Monday, July 17, 2017

What am I missing about the other ACC also-rans

The ACC media predicted BC to finish last in the Atlantic Division. No big deal. The ACC Media has consistently underestimated BC. Part of it is due to the Carolina-centric group that gathers at this event. BC is out of sight and out of mind for most of them. Part of it is the perception that BC's early ACC success was an exception and ignores our long history of above average college football success. Those issues I've come to accept. Plus, it is not like BC is coming off a huge season. But what surprises me in the poll is the big gap between BC and the other Atlantic middle class. What am I missing about these other teams?


After the Atlantic Power Programs, here is how the voting went:
4. NC State - 658
5. Wake Forest – 415
6. Syracuse - 362
7. Boston College - 283

NC State?!? Are they better than BC? Maybe, but not that much better. BC beat them on the road. Doeren has a worse ACC record than Addazio and has done nothing to signify that they are on an upswing.

Wake?!? Like NC State, BC beat Wake on the road last year. I like Clawson, but his recruiting has been poor and his ACC record terrible. Why are they suddenly such a sure thing?

Syracuse?!? I think Syracuse is a bit like BC in that the perception and geography of ACC Media will always hurt their polling. They at least have a gimmick in their offense that will help them steal a game or two. Are they better than BC? I don't think so. But I also don't think they are that much worse than the other ACC also-rans.

BC will have an elite defense this year. If the offense improves, they should be as good as last year if not better. While I shouldn't be getting worked up about a team that finished 6th in the Division getting snubbed, I just don't understand the spread of teams. All of these squads are severely flawed with seemingly mediocre coaches. In my opinion the difference between 4 and 7 should be about four points, not four hundred.

13 comments:

TheFive said...

There are a ton of explanations for this -- geography, general ACC dissatisfaction with BC and its commitment level to major conference athletics -- but the bottom line is that we have won a total of 2 ACC games over the past 2 years. Last year, we were awfully lucky to win even those 2 games.

We play a 1950s style of football with a 1950s coach. His peers and the media who cover the ACC have noticed that he cannot manage his way out of a paper bag in end-of-half situations. We have fewer offensive possessions than just about any team in the country and willingly give away at least 2 of them per game because the coach doesn't like the time on the clock or the field position. And you're surprised that people don't pick us to win close games?

I'm not. The odds are that the games against the middling ACC teams will all be close. Sure, we'll probably have a better defense than most of those teams. But we'll have a worse offense; plus, time management and cowardice will surrender 1 1/2 possessions per game. So, the smart money is against us.

knucklehead said...

We are underrated when we are good.

The reason this season is that we don't have anyone returning on offense who was good last year. The quarterback position is the worst in the league and near the bottom in all of Power 5 conferences, with Wade. The o-line is not much better(Baker is decent).

The offense sucked last season because we had no o-line with an average QB. This season we have no o-line and a terrible QB, with Wade.

The defense will be good. Not as good as last season. Landry will do his thing. Allen will be the star of the defense going into next season.

Special teams will be iffy with a new coach.

They need to win the first two games for a "shot" at 5 wins overall.



John said...

I agree with both posts.

As for Syracuse - we are 1 and 3 against them since they joined the ACC. It's high time that we got sick of losing to them.

At this point, we do not deserve to be favored over them, but must prove it on the field.

I think we should be ranked higher than WF and NC State, however.

John said...

The offense "sucks" because of the philosophy of the Head Coach and his Offensive Coordinator.

Something had better give this year for sure. We have enough talent to put points on the board. Shame on the coaches if they don't give these guys a game plan to win!

This year it will be a fire-able offense for sure - play on the word offense is intentional.

Unknown said...

1) PETER CARMICHAEL Jr

2) RYAN DAY

3) JACK BICKNELL JR

4) Al GOLDEN

IF You are serious about changing the perception of what has replace 25 years of WINNING !!

ccw said...

Indignation over this team makes no sense. Call it an indictment on Addazio by the media.

Max said...

Fire Daz today. Do not wait until you get home.

NYCEagle said...

Firing Addazio puts us back another 5 years. Is that what people really want? Say goodbye to the guys he's recruited the last two years. We'd be left with a hollowed out roster even worse than we've experienced recently. Chip Kelly isn't walking through that door. What makes people think BC is some golden opportunity for the top coaches on the market?

CT said...

The defense was not elite, the schedule is a bit tougher, and Daz has demonstrated a remarkable inability to manage a game. Also, the media are stupid. Throw those ingredients in a crock pot, let them simmer all day, and you get a tasty meal of irrelevant disrespect. You can coat the bulletin board with the stock of lazy media narratives. Then you can pray that God has imparted on your head coach the knowledge that helmets have facemasks, the turf is fake, and those three timeouts are for each half, not game.

JBQ said...

"Athlon Sports, 6.14.17:@No.I (99), Wake (52), ND (20), @Cl (7), CMi (106), VT (25), @Lou (18), @Vir (87), FlSt (3), NCSt (27), @UCon (101), @Syr (63)------BC (70)-----Every evaluation that I have seen rates NC St very highly. They have a transfer quarterback from Boise St who was there last year. Clemson, Virginia Tech, Louisville speak for themselves. Wake is winnable at home. However, both Virginia and Syracuse are away.-----------Athlon appears to think that Brown will "be the guy" and that could make a big difference. Offense is bottom five while the defense is top 10. Northern Illinois will be a benchmark and early odds as noted are BC (-2).----Conjecture is just that. You just have to hold your breath until Sept 1 at 9:30 pm ET.

Unknown said...

It's southern bias nothing more. Let's keeping beating them at their homes and they will figure it out. And for god sakes beat Cuse . Enough.

knucklehead said...

When does Dazzler take the starting QB job from Wade and give it to Brown. Wade is going to be terrible but I think we win the Northern Illinois game despite him.

Does Dazzler remove Wade in the second half of the NI game to give Brown a feel for the Wake game or does he make the move during the Wake game.

If we lose either of those games then it will be a more difficult season than most are expecting here.

Unknown said...

BC is the best out of those teams. This is the most experienced team Addazio has had, I think they'll beat all of those teams next year.