ACC Bowl Discussion

[WreckinGT]

A down year by what metric? The ACC had 13 postseason teams this season - 2 in the CFP and 11 in other bowls. How is that indicative of a down year? What would an up year look like by contrast.

The ACC is 1-16 against teams currently in the CFP top 25. The one win was against #24 UNLV. We are 1-9 in bowl games. We are the only major conference without a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Thats a pretty down year. If we want respect we have to eventually beat good teams OOC. Nobody cares if we beat Northwestern and Minnesota even if it gets teams to bowl games. We have some big games next year: GT vs UGA, Clemson vs LSU, FSU vs Bama, Cuse vs Tenn, VT vs South Carolina, several teams vs ND. We will have plenty of opportunities. If we lose all of those games then we can't really complain about the perception of our conference.

 

[stinger78]

The ACC is 1-16 against teams currently in the CFP top 25. The one win was against #24 UNLV. We are 1-9 in bowl games. We are the only major conference without a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Thats a pretty down year. If we want respect we have to eventually beat good teams OOC. Nobody cares if we beat Northwestern and Minnesota even if it gets teams to bowl games. We have some big games next year: GT vs UGA, Clemson vs LSU, FSU vs Bama, Cuse vs Tenn, VT vs South Carolina, several teams vs ND. We will have plenty of opportunities. If we lose all of those games then we can't really complain about the perception of our conference.

So here’s the P5 teams who ACC teams have beaten OOC since 2021:
Lville: UCF (2x), Indiana
Clem: ND, USCe (2x), UK, IA State
NCSU: TX Tech
UNC: USCe, MN
F$U: LSU(2x), UF (2x), OU
Pitt: WVU, UCLA, UT
Dook: NW (3x), KU, UCF
WFU: Vandy (2x), Mizzou, Rutgers
That’s 28 W’s against P5 comps since 2021, just for starters.

 

[takethepoints]

Ok, the conference isn't showing as well as we might have expected. Oth, bowl games are by definition against decent teams. Further, several of the games have been quite close. A bounce here or there and the ACC could be 50/50. As for the playoffs, there really wasn't a world-beater of a team in the ACC this year. Though ND may show up.

Well, we'll see next year. No reason to be discouraged by bowl results, imho.

 

[Techcaster572]

Ok, the conference isn't showing as well as we might have expected. Oth, bowl games are by definition against decent teams. Further, several of the games have been quite close. A bounce here or there and the ACC could be 50/50. As for the playoffs, there really wasn't a world-beater of a team in the ACC this year. Though ND may show up.

Well, we'll see next year. No reason to be discouraged by bowl results, imho.

Exactly how I feel.

Only bowl game i truly cared about was the Birmingham bowl. Didn't turn out the way I wanted but I'm happy with the progress of the team.
Yes the acc stunk it up but means little to me. If tech wins the acc next year, they make the playoffs.

I'm good with that.

 

[WreckinGT]

So here’s the P5 teams who ACC teams have beaten OOC since 2021:
Lville: UCF (2x), Indiana
Clem: ND, USCe (2x), UK, IA State
NCSU: TX Tech
UNC: USCe, MN
F$U: LSU(2x), UF (2x), OU
Pitt: WVU, UCLA, UT
Dook: NW (3x), KU, UCF
WFU: Vandy (2x), Mizzou, Rutgers
That’s 28 W’s against P5 comps since 2021, just for starters.

Nobody cares if Wake beats Vandy or Duke beats Kansas. People do care if FSU beats LSU or if Clemson beats ND when they are good. People would have cared if we finished the job against UGA. We got decent coverage just for getting close. ACC teams need to beat good teams OOC, not just mediocre P5 teams.

 

[Randy Carson]

RANDOM PRE-DAWN THOUGHTS
Tech's focus for the next few years needs to be on:

1. Recruiting and Retaining high caliber players and coaches
2. Playing at a high level consistently with fewer game-changing mistakes
3. Winning by 2-3 scores against mid-lower tier opponents
4. Getting to the Conference Championship Game regularly
5. Positioning ourselves to be an attractive addition to the B1G (involving the entire organization - from the office of the President down to the weight room)

 

[Root4GT]

Ok, the conference isn't showing as well as we might have expected. Oth, bowl games are by definition against decent teams. Further, several of the games have been quite close. A bounce here or there and the ACC could be 50/50. As for the playoffs, there really wasn't a world-beater of a team in the ACC this year. Though ND may show up.

Well, we'll see next year. No reason to be discouraged by bowl results, imho.

