new acc just trying to keep up

Most expected the post-expansion ACC to be a robust conference heavyweight, a league seated with the SEC at the head table of college football competing for media coverage, television ratings and top-level contract dollars. 

In addition to allowing for two six-team divisions and a corresponding conference championship game, expansion added two teams, in Miami and Virginia Tech, with recent national title game appearances and first round draft selections on their resumes.  Teaming with traditional power Florida State, the group was expected to give the league as formidable a lead trio as any conference in the game today. 

While traditional programs like Clemson, Georgia Tech and others would give the league great credibility, Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech would lead the charge into the future.  If the ACC was a spotless new car, the big three were its' glimmering front grill.

A few nicks and love bugs later, depreciation had officially begun.

Optimism quickly transitioned to cynicism as the league built to ride the new wave of college football struggled to keep up with the tide.  The conference mimicked the regression of Florida State and Miami, fraught to maintain consistency, failing in big games while finding offensive productivity spotty at best. 

In 2006, Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech combined for 15 losses and one big glaring omission from the ACC Championship Game, with both the Seminoles and Hurricanes needing bowl game victories to avoid losing records.  While the ‘Noles and ‘Canes got those victories, the Hokies suffered a humbling second-half Chick-Fil-A Bowl defeat to a Georgia team with a true freshman quarterback and prior losses to both Kentucky and Vanderbilt. 

As newfound shortcomings emerged for the leading names in the league, the conference standings looked as though they toppled out from an overturned box of crackers.  With rising instability (see Georgia Tech defeating Virginia Tech by three touchdowns in Lane Stadium and Wake Forest shutting out Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium), getting a pulse on the league took more than two fingers. 

Seven weeks into the 2007 season, the Seminoles and Hurricanes, who meet this weekend, are a combined 8-5 and 2-4 in ACC play.  Virginia Tech has shown improvement and stability and is definitely ahead of FSU and UM, but was humbled in their national spotlight game against LSU.    

No occurrence has better magnified the unpredictability of the league than the 2006 conference championship game, a bout featuring Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.  The Yellow Jackets were picked third in their ACC Coastal Division by pre-season prognosticators; the Demon Deacons were picked last in the ACC Atlantic Division. 

The second annual ACC Championship Game was attended by an estimated figure of less than 40,000 people.  While weather played a major role in the lack of attendance, the lack of a larger conference school was palpably noticeable.

The rise of schools like Wake Forest has been great for the league.  Long regarded as a perennial cellar-dweller, the Demon Deacons were one of the best stories of the 2006 college football season.  They have continued their strong play, as the Deacons have remained in the mix in the ACC Atlantic Division and appear headed for another bowl appearance. 

Wake Forest, fresh off a 24-21 victory of Florida State, has now beaten the Seminoles two seasons in a row.  Head coach Jim Grobe and his staff have developed an ideal system for a school with one of the smallest enrollments in all of Division One football and it looks like Wake Forest is here for the long haul.

While the rise of Wake Forest obviously meant another ACC school had to fall, the dramatic slip of Florida State and Miami, especially, has crippled the perception of the ACC.  Even with undefeated Boston College ranked 2nd in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, the ACC still has a meager national perception.  Though Eagle quarterback Matt Ryan currently stands a leading Heisman contender and BC is a major player in the national championship picture, the average fan views their accomplishments with a jaded eye.  Such is the quandary the ACC is facing; if it’s not the big three, it’s almost as if it’s not good enough.  While the rise of a fresh new power is welcomed with open arms across college football, it’s almost as if the ACC is chastised for the same transition.      

Maybe it's because the league has the reputation for being an academic, basketball conference.  Maybe it's because few teams in the league has shown consistency.  But the ACC rarely gets the benefit of the doubt.  Wake Forest was never accepted by the national media last season.  This season, Virginia is one of just two BCS conference teams with just one loss not ranked in the top 25.  The other one-loss BCS conference team, UConn, was beaten by the Cavaliers this past weekend.  Say what you will about the Hoos' close victories and strength of schedule, but the general consensus of the ACC may play a role as well.

While a conference is often judged by the teams in the middle of the pack, the supposed deterioration of the ACC can be attributed to the struggles of Florida State and Miami and not having Virginia Tech in the ACCCG last season.  The rise of schools like Boston College and Wake Forest have been tremendous for the league as such ascension speaks to the rising balance and depth of the league, something the ACC hoped to achieve through expansion.  Most judge a book by its cover, however, and the tradition and success of Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech grace the league’s first page.  While a flip in the standings helps develop new contenders and ultimately increase depth and parity, the omission of a recognizable leading name has more immediate gratification. Hopefully the 2007 college football season will help fans realize that perspective must be changed.  College football has a new driver at the wheel and the mirrors must be adjusted accordingly.

The irony of last season in the ACC is that media pundits and fans across the nation have been saying for years that when the league produces a champion that doesn’t come from Tallahassee, it will begin to get the respect that other conferences receive.  That qualification should have come with an asterisk.  

The bottom line is that the trials and tribulations of 2006 were a necessary part of the evolution and progression of the ACC.  It seems that the media wants the brass of the league, namely Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech, to reign supreme and challenge for national championships, all while seeing increasing balance from many programs long deemed basketball schools.  You can’t have it both ways.  That said, the dramatic nature in which Florida State and Miami fell last season certainly didn’t help matters.  Significant coaching changes have since ensued.