Normally I give sportswriters huge coils of rope. What they do, if done well, is very hard. But in today's "journalism" world I think we see the effect of losing so much in print. ESPN, after what seems like decades of explosive growth and profits is hurting for sure. Not just in numbers, but in talent. That as much as anything might explain the ACC. Let's face it, FSU lost luster, GT lost a game that was impossible to lose -- exciting if you didn't have a dog in the fight -- Miami got washed away, early season darkhorse NC State already lost, and who cares about VT? I mean, there is no sex appeal there at all. Louisville is one cop call away from another disgrace. Maybe that explains why Clemson knocks off a very good Auburn team -- a good team -- yet Oklahoma gets raves and bumped up in the ratings because it beat OSU. You know, the team Clemson beat 31-0 in the playoffs. That OSU. I'm sure Swinney is secretly gloating these days, hiding in the weeds again. But the ACC is downplayed again, the Big Ten is up -- bad games, but up -- and out there in oil land, Oklahoma is sexy. It was in 2016, too. And 2015 I think. All of this is to say in my view it is the talent level of the ESPN staff that decides these issues. They just ain't very good. And sex sells. Now, if Miami, GT, VT and even FSU gets in the saddle, you'll see changes. And at the end, Clemson will be laughing. That QB, already a better runner than Watson, is going to be really good. Not Watson, but nobody is. And anybody who wants to play that defense has a death wish.