Of course there is reason to be down on the ACC going 1-9 in Bowl Games. Hard to be worse than that. That will have a carry over impact going into the 2025 season and rightfully so!

 

[Southern psu fan]

If a bowl game goes down in the record books with a win or a loss it definitely matters. All teams are playing by the same rules so all the games matter. It’s a win or a loss and it does matter because there’s consequences to losing and it ain’t good.

 

[stinger78]

Nobody cares if Wake beats Vandy or Duke beats Kansas. People do care if FSU beats LSU or if Clemson beats ND when they are good. People would have cared if we finished the job against UGA. We got decent coverage just for getting close. ACC teams need to beat good teams OOC, not just mediocre P5 teams.

Why does nobody care? See, there is the crappy logic. The “conclusion” of all the inter-conference play is the “ACC” stinks and the “SEC” is far superior. Yet, the ACC wins plenty of games. Yet again, they somehow don’t count. Only the games with their best seem to count. Here’s the failure in logic: Nobody beats their best teams, not even other SEC teams.
Q: How many SEC games did Bama or UGA lose during their runs?
A: Almost none.

If the ACC is crappy for failing to beat those teams, then so is the rest of the SEC! It’s not a conference v. conference measure, it’s a top of conference measure. So stop with the “SEC is better,” crap.

Some folks say, “The ACC is a crap conference because we can’t beat their top teams.” That’s a false measure. As a conference, the ACC wins a lot of games against P4/5 teams.

As a conference we stand up pretty well. We just don’t often produce one of the top 3/4 teams in the country. However, we have had 2 teams win 3 NCs in the past decade, so we do it sometimes. That’s the real issue.

Please be accurate in your statements. Your false statements are helping the SECheat narrative and hurting GA Tech!

 

[forensicbuzz]

Of course there is reason to be down on the ACC going 1-9 in Bowl Games. Hard to be worse than that. That will have a carry over impact going into the 2025 season and rightfully so!

Why rightfully so when 30-40% (and sometimes 50%) of the teams' rosters will be different in 2025?

 

[stinger78]

Nobody cares if Wake beats Vandy or Duke beats Kansas. People do care if FSU beats LSU or if Clemson beats ND when they are good. People would have cared if we finished the job against UGA. We got decent coverage just for getting close. ACC teams need to beat good teams OOC, not just mediocre P5 teams.

And furthermore, it just shows how vapid the arguments are when a mid-tier ACC GT bludgeons UGA up and down the field, but a couple of horrendous non-calls allow UGA to tie and eventually win. To go from caring to not caring with no regard for the play of the two teams reveals the vacuous logic of your “argument.”

 

[CEB]

Why rightfully so when 30-40% (and sometimes 50%) of the teams' rosters will be different in 2025?

Because preseason polls are important and they’re heavily influenced by bowl results!

 

[JacketOff]

So here’s the P5 teams who ACC teams have beaten OOC since 2021:
Lville: UCF (2x), Indiana
Clem: ND, USCe (2x), UK, IA State
NCSU: TX Tech
UNC: USCe, MN
F$U: LSU(2x), UF (2x), OU
Pitt: WVU, UCLA, UT
Dook: NW (3x), KU, UCF
WFU: Vandy (2x), Mizzou, Rutgers
That’s 28 W’s against P5 comps since 2021, just for starters.

None of those wins are impressive except FSU’s. The ACC hasn’t had a winning record vs. the rest of the P5 since 2016. Every other conference has done it at least twice since then. Even the PAC 2 went 3-3 this year.

I don’t think the ACC is a weak conference throughout, it’s very competitive top to bottom every year. But the conference struggles mightily OOC. Lots of 1-score losses throughout the last several years, and an ACC team never seems to win a big game. The bottom of the conference is very weak, and the top isn’t elite as consistently as the top of the SEC and B1G. The ACC didn’t take advantage of the Clemson/FSU peak years, but also didn’t get the benefit of any media love either.

There is good football played in the ACC, but there’s also a lot of bad, more bad than what the other P5’s see in a given year IMO. The worst teams in the ACC are among the worst in all of FBS (see FSU and GT during the Collins years), that’s not always the case for the other P5’s

 

[Southern psu fan]

I believe most coaches get extra bonus money for bowl(playoff wins) so that says enough imo.

Because preseason polls are important and they’re heavily influenced by bowl results!

View attachment 17551

exactly! Losing has bad consequences

 

[iceeater1969]

Overall ACC
Got to get better coaches to win close games and win close recruiting battles.

