Day 4 Conference Roundup...Pre-Super Regionals Monday

Wow, the standings have changed as many-a-team were eliminated on Sunday:

1. ACC: 18-6 (75.0%)
2. SEC: 17-7 (70.8%)
3. Big East: 2-1 (66.7%)
4. Pac 10: 6-4 (60.0%)
5. Big 12: 14-12 (53.8%)
6. Big 10: 4-6 (40.0%)
7. Other: 35-60 (36.8%)

Also of note, here's the number of teams remaining from each conference as of Pre-Super Regionals Monday (this will change drastically by midnight or so tonight as there are 6 elimination games tonight):

1. Big East: 1 of 1 (100.0%)
2. SEC: 6 of 8 (75.0%)
3. ACC: 5 of 7 (71.4%)
4. Big 12: 3 of 8 (37.5%)
5. Pac 10: 1 of 3 (33.3%)
6. Other: 5 of 34 (14.7%)
7. Big 10: 0 of 3 (0.0%)

Yes, it's wrong to group CSF and Rice with all of the jobbers and I [do care about the little guy]. It's what they get for not [being in BCS football leagues and gaining the side effects of said affiliation]. Sadly, UF eliminated Miami thus giving Gainesville rights to host our Super Regional. Damnit.

Day 4: Sweet 16 decided

The Big East has established itself in the Sweet 16. The Big 12 is also posting good wins so far. The SEC is officially eliminated and the Pac 10 has a team left. Wow.

Quick Conference Roundup
ACC: 5-5 (50.0%)
Big East: 11-2 (84.6%)
Big 10: 6-5 (54.5%)
Big 12: 9-3 (75.0%)
SEC: 1-3 (25.0%)
PAC 10: 6-5 (54.5%)
Other: 10-25 (28.6%)

Congratulations Jon 'Diesel' Dwyer!

Jon Dwyer: ACC Player of the Year

Paul Johnson Coach of the Year

We all knew it was coming. It's now official.

All-ACC Selections

All-ACC Awards came out yesterday afternoon. Here is the list of which I have copied from Heather Dinich's blog. Members of the ACC media voted on the awards. My thoughts are below.

NOTE: A first-team vote was worth two points and second team vote one. An asterisk denotes unanimous selection.

OFFENSE
FIRST TEAM
QB: Russell Wilson, N.C. State (106)
RB: Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech (134)*
RB: Da'Rel Scott, Maryland (76)
WR: Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina (130)
WR: D.J. Boldin, Wake Forest (76)
TE: John Phillips, Virginia (88)
OT: Eugene Monroe, Virginia (117)
OT: Andrew Gardner, Georgia Tech (107)
OG: Rodney Hudson, Florida State (99)
OG: Cliff Ramsey, Boston College (78)
C: Edwin Williams, Maryland (62)

SECOND TEAM
QB: Thaddeus Lewis, Duke (28)
RB: Darren Evans, Virginia Tech (58)
RB: C.J. Spiller, Clemson (50)
WR: Eron Riley, Duke (57)
WR: Aaron Kelly, Clemson (56)
TE: Ryan Purvis, Boston College (45)
OT: Garrett Reynolds, North Carolina (42)
OT: Anthony Castonzo, Boston College (41)
OG: Sergio Render, Virginia Tech (48)
OG: Cord Howard, Georgia Tech (45)
C: Thomas Austin, Clemson (48)

DEFENSE
FIRST TEAM
DE: Everette Brown, Florida State (131)
DE: Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech (99)
DT: B.J. Raji, Boston College (103)
DT: Vance Walker, Georgia Tech (62)
LB: Mark Herzlich, Boston College (118)
LB: Michael Tauiliili, Duke (110)
LB: Aaron Curry, Wake Forest (106)
CB: Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest (134)*
CB: Victor Harris, Virginia Tech (125)
S: Trimane Goddard, North Carolina (105)
S: Michael Hamlin, Clemson (89)

