People are lining up to take shots at the Atlantic Coast Conference when it comes to football.
ESPN’s Michael Wilbon.
ESPN’s Pat Forde.
Fox Sports’ Petros Papadakis.
ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb.
I agree that the ACC is such an easy target, and for good reason. The conference has not done well in a lot of big college football games. Florida State lost a heartbreaker to then #1 Oklahoma. Maryland fell behind early and fell short late to West Virginia. The following week Miami lost at home to Kansas State, Virginia lost at home to Southern Mississippi and Maryland got its ass kicked by Temple (TEMPLE!).
However, Clemson did beat Auburn, Miami spanked Ohio State and Georgia Tech violated Kansas.
Keep in mind that Clemson is now ranked #8 in the AP and Coaches polls and Georgia Tech is ranked #13 in both polls. Both teams are also undefeated.
Plus, like every league, the ACC has its fair share of bottom-feeders. NC State (my alma mater), Boston College are “turrible”. Duke and Maryland are merely mediocre.
If the Southeastern Conference (Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Ole Miss) and the Big Ten (Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue) can get away with having bottom-feeders, so can the ACC.
Now, having said all of that, no one – and I mean NO ONE – is comparing the ACC to the SEC. I call the SEC “the Beast” for a reason, it’s by far the best college football conference in the country.
I’m just saying the ACC is not as bad as the aforementioned “experts” and others in the sports media make it out to be.
Categories: college football, sports story
Thank you! There is a definitely an anti-ACC bias in the media. Everyone talks about how bad Miami is. Well, the Miami vs. Va Tech game this weekend was a classic. Miami has lost some tough games but did beat Ohio State. Look, I’ll take the top of the ACC against the top of the PAC-12 and the top of the Big Ten anyday. The games would be very competitive much like the end of year games with SEC rivals (FSU – Florida, Georgia – GA Tech, USC – Clemson). Without question the best football is in the SEC and the Big 12. But, the ACC isn’t the joke the media likes to make them out to be.
Also, I’ve had enough of hearing that Pitt and Syracuse are bad football pickups. When I read that in an article, it makes me believe anyone is allowed to write about sports these days. The football tradition and histories those teams bring to the league are excellent. They will only get better with recruiting footprints in the southeast through the ACC. I have to say that my biggest disappointments in the ACC lie with NC State, Virginia, and UNC. All three of the schools have the potential to be consistent football powerhouses. As a UNC fan, why can’t NC state get their mess together, when did UNC rely on NC State to keep us honest with regards to NCAA rules and academic integrity (embarassing), & UVA – what happenned – you must be taking advice from Tiki – stick with Ronde – he was the smart one.
Yeah, leave it to Michael Wilbon and Doug Gottleib for trashing the ACC for ESPN. The sports media are also prisoners of the moment. Hell, they haven’t figured out that Pitt’s and Syracuse’s recruiting will improve now that they are in a conference whose footprint reaches into the south.
No one is confusing the ACC with the SEC (I sure as hell am not). I just want the media “experts” to be fair.