No, really. Think about it. The ACC’s Coastal Division has four teams ranked among the Top 25 in both the coaches’ and Associated Press polls — Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Miami and North Carolina. My colleague, Mark Schlabach, Tweeted this week that the Coastal Division might be the toughest division in college football this year. What other division out there is deeper? Possibly the SEC West, where Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Arkansas are all ranked. You have to go outside the Top 20 in the Associated Press poll, though, to find Auburn and LSU. Same can be said for Auburn in the USA Today poll. (Hey C-low, trade you a defending national champ for two top 20 teams?) As for the rest of the BCS conferences with divisions, you’ve got the Big Nebraska North. Texas and Oklahoma rule the Big 12 South. You’ve got Florida and Georgia in the SEC East. Of course, debating with myself got old quickly, so I emailed SEC blogger Chris Low and Big 12 blogger David Ubben to see what they thought, and here were their responses: UBBEN It’s close, especially at the top, but I’d take OU and Texas over every team in that division. The middle is muddled, but we’ll see where they are at year’s end. Texas A&M and Texas Tech could both be in the Top 25. Oklahoma State should be close behind. Five teams in the division got votes in the preseason poll. At the bottom, I’d take the Big 12 South by far. Every team in the Big 12 South has the capacity to win 7-8 games, but I’m not sure you can say that about Virginia or Duke. LOW The SEC West has four teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 and a fifth, Ole Miss, that will have a chance, especially with the addition of Jeremiah Masoli. The top dog is of course Alabama, the defending national champion. Arkansas will have one of the most potent passing games in the country, while Auburn is one of those teams talented enough to win nine or 10 games. Mississippi State just missed playing for a bowl game last season and will be even better this season. You never count out LSU’s talent, either. Bottom line: You may well see all six Western Division teams in bowl games at the end of the year. That’s what you call a power division. Tony Barnhart says the ACC and SEC are the deepest conferences out there . Agreed, and for the ACC, it’s all thanks to the Coastal Division. We’ll find out if it’s stronger than the SEC West when North Carolina takes on LSU in the season opener. After Virginia Tech’s loss to Bama last year, it’s SEC West 1, ACC Coastal 0
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ACC Coastal strongest division in the country?
Filed under Football by on Aug 25th, 2010. Comment. 
Carolina, Maryland , Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse , West Virginia Coastal: Duke, North Carolina , NC State, South Florida , UCF, Virginia , Virginia Tech, Wake Forest Big East It disbands as a major football conference and concentrates on basketball. … Source: Scout.com
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2015 Realignment … If Everything Changes
Filed under Basketball, Football, News by on Jun 4th, 2010. Comment.
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
Filed under Football by on May 24th, 2010. Comment.
North Carolina senior tight end Zack Pianalto knows where coach Butch Davis is coming from — literally. They share family roots in Springdale, Ark., where Davis’ parents still live. In fact, Pianalto said his parents live within a 10-minute jog to the Davis house, and that connection was one of the factors that swayed Pianalto in his decision to decommit from Texas during his recruiting process. Of course, Davis’ history of producing some of the nation’s top tight ends at Miami didn’t hurt either. This year, Pianalto has the chance to join that group. When he’s healthy — and he should finally be 100 percent this season for the first time since his freshman year — Pianalto can add more than just blocking to the Tar Heels’ scheme
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UNC’s Pianalto could give offense big boost
Filed under Football by on May 18th, 2010. Comment.
