Stealth No More: ACC Out of the Closet...

[Texas Otto]

LOL. I'm not quite every other FSU fan when it comes to Syracuse. I grew up in Buffalo, and my entire mother's side of the family are in the Finger Lakes area and were hardcore Syracuse fans. I've been to football and basketball games in the Dome.

Trust me when I say I do NOT underestimate Orange tradition.

Am I underestimating Orange potential? Quite possibly. I hope so. I thought putting Syracuse as a half-the-time top 25 was pretty generous, and in the same group as Louisville, UVA and GT.

Maybe as much as the time as I spent in Western/Central NY gives me a positive view of Orange tradition, perhaps the time I've spent in the South around those big-time programs gives me an overly pessimistic view of Orange potential (again, unintentionally, I thought that was a positive outlook). You've definitely got some obstacles to deal with.

Hope you crush it. As hopefully is clear, I'm all for anything that makes the ACC stronger, other than anyone beating FSU.

I don't think I ever intimated ill intent on your part but the Orange have only begun to walk after 8 horrible years (4 the downward trend of the P years and 4 the train wreck that was Groobers) so while not ill intended I stand by my statement of underestimated!

 

[KaiserUEO]

Lou you have to realize that 75% of the people here cant find the game on tv and when they read a post that doesnt predict 12-0 with 7 1st round picks year in and year out...they get their panties all bunched up.

understanding who to read here is a skill.

its california in the 2oth century...the gold rush is over. at this point you just grab a pan, shake and try to find a few nuggets.

good luck and stay strong.

 

[Resonator]

north carolina most certainly needs to get their act together and be group 1.

thats a program that really should be much much better than it is.

sadly they tryed with davis, but he was too corrupt. but its that kind of hire they need.

We think we have a good one with Coach Fedora. UNC may in fact take a step or two back as he tries to help clean up the academic mess Butch's players left in their wake. But, I think he'll be a winner here. Offensively, our kids took to his psread offense really well. But, they struggled with the 4-2-5 defensive scheme he implemented. If they can shore that up, UNC can maybe finally get their act together, and, be a Group 1 team.

 

[Scooch]

Fine, if this is a problem then Syracuse will just win 10 games every year, finish in the top 10, and win some big bowl games.

You're welcome, ACC!

 

[Toga]

We think we have a good one with Coach Fedora. UNC may in fact take a step or two back as he tries to help clean up the academic mess Butch's players left in their wake. But, I think he'll be a winner here. Offensively, our kids took to his psread offense really well. But, they struggled with the 4-2-5 defensive scheme he implemented. If they can shore that up, UNC can maybe finally get their act together, and, be a Group 1 team.

H/T to the new coach.

 

[Cusester]

Lou, just a heads up. After Kaiser has reread your last post three or four times he'll realize that you just admitted to being a born and raised upstater. His high opinion of you will be gone as he considers upstaters to be about a half step ahead of West Virginians in the climb out of the primordial ooze. Good luck indeed.

 

[Alsacs]

Is that how they rank now, or where we want them to be/think they should be?

It's pretty accurate for recent history, maybe even generous to FSU. But that's DEFINITELY not going to cut it going forward. Three top 25 teams a year, only one competing in the top ten is not going to cut it.

What I want to see, and I think is realistic, is:

Group 1:
FSU
Miami
Clemson
VT
North Carolina

This group needs to produce one team in the national championship hunt late in the year, and a second team in the Top 10, and 1-2 in the top 25 every single year.

Group 2:
Louisville
Virginia
Syracuse
Pitt
NC State
Georgia Tech

Three of these six teams have to be in the Top 25 at any given time. None of them have to do it every year, but three of these group have got to be in at any given time.

Group 3:
Duke
Wake
BC

These teams should shoot for bowl wins, and can certainly get ranked. But their responsibility is to not just thoroughly stink, and should not win less than 3-4 games in any given year.

That simply seems realistic. Can we do even better, sure. But if we can follow this pattern, that's two Top 10 teams and 5-6 Top 25 teams total every single year. That's a massive improvement and competetive with every single conference not called the SEC. And if you look at it, that plan doesn't put any one team on the spot. Realistically, is FSU expected to make more playoff appearances than UNC? Of course. But UNC should be able to put up a Top 10 finish a couple times a decade, and make for the fact FSU will fall out of the Top 10 a few times a decade no matter what.

This should be doable right now with current facilities, resources, and recruiting levels. We can certainly build on that success and get even better as winning pays benefits, but this is within our grasp right now, if schools demand these results from their coaches, and schedule appropriately to these goals.

That is how I would rank them now
Obviously the ACC needs 3-6 top 25 programs each year.
Ideally the ACC would have atleast 2 Coastal and 2 Atlantic teams in the top 25 so 2 ranked teams play in the championship game.
Tier 1 should be
Florida State- 2 NC since 1993 and 2 other MNC game appearances, and lots of BCS game experience
Miami- 2 NC in BCS era and 1 other MNC game appearance with BS "Luckeye game of 2002", and lots of BCS game experience
Tier 2 should
Clemson
Virginia Tech
North Carolina
Louisville
Georgia Tech
2 Atlantic teams and 3 Coastal teams that should be consistent top 25 teams with their facilities, recruiting grounds, and history.
Tier 3
Virginia
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Boston College
NC State
Wake Forest
Duke
These teams should be bowl eligible a majority of the time and create a decent enough SOS that they are like beating Mississippi State, Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss. The ACC doesn't need world beaters, but as long as Duke, Wake, NC State, BC, SU pull their weight the conference will be good. Thus if the two tier 1 schools are good, three of the tier 2 schools are good, and atleast two of the tier 3 schools step up each year the conference will be get teams in the playoffs.

 

[riskylogic]

That is how I would rank them now
Obviously the ACC needs 3-6 top 25 programs each year.
Ideally the ACC would have atleast 2 Coastal and 2 Atlantic teams in the top 25 so 2 ranked teams play in the championship game.
Tier 1 should be
Florida State- 2 NC since 1993 and 2 other MNC game appearances, and lots of BCS game experience
Miami- 2 NC in BCS era and 1 other MNC game appearance with BS "Luckeye game of 2002", and lots of BCS game experience
Tier 2 should
Clemson
Virginia Tech
North Carolina
Louisville
Georgia Tech
2 Atlantic teams and 3 Coastal teams that should be consistent top 25 teams with their facilities, recruiting grounds, and history.
Tier 3
Virginia
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Boston College
NC State
Wake Forest
Duke
These teams should be bowl eligible a majority of the time and create a decent enough SOS that they are like beating Mississippi State, Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss. The ACC doesn't need world beaters, but as long as Duke, Wake, NC State, BC, SU pull their weight the conference will be good. Thus if the two tier 1 schools are good, three of the tier 2 schools are good, and atleast two of the tier 3 schools step up each year the conference will be get teams in the playoffs.

Thank you, thank you. Even in July, three tiers is plenty. Especially since the French have lost four of the last five against the fourth tier of yore.