The Fall of the ACC

[theBIGyowski]

With the talk of teams that never live up to the hype it got me thinking about conferences.

All of the BCS conferences other than the Big East and ACC have had success when it mattered in the past 8 seasons. Take Miami out (because they were Big East) and the ACC has not been in the BCS Championship Game since the 2000 season. This was a conference that was going to be the first Super Conference when they added Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College. Yet, since those teams came into the ACC, the conference has been nothing but second tier at best.

Every year we hear about Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State, etc. being in a position to win a BCS Championship, only to fall short. I just think it's funny when I go back and remember how huge it was when those last three teams joined the ACC, and how it was going to dominate college football.

 

[luvthat_TIDE]

I know that if and butts were candy and nuts........ But if Va Tech doesn't lose to Boise in week 1, they would have played Oregon or the Barn in the Championship game (and lost). I know they lost week 2 also (fluke), would not have if they were to beat Boise.

 

[BamaFossil]

I think it's cyclical. I expect the Florida schools - FSU & Miami - to reappear on the national scene. Clemson... Not so much.

 

[BAMA1979]

I think it's cyclical. I expect the Florida schools - FSU & Miami - to reappear on the national scene. Clemson... Not so much.

I expect FSU to reappear. I'm not so sure about Miami coming back anytime soon, but getting rid of Randy Shannon and that staff is a start.

 

[pluckngrit]

I know that if and butts were candy and nuts........ But if Va Tech doesn't lose to Boise in week 1, they would have played Oregon or the Barn in the Championship game (and lost). I know they lost week 2 also (fluke), would not have if they were to beat Boise.

i think you covered yourself well with that opening line. but reality says they lost to JAMES MADISON!!!!!!!!

 

[12ROLL12TIDE12]

i think you covered yourself well with that opening line. but reality says they lost to JAMES MADISON!!!!!!!!

Absolutely no way VT loses to James Madison if they would have beaten Boise. If I remember correctly, VT threw a pass on like 3rd and 12 with 1:25 left instead of running some time off the clock and making Boise drive the length of the field in under 45 seconds. Stupid call when VT basically had the game won. That team was absolutely crushed by that loss and laid an egg the next week.

 

[rolltide2213]

i think FSU will come back too. they'll be good this year.

 

[tidefanbeezer]

Your thread title is a bit misleading. Wouldn't the ACC have to rise at some point in order to then fall?

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

i think FSU will come back too. they'll be good this year.

Florida State is on the rise. Jimbo has them headed the right way.

 

[freefall]

if Va Tech doesn't lose to Boise in week 1, they would have played Oregon or the Barn in the Championship game (and lost).

In all fairness, it's hard to gauge how much motivation those two losses provided as the season wore on. I'd like to agree with you (beat BSU and we play for the MNCG) but history says that we always seem to give away a game or two that we shouldn't. If we had started out 8-0, then IMO it's very likely that we would have dropped one of the final four games: GT, @UNC, @Miami, UVA.

Unfortunately, I agree with those who say that F$U is looking good. It's too soon to tell with Miami, and I'm sick of hearing every year about how "da U is back!" -- they need to prove it on the field for an entire season first. Clemson is Clemson, no matter how well they recruit they will find a way to screw it up somehow. It will definitely be interesting to see if we can keep ahead of the gang in Tallahassee over the next few years, because that task is going to get harder every year.

Can't argue with the original poster, though; the ACC is mediocre, and sadly it's not just in football. _blank:

 

[803scdantes]

I think even most ACC fans will admit the ACC is mediocre at best. This should be even more apparent to sports writers. I remember over the summer, the chief sports editor for The State in Columbia tried to make the case that South Carolina should leave the SEC for the ACC. Morris: Shake-up should put USC back in the ACC | GoGamecocks Makes you wonder what kind of drugs this guy must be on to think a SEC team would voluntarily leave to join the ACC.