ACC Standings

[orientalnc]

I did say "If."

NC is OK in football, but isn't close to having the talent you see in Ga. That said, there have been SEC recruiting staff at our tiny high school to see one of our players. I checked, he ain't coming to GT as long as he has to attend classes.

 

[Root4GT]

However, I have to say that I have heard the same thing for 20-30 years. It is almost like Miami, but not quite as bad. ---- They are the sleeping giant..... They only need one more piece...... They only need the right HC..... They are back to the top of the college football world..oh wait, ---- then repeat the entire mantra.

Mack’s first go at UNC they were the2nd best ACC Team Behring great FSU teams

 

[orientalnc]

The bottom line is UNC’s focus is, and always will be, basketball. That is what holds them back in all other sports. They could be great in baseball, too, if they really wanted to be. The AFAM studies “curriculum” was a basketball creation after all was said and done.

AFAM was used by the basketball staff, but it was not created for basketball.

 

[stinger78]

AFAM was used by the basketball staff, but it was not created for basketball.

OK, well, we’ll just agree to disagree on that one.

 

[stinger78]

nm

 

[Bogey]

Here is how I would rank the teams this season.
FSU
L'ville
NC ST
VT
Clemson
GT
Duke
UNC
Miami
BC
Pitt
Syracuse
UVA
Wake

While GT tied for 4th with VT, GT's PPG differential looks more like a 4-4 type team (which makes sense given the gift Miami win). So I would give VT the edge there.
Clemson beat GT really solidly so I also spot them ahead.
The job Elko has done at Duke is really impressive and was even more impressive in this 7-5 year than last year's 9-4 team imo. They played almost 1/2 a season without their best offensive player - Leonard, had a more difficult schedule this season and beat NC ST 24-3 and lost to UNC 47-45 in double OT at Chapel Hill without Leonard.
UNC seemed to do the typical UNC stuff. Started hot and then cooled off considerably.
Miami is not back yet.
Doreen is a very good coach who did a very good job of managing that NC ST squad this season.
BC had a solid season overall.

I tend to believe most teams over 12 games end up pretty close to what they really are in terms of record. 6-6 for GT feels about right. There is really only one 'could've should've win' type game this season - that was L'ville. That was a 1 possession game in the 4th quarter and GT had the ball. On the flip side Miami was most definitely a 'could've should've loss' game. I don't consider BC or BG to be 'could've should've' games. GT was not in position to win either of those games. Both of those teams really exploited the biggest flaw on GT's team this year.
Most teams can argue about maybe one more win or loss, but overall most teams end up with a record that is pretty indicative of what the team is.

FWIW, the biggest outlier this year would be Iowa. They went 10-2 and avg less than 250 yds per game of offense. The previous most wins for a team that avg less than 250 yds of offense per game was 4.

Makes sense but I would put Clemson over VT in the top 4.
My other tier grouping would be mid pack:
VT, GT, Duke, UNC, Miami
Bottom tier would be: UVA, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, and Wake.

 

[RamblinRed]

I will say one thing about this year's GT team.
If you look at its stats (both overall and ACC) they just scream 6-6.
The numbers are just so close for both GT and its opponents in so many categories.

Looking at overall stats (GT - OPP).
PPG 31.2 - 30.5
YPG 429.1 - 438.2
First Downs 269 - 268
3rd down conversion 44% - 43%
TO 20 - 23
4th down conversion 11/22 - 13/23
FG 14-19 - 14-20
TD's 48 - 47

ACC Only
PPG 31.6 - 29.5
YPG 414.6 - 442.8
RYPG 207 - 222
PYPG 207.6 - 220.8
Off Eff 131.6 (6th)
Def Eff 132.5 (7th)
First Downs 20.8 - 23.1
3rd down conversions 43.8% - 38.3%
4th down conversions 5-10 - 11-18 (8th and 9th respectively)
Penalties 50-441 - 50-461 (8th and 6th respectively)

 

[orientalnc]

The Athletic has us as the top 6-6 team in D1.

The Athletic 133: Conference championship games to settle 2023's final debates

We could have the simplest and most impressive CFP field ever, we could have complete chaos, or we could have something in between.

theathletic.com

 

[yellajacket20]

Iowa is this year's GT in reverse and on steroids. Since Iowa is not known as a destination type school for blue chip athletes, is there anyone here who follows the Big 10 or Iowa specifically that can speak to their D success. this is not a one off year for them as I remember them taking a CPJ team behind the woodshed a few years back in a bowl game. Is it all scheme? Recruiting to a system? @BilldGopher can you comment? I will hang up and listen.

I think it is a combination of both. Their scheme isn't gimmicky or anything, but their players know what they are supposed to do and where they are supposed to be. You don't see tons of missed assignments on any level of their defense.

However, they routinely put guys into the NFL. Those guys may not be guys that jump off the screen at the Combine, but they know how to play football. For example, Geno Stone played Safety there and wasn't highly rated because he lacked size and speed. Scouting reports said they didn't see him as a true ballhawk because of that. Yet, he's 2nd in the NFL in interceptions.

 

[RamblinRed]

The Athletic has us as the top 6-6 team in D1.

The Athletic 133: Conference championship games to settle 2023's final debates

We could have the simplest and most impressive CFP field ever, we could have complete chaos, or we could have something in between.

theathletic.com

That list seems pretty good to me.