SECOND TEAM
DE: Orion Martin, Virginia Tech (61)
DE: Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech (39)
DT: Ron Brace, Boston College (52)
DT: Darryl Richard, Georgia Tech (50)
LB: Clint Sintim, Virginia (79)
LB: Alex Wujciak, Maryland (43)
LB: Mark Paschal, North Carolina (40)
CB: Ras-I Dowling, Virginia (49)
CB: Tony Carter, Florida State (34)
CB: Kendric Burney, North Carolina (34)
S: Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech (85)
S: Myron Rolle, Florida State (55)

SPECIAL TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
K: Graham Gano, Florida State (127)
P: Travis Baltz, Maryland (105)
Specialist: C.J. Spiller, Clemson (66)

SECOND TEAM
K: Matt Bosher, Miami (34)
P: Matt Bosher, Miami (60)
Specialist: Michael Ray Garvin, Florida State (41)

HONORABLE MENTION

OFFENSE: Riley Skinner, qb, Wake Forest (26); Antone Smith, rb, Florida State (33); Cedric Peerman, rb, Virginia (30); Darius Heyward-Bey, wr, Maryland (34); Kevin Ogletree, wr, Virginia (32); Dan Gronkowski, te, Maryland (41); Scott Burley, ot, Maryland (34); Thomas Claiborne, og, Boston College (38); Calvin Darity, og, North Carolina (34); Jaimie Thomas, og, Maryland (33); Nick Marshman, og, Virginia Tech (24); Ryan McMahon, c, Florida State (35); Matt Tennant, c, Boston College (33); Ryan Shuman, c, Virginia Tech (23).

DEFENSE: Derrick Morgan, de, Georgia Tech (26); Willie Young, de, N.C. State (25); Vince Oghobaase, dt, Duke (40); Boo Robinson, de, Wake Forest (31); Jeremy Navarre, dt, Maryland (29); Nate Irving, lb, N.C. State (28); Paul Anderson, s, Boston College (35); Anthony Reddick, s, Miami (23).

SPECIAL TEAMS: Dustin Keys, k, Virginia Tech (25); Brandon Tate, spec., North Carolina (33); T.J. Graham, spec., N.C. State (31).



Biggest question is how in the world is Morgan Burnett not a first team All-ACC selection? How did Everette Brown get more votes than Michael Johnson? The second answer is easy...the tv networks love Florida State and they were on in the afternoon and prime time all year. We were noon games. Interesting selection on Andrew Gardner as well.

Ah well, no one expected anything from us this year and clearly our presence was felt. Congratulations to the All-ACC team!

Thoughts?

Dear Virginia, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina

You're welcome. We have now done a big thing for you. Please return the favor by promptly losing this weekend.

Thank you.

Memorable Darryl Richard (AKA The Ambassador) quotes from last night (From HD's latest article):

On the ACC being a crazy conference:

"Who knows, in this conference, I'm telling you, the way they play hot potato
with the trophy, don't be surprised if somebody gives it up on Saturday and we
get to sit there and watch them do it," Richard said, grinning after his team's 41-23 throttling of Miami. "It's great to just sit back and
watch. That's what we're going to do, sit back and watch."

On what needs to happen for Tech to win the Coastal:

"We need NC State to handle North Carolina, if Clemson wants to play in a
bowl game this year they're going to take care of Virginia, and hopefully
Virginia gets something done in Blacksburg," he said without taking a breath,
knowing there are currently five teams in the Coastal Division with three
losses."

On Pre-season expectations:

"Everybody pretty much laughed at us when we were killing ourselves in the
offseason," Richard said. "Look at me now. Who has the last laugh?"

On CPJ being Coach of the Year:

"How many people thought he was going to get it done?" Richard asked. "I
mean, not only are we bowl eligible, but now we really have a chance to play in
the championship game by a guy who came in and changed the offense from a pro
style to an option-based spread. Let's be honest, if you can show me a better
candidate, I would like to hear it, and I would definitely refute a lot of the
facts people might put up, but he's done a hell of a job here."

