ACC Roundtable #3

We are hosting the ACC Roundtable this week, so look below for our very own questions and Dane's Responses. Later in the week (Thursday hopefully) Winfield will write the Roundtable Wrap-up.
Here are the blogs who have partken so far: Block-C, Gobbler Country, College Gameballs, BC Interruption, and From Old Virginia.
Comment below!

1. There is no question as to whether the ACC is one of the toughest conferences this year as far as its constituents are concerned. Currently, 4 teams are bowl eligible while 5 are within one game of reaching eligibility. Is it mediocrity, or is the ACC on its way to being the powerhouse that expansion was supposed to bring?

As much as I hate the terms "parity" and "top to bottom," the ACC, top to bottom, has more parity than any other conference in the nation. The SEC is a two-team conference this year - Ole Miss won an upset due to the reigning in of the Tebow, protecting him for the second half of the season. UF burned themselves that game - when compared to when they played LSU, you can see that the Gators were holding back. No other conference has been as back and forth with what you can actually describe as quality play than the ACC (that's a boldfaced lie, the Big 12 probably wins out, but this is an ACC blog so screw it).

However, I don't think you can say anything about where we are going as a conference, only look at where we have been. I honestly think that overall, the ACC is a better conference this year. We may lack a nationally dominant team as of right now, but I would bet on at least an even split with any other conference if we were to go top-down against them. Part of the reason for this increase production is coaching. the ACC has always had players that are as good as say, the SEC, but coaching has just been poor. Now that coaches like former Duke coach Ted Roof and Randy Shannon have had a little bit of time to start molding their programs, and the additions of Cutcliffe at Duke and Johnson at Tech (not to mention that the perenially underachieving Bowden is gone), I expect the conference to continue to utilize all of the talent it has, but only time will tell.

2. With a few notable exceptions, quarterback play in the ACC has been poor across the conference the past couple of seasons, contributing at least in some part to the lack of offensive potency in the conference. Where does the ACC stand today in terms of quarterback play, and do you think our offenses are improving?

(Winfield's Response: I don't have a lot of time to look into this but here is the gist of my belief)

ACC quarterback play is not as bad as the mainstream media wants you to think. Quality quarterback play along with improved offenses are on the rise because the number of quality head coaches have increased within the conference. The argument can be made the the historically bottom half of the conference has improved in their staffing of coaches. The willingness to get rid of the old and bring in something new is the reason for improved offenses and quarterbacks.

3. There are 5 out-of-conference games left for the ACC - BC/Notre Dame, Wake Forest/Vandy, Clemson/USC, GT/Georgia, and FSU/Florida. We went 3-2 in those games last year, and then 2-5 in bowl play (with the only wins coming over Michigan State and UConn). How do you feel we as a conference will compete against the rest of the NCAA in the final weeks of the season, and are you confident in our bowl play?

As far as the season games go BC should knock off Notre Dame this weekend with fairly little ease. The rest of the games came on Thanksgiving weekend last year and we split 2-2. FSU probably won't beat Florida, but the other three are toss-ups. Wake and Vandy are both very well coached teams, Georgia Tech is f***ing tired of losing, and so is USC. Also, coaching at Clemson and UGA are weaker than their opponents as of right now, so going 4-1 in the season OOC games wouldn't suprise me.

Looking at the Week 10 Bowl projections on ESPN, which really don't mean anything right now, I love our chances to dominate bowl season. Every projected matchup looks winnable. I am high on the ACC right now, what can I say? Every team (well, maybe not N.C. State) has proven that they can hang with or beat any reasonably good team, so why wouldn't I feel good about it.

4. As far as Tech fans are concernced, ACC officiating is absolutely atrocious, both in conference (helmet-to-helmet, lack of holding calls) and out of conference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tobqLJlxDBs). Are you in agreement? List any specific, obvious grievances, or use this opportunity to verbally assault ACC refs.

Well, I've already listed the things I can't stand. I won't even mention the fact that our DE Derrick Morgan was held like a tilling bull when we had FSU pinned in the endzone this past weekend - I'll opt for the second.

F*** you you f***ing zebras. I hope you all wind up in the side circle of Hell reserved for people who are incompetent at jobs that other people rely on, like DMV workers and elected officials. When you have a blog that chronicles how bad you suck at your jobs (which has moved completely to YouTube, I think), like miscalling F***ING FIELD GOALS, you should probably seek a new line of work that you can succeed in. I would honestly rather have SEC officials ref our games whenever we play UGA, because you at least know you are going to get nailed on every close call. The only thing that pisses me off more than seeing people throw stuff onto Grant Field from the stands of Bobby Dodd Stadium is when I see them miss your f***ing faces with a full bottle of water. One time I want to see one of you assholes, especially one that calls a BS helmet-to-helmet call, get slammed in the face with something heavy.


5. Every college football fan has a favorite player not on their team. Who is that player for you in the ACC?

I'd have to go with whoever the hell was blocking for Cedric Peerman when UVA played us. I didn't get the numbers of the left tackle and left guard, but wow, they opened up the world for a hell of a runningback. I haven't seen someone lock it up as hard as they have all season.