By simple definition in 2025 the ACC will be a battle of teams that only won 10 % of games played against other conferences. If all conetences we approx equal, we should win 50%. We underperformed by factor of 5.

To attract quality athletes and coaches we will need to pay more and create a good environment.

Gt is in good position to have a good season playing agaist weaker out of conference teams and should win 75% of in conference teams. 8-4. Add a bowl win and we are on track.

 

[4shotB]

RANDOM PRE-DAWN THOUGHTS
Tech's focus for the next few years needs to be on:

1. Recruiting and Retaining high caliber players and coaches
2. Playing at a high level consistently with fewer game-changing mistakes
3. Winning by 2-3 scores against mid-lower tier opponents
4. Getting to the Conference Championship Game regularly
5. Positioning ourselves to be an attractive addition to the B1G (involving the entire organization - from the office of the President down to the weight room)

I would add a 1 to all your numbers and put my #1 as fundraising, then numbers 2 - 6 become easier/better. think ice mentioned the same in the post above

name the teams that are in the playoffs and/or contend every year for the NC. They have $$$.

 

[stinger78]

In the 2023 bowl season:
ACC - 5-6 (11)
SEC - 5-4 (9)
B12 - 5-4 (9)
B1G - 6-4 (10)
P12 - 5-3 (8)
Same number of wins as the rest, except B1G, but we went 11 deep, sending 2-3 more low-level teams out there.

This was just last season, and includes our best team coming unglued.

This bowl season, the ACC has lost a handful of *very* close games. That does not mean we’re crappy. It means we were very competitive, but fell just short.

It’s not a weak conference, and there is certainly room to improve. Our top “football” brands have got to step up. Clemson did so and is now on the backside of that. F$U fell off the table. VPI has been in a funk. I don’t even know what to say about Miami. GA Tech is digging out from under the worst possible hire.
With respect to football, the ACC leans heavily in those 5 programs. The rest, TBH, are basketball schools, though Lville, NCSU, UNC, Dook, and Pitt can all play pretty good football, too.

 

[CEB]

There is good football played in the ACC, but there’s also a lot of bad, more bad than what the other P5’s see in a given year IMO. The worst teams in the ACC are among the worst in all of FBS (see FSU and GT during the Collins years), that’s not always the case for the other P5’s

I see the “IMO,” but this is not supported by facts.
2024 worst P5 teams: Purdue leads the way with FSU, Miss St, Okie St and Stanford all triple digits. The 80s and 90s are littered with teams from all conferences….i don’t see an over or under representation there.

I haven’t seen a good place that has complete rankings from previous years but I’m sure it’s out there. I wouldn’t expect the distribution to look much different in previous years but this is a proverbial tallest midget exercise.

I will agree that Collins was uniquely gifted in the area of cranking out awful P5 football teams.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Why does nobody care? See, there is the crappy logic. The “conclusion” of all the inter-conference play is the “ACC” stinks and the “SEC” is far superior. Yet, the ACC wins plenty of games. Yet again, they somehow don’t count. Only the games with their best seem to count. Here’s the failure in logic: Nobody beats their best teams, not even other SEC teams.
Q: How many SEC games did Bama or UGA lose during their runs?
A: Almost none.

If the ACC is crappy for failing to beat those teams, then so is the rest of the SEC! It’s not a conference v. conference measure, it’s a top of conference measure. So stop with the “SEC is better,” crap.

Some folks say, “The ACC is a crap conference because we can’t beat their top teams.” That’s a false measure. As a conference, the ACC wins a lot of games against P4/5 teams.

As a conference we stand up pretty well. We just don’t often produce one of the top 3/4 teams in the country. However, we have had 2 teams win 3 NCs in the past decade, so we do it sometimes. That’s the real issue.

Please be accurate in your statements. Your false statements are helping the SECheat narrative and hurting GA Tech!

I see your point.

I looked up Paul Johnson’s record against the SEC and it was 5-2 if you leave out uga. Why leave out uga? Because, as you point out, most SEC team’s didn’t have a winning record against uga either. In fact, Johnson had a better record against uga than many SEC teams.

But SEC was responsible for starting that “high school offense” crap that even some Tech fans later picked up on. It really is all about the spin and no one comes close to spinning like the SEC.

 

[4shotB]

It really is all about the spin and no one comes close to spinning like the SEC.

For the sake of conversation, if it's just about spin as you say, wouldn't it be possible to work and spend entirely on retaining the best PR and advertsing to create the perception that the ACC is , in fact, the superior football conference? I ask this bc I confess to having no understanding of marketing, But i find the question intriguing enough to ask.