Tallahassee to stock the Florida State Seminole store for years to come.
North Carolina State had a pretty good year in 2008. Many experts expected the Wolfpack to be one of the worst teams in the ACC. Instead, they shocked the conference by contending for the Atlantic Division crown. A late season victory over Miami gave them six wins and a berth in the Papajohns.com bowl, but a late comeback by the Scarlet knights insured that there would not be bowl championship T-shirts available in the North Carolina State Wolfpack store.
When you think of teams that grossly overachieve, Wake Forest has to be at the top of the list. As one of the smallest Division 1-A football school, the Demon Deacons have played surprisingly well of late. They shocked most everyone except themselves by winning the ACC in 2007. 2008 did not live up to that lofty standard, but it was still a good year. Wake Forest won eight games and was in contention for a return to the ACC title game all year long. They got a very big win at Florida State, which is a tough place for anyone to play. They also managed to stock the Wake Forest Demon Deacon store with EagleBank Bowl championship shirts after winning that bowl game over Na
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