Let’s get this out of the way before expansion comes through and blows the current college football landscape off the map like a tumbleweed. Or not. Either way, as of right now, without any speculation included, the ACC heads into the 2010 season as the third-best conference of the Big Six. That’s right, you heard me. Ahead of the Big 12. Why? Virginia Tech beat Nebraska twice in the past two years, and Miami knocked off Oklahoma last season. (We’ll go ahead and give Duke a pass, and Baylor just barely nipped Wake, barely.) Overall, though, the ACC heads into 2010 as one of the deepest conferences, with five teams that should be ranked in the preseason polls and another potential one in Clemson. It’s legitimate parity in the Coastal Division, where Miami, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech all finished among the top 15 in last year’s BCS standings. The Big 12 had Texas. And now it doesn’t have Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy or Ndamukong Suh. The Big Ten gets a boost for how it finished the 2009 season – with two BCS bowl wins, including the Rose Bowl. It also had two bowl wins against two of the ACC’s top teams, Georgia Tech and Miami. The SEC also won two BCS bowls, including Alabama’s national title. The ACC, though, remains 2-10 in its BCS bowls after Georgia Tech’s loss to Iowa. The ACC deserves credit for its depth, and the preseason rankings are proof of that. The Big 12 is banking on Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. And even that is a step up from 2009. 1. SEC 2. Big Ten 3. ACC 4. Big 12 5. Pac-10 6. Big East

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ACC making a move in conference rankings