Pat Nix sucks!

ACC Roundtable #4 has been posted.

More to come later today.

Weekend in Review

Ah bye weeks. A Saturday in which you get to sleep in, roll out of bed, crack open a beer and turn on football. And then not move more than 20 feet from the couch until midnight after College Gameday Final. Isn't it great? The ACC's "Season of Chaos" picked back up on Thursday and continued into the weekend. But let's review what happened:The Miami Hurricanes thrust themselves on to the top of the ACC Coastal Divsion with a stellar win over Virginia Tech and a UNC meltdown against Maryland...another typical day in the ACC. Virginia Tech just feels numb. Good 'Ole Gobbler Country, instead of bemoaning the loss to Miami and all things wrong with Hokie Nation, the man gets drunk. Drink it in Gobbler, whiskey turns all things numb to the world.

The game of the week was clearly North Carolina's choke job against Maryland. I mean, hey if you have any piece of the ACC Coastal lead, you're going to choke. Mike over at Tar Heel Mania, however, seemed to have kept his composure. Yeah dude, we just gotta accept the fact that it just wasn't to be. (shakes head)

Current ACC Standings:



From Old Virginia comes up with 16 scenarios that he believes could decide the division. Althought he forgets to talk about us. Yep, we're not out of it yet. We must beat Miami! Here's our scenario, where we only hold 25% of it in our own hands:

• 1) GT beats Miami
• 2a) UNC loses to NCSU 2b) UNC loses to Duke
• 3a) UVA loses to Clemson, beats VT 3b) VT loses to Duke, beats UVA

Here's the AJC's Beat Blog on "Coastal Craziness".

The Atlantic Division is just about as much of a mess as the Coastal especially with Boston College beating Florida State during its "Blackout".

It's not boring mediocre football I tell you! ACC Parityyyyyy!

Volleyball

The volleyball team got swept by the state of Florida this past weekend, losing in a heartbreaking 5 to Miami on Friday and getting beat by FSU 3-1. The Legacy Crew is still proud of the Volleybees and plans on representing at SENIOR NIGHT THIS SATURDAY AT 7:30. ALL TECH FANS MUST BEE THERE! The biggest factor for the team seemed as if they just could not seem to close when they needed too.

Basketball

On Friday, basketball got officially under way with Gani Lawal leading the Jackets with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Jackets routed Winston-Salem State 92-47. Lots of big men, kind of sloppy with our ball-handling (basketball players must hang out with football players). Our depth runs out quickly it seems, but as usual, we are forever the optimists, we expect improvement.
Next Game: @ Mercer 1pm this Saturday! SOLD OUT

The women's basketball team began their trek for the 4th straight NCAA Tournament appearance by beating Troy 73-49 on Friday as well. On Sunday, they traveled to #1 UCONN and lost 82-71. In the top-heavy world of Women's Basketball, we aren't quite there yet.

How do you win the ACC?

Note: We have a new writer who has joined us. His name is Bird.

As my first post, I would like to drop some statistical analysis on how to win the ACC. This is based entirely on data provided by the post-expansion ACC (2004 forward, all BC data in 2004 is excluded).

Typically, in college football points scored per game goes hand in hand with a teams W/L column. However, the ACC offers us a bit of a different perspective on the matter. In the ACC, it is more important to have low defensive points per game than higher offensive points per game.

Every ACCC has featured the #1 scoring defense leading into the ACCC while the #1 scoring offense leading into the ACCC has been sitting at home watching the past two years (Clemson both times).

Below are some basic graphs showing Scoring Offense vs. Wins and Scoring Defense vs. Wins. You can use the linear regressions to predict your wins/losses for the remainder of the season (e.g. GT should win 6-7 games total for the season based on their offensive output but 8-9 based on their defense). I included this seasons wins/losses by normalizing them across a 13 game season for every team in the ACC that should make a bowl and 12 game season for those that wouldn't.