I remember at the beginning of the season watching a show before the TCU-Colorado game and they talked about whether TCU or Colorado would be the bigger story.
I remember thinking to myself at the time that Colorado would probably be the most talked about 4-8 team in the country. I wish I had the foresight to stick with that thought after they were 3-0.
It turns out their wins just weren't very impressive.
a 3-pt win against a 5-7 TCU Team. A dominating win over a Jeff Sims led Nebraska team - probably its best win of the year. An overtime comeback win over a 5-7 g5 rival Colorado state.
a 3-pt win against a 3-9 AZ St team.

What I think Colorado showed this year is you simply cannot build lines in one year using the portal. Their OL and DL were just bad. Those 2 groups have to work so well as a unit that trying to throw them together in one offseason simply isn't going to work.
I think Deion will likely need to have his 2 sons and Travis Hunter back to continue to improve, but most importantly his program has to get better on both lines. I'm not sure how much he is planning on bringing in HS kids vs transfers this offseason as he currently has only 10 commits from HS players.

 

[stinger78]

That list seems pretty good to me.

I remember at the beginning of the season watching a show before the TCU-Colorado game and they talked about whether TCU or Colorado would be the bigger story.
I remember thinking to myself at the time that Colorado would probably be the most talked about 4-8 team in the country. I wish I had the foresight to stick with that thought after they were 3-0.
It turns out their wins just weren't very impressive.
a 3-pt win against a 5-7 TCU Team. A dominating win over a Jeff Sims led Nebraska team - probably its best win of the year. An overtime comeback win over a 5-7 g5 rival Colorado state.
a 3-pt win against a 3-9 AZ St team.

What I think Colorado showed this year is you simply cannot build lines in one year using the portal. Their OL and DL were just bad. Those 2 groups have to work so well as a unit that trying to throw them together in one offseason simply isn't going to work.
I think Deion will likely need to have his 2 sons and Travis Hunter back to continue to improve, but most importantly his program has to get better on both lines. I'm not sure how much he is planning on bringing in HS kids vs transfers this offseason as he currently has only 10 commits from HS players.

I made this argument for years as to why Tech's OL couldn't improve under TFG. OL is a unit, not a collection of individuals. They have to learn to play, yes, but also to play together. That takes years. We saw Gailey's OL basically run his option at a pretty high level in 2008 because they knew how to play together and that magnified their skill at running the option.

 

[whitegoldsphinx]

We lost to four teams that were probably the better team at the time of the game. I still see the BG and BC games as head scratchers. What we we thinking heading in to those games?

I was wondering if we'd ever win a home game against an FBS opponent after those games. The UNC game broke the ice, and we've played better at home since then.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Good post. I think there are 3 tiers. FSU, Louisville and NCST in the top tier.

Pitt, Cuse, Wake and UVA in the bottom tier and the other 8 teams you can put in any order you want, not much difference though Clemson is likely the best of the bunch even though they had 4 losses.

I don't think NCST belongs with the other two.

 

[Bogey]

I don't think NCST belongs with the other two.

I think for this year they do.

 

[Root4GT]

I don't think NCST belongs with the other two.

Fair question.
NCST lost to Louisville by 3 points and Duke by 21. Their 3rd loss was to ND. To me it seems NCST's results were better overall than GT/VT or any other 3/3+ loss conference team.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Fair question.
NCST lost to Louisville by 3 points and Duke by 21. Their 3rd loss was to ND. To me it seems NCST's results were better overall than GT/VT or any other 3/3+ loss conference team.

The difference between NCST/Louisville and us this year was our inability to hold onto a 14-point lead against Louisville. We do that and we're playing FSU and going to the Orange Bowl. That being said, Louisville was a better team than us this year. Not sure NCST was.

 

[GT05]

Not sure ncst is that good, they’ve had a good run of late and as long as they keep beating unc all is well.

 

[Root4GT]

The difference between NCST/Louisville and us this year was our inability to hold onto a 14-point lead against Louisville. We do that and we're playing FSU and going to the Orange Bowl. That being said, Louisville was a better team than us this year. Not sure NCST was.

No way to know as we didn't play each other. NCST was far more consistent than GT and didn't have a "bad" loss all though the Duke loss could be called a Bad loss.

 

[orientalnc]

The difference between NCST/Louisville and us this year was our inability to hold onto a 14-point lead against Louisville. We do that and we're playing FSU and going to the Orange Bowl. That being said, Louisville was a better team than us this year. Not sure NCST was.

NC State for most of the year was the opposite of us. Good D and bad O. Then they started getting some production at QB. It was after they failed to score a TD against Duke. Then, suddenly they beat Clemson and Miami. The local press was getting hard on them and warming up seats.

 

[Root4GT]

NC State for most of the year was the opposite of us. Good D and bad O. Then they started getting some production at QB. It was after they failed to score a TD against Duke. Then, suddenly they beat Clemson and Miami. The local press was getting hard on them and warming up seats.

This was Doren's 11th season there. Overall he is 81-57 and in Conference 44-46. Of course he has gotten beaten routinely by Clemson like we have. 59% overall win percent. Just under 50% in Conference. Very similar to some of our past coaches. Solid but not spectacular. Clemson's rise about when he started has made getting to the ACC Championship game very hard. He also started when FSU was still a very good team. 9-3 may be their ceiling. I would gladly take a 9-3 season now.