Currently, GT is the #1 defense but I do not see that lasting through the Miami/uga games while UNC is a close second and I see their defensive stats improving against the Terps, mighty Dookies, and hapless Wolfpack. Look for FSU to take the other division. Predicting the winner is a little more difficult because there are less points to interpret and because the statistically disadvantaged team has won twice (FSU in '05 and Wake in '06).

If I were betting man though, I'd put money on the team with the better turnover ratio and in this case it's UNC at +1.44 per game. However, the last time FSU won the ACC, they came into the ACCC with a negative turnover ratio. Look for UNC in the Orange Bowl unless UNC manages to Marcus-Vick-it-up in the ACCC.

ACC Roundtable #3: The Wrap-Up

This 3rd week of the ACC Roundtable was generously brought to you by us, The Legacyx4. The most important questions revolved around where the conference stands in the long run when compared to the rest of the BCS conferences. Below are this week's participating blogs and links to their discussion:
Boston College: BC Interruption
Virginia Tech: College Gameballs
Virginia Tech: Gobbler Country
Clemson: Block-C
Virginia: From Old Virginia
Georgia Tech: The Legacyx4
North Carolina: Tar Heel Mania

Here's a recap of the questions:

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?

2. With a few notable exceptions, quarterback play in the ACC has been poor across 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?

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?

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. Are you in agreement? List any specific, obvious grievances, or use this opportunity to verbally assault ACC refs.

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


To avoid redundancy, we're going to lump questions 1 and 2 together. The blogs emphasize the potential of the conference. The league is young and we have clearly not arrived at the "national powerhouse" level we all hope to see the ACC become. In the words of BC Interruption, the quarterbacks "are turrible," but the most common factor and reason for this "turribleness" is the majority of inexperienced quarterbacks. Best case scenario says that the ACC in 2-3 years becomes what the Big 12 is today (as compared to the worst case, where we continue to be the ACC). Another common view brought on by the Roundtable is how we stack up to the rest of the BCS conferences. The consensus is not good. Many of us put the conference ahead of the Big East as it still struggles to prove prove that it deserves anything. When we all look at bowl projections, the possible Orange Bowl matchups are nightmares. The majority of blogs do not like the matchups. Though the ACC is tougher and better than it's been, we all agree that the "Elite of the ACC" does not match up well with the "Elite of the rest." It is the mid-tier bowls where we can hopfully show our improvement this year.

Remaining out-of-conference games:
The most common game that the bloggers picked is Wake Forest beating Vanderbilt. Though Dane does continue the tradition of The Legacy Crew being bold in our picks and admits that it would be "no surprise to see us going 4-1" in that week with the exception being Florida State losing to Florida. Yes, Dane does have a major boner crush on the Gators and Urban Meyer (says the guy who has a blow up doll with "THE LEACH" written across the chest in magic marker - Dane). Boston College seemed to have the second most enthusiastic crowd as it was picked to win its final OOC game against Notre Dame in the Catholic Bowl this weekend. After that, it's all a belief that the teams can "play it closer than in the past." The improvement is clear, we just aren't where we need to be quite yet. In summary, the ACC Roundtable sees more competitive games this year but still no better outcomes.

Officials Vent:
The ACC Roundtable seems to be made up of old men who are too complacent and passive. The Legacy Crew is proud to be the ones who put a little fire,yelling, and pissed off drunk attitude into the discussion! Yes, bad officiating happens everywhere, we'll admit it. However! When given the chance we will gladly rip the officials a new one and curse their mother's grave and the whistles that they blow! Assholes! College Gameballs, BC Interruption, and Gobbler Country all reply with a resounding *yawn* "bad officiating happens." *yawwwwn* From Old Virginia admits there is a problem and seems mildly annoyed with the issue.

Hey Block-C : we get the gist. Holding happens. Sometimes it doesn't get called, but we feel that violations like a prevented sack and safety should probably get a flag. However, photo evidence shows how much Clemson fans appreciate when refs don't call out people when they are holding somethin' ridiculous:

Favorite Players:
There are players who people can just enjoy to watch no matter what team they play on. We asked fellow members of the Roundtable who their favorite player was that they enjoyed to watch. Georgia Tech and North Carolina lead the way with exciting players in (former) GT WR Calvin Johnson and B-Back Jon Dwyer. BC Interruption needed a gun put to their heads to finally admit that Hakeem Nicks of UNC sparks their interest. Block-C surprisingly looks to a Florida State defensive player as a role model in Myron Rolle.


Look for Roundtable #4 to come around sometime next week.

ACC Roundtable: Part Deux

It's the second installment of the ACC Roundtable in which blogs from across the ACC come together for a few segments of lively banter and discussion regarding our conference. This week's roundtable is hosted by Tar Heel Mania. So click over to his site for links to the other responses from across the league. Posted below are our answers to this weeks questions. Leave your comments below!

1. Okay, first things first: could someone please explain what the hell just happened this past Saturday?

The answer, my friends, is ACC parity. Who else can explain Virginia getting raped by USC and then getting back on track and rattling off a winning streak? Explain Maryland losing to Middle Tennessee State and then shutting out Wake Forest! It's parity. It's what makes the SEC so good! Eventually we won't have to play anyone outside of conference because we will beat up on each other so often! Look out "elite" conferences, there's a new dog on top!

2. Good Maryland, Bad Maryland, we've seen a fair share of both in 2008. Good Maryland may be the best team in the ACC, while Bad Maryland could probably lose by 20 to anyone left on their schedule. Which Maryland do we see for the rest of the season and where do you expect the Terps to finish?

Maryland may be beginning to feel the hunger and the fire of potentially winning the division but it's too late. The schedule is too difficult for and up and down team to remain consistent. For the Terps to have a legitimate chance at taking the Atlantic, they gotta go at least 4-1 for their rest of the season. Not happening. Florida State, Virginia Tech, and the ever dangerous BC Eagles will be too much for the Terps to handle to make a legitimate run. Look for them to play the spoiler role for the rest of the year. (ACC Parityyyyyyyy!)

3. Injuries are a part of college football, but they seem to have ravaged ACC offenses this year. Wake Forest has been without Sam Swank, Clemson is without C.J. Spiller, UNC is without T.J. Yates and Brandon Tate, Virginia Tech is without Kenny Lewis Jr., and NC State is without?just about everybody. Which team misses their fallen star(s) most and why?

Clemson is a mess with or without Thunder and Lightning. Sam Swank is clutch but just field goals can't win games, they just give you respect when you're getting shut out. Biggest loss so far this year has been Tyler Yates of North Carolina. With him, the Heels would have arguably beaten Virginia Tech and the roles of the positions of the two teams would be flip-flopped and us Jacket fans would be the biggest BC bandwagoners this week. Instead we're Noles fans and UNC seems to be on the outside looking in.

4. Last one: the pretty much unanimous division champs were Virginia Tech and Wake Forest last week. Given all the craziness that just happened, give us your updated ACC Championship scenario.

We're stickin' to our guns and staying with Boston College from the Atlantic. As for the coastal, it's almost to close to call right now. This Saturday will organize a few things out for us as Virginia (who controls their destiny) comes to Atlanta and Florida State plays the Hokies. So this week, things seem to be lookin' good for us but winning out the the conference schedule is very difficult. Will it happen? Probably not. Could it happen? Hellz yeah it can! Let's make the call: Georgia Tech from the Coastal and Boston College from the Atlantic for a rematch in Tampa! Who would have thought that The Legacy would ever say: GO NOLES! BEAT THE HOKIES!