Today I thought we would look at the offenses and defenses in the ACC.  How did FSU's 7th-rated offense and 41st-rated defense stack up?  What conclusions can we draw?

To compete in the ACC, it clearly takes defense.  FSU was only the 8th best defense in the conference, which really says something considering Florida State's defense is 41st nationally.  The worst four defenses in the conference were a massive departure from the other eight.   The ACC is still heavily slanted towards defense.

But while it takes defense to compete, it takes offense to actually win the ACC.  The two division champions had the best offenses by far.  This fits with my long-held belief that the ACC is a conference lacking in offense.  The ACC has only two offenses in the top thirty-- FSU and Virginia Tech.  Even worse, only three (add in NC State) were among the best 40 in college football.  And that is not because they play good defenses. Remember that these are adjusted for opponent!  It's simply ridiculous to have nine teams fielding offenses that are not one of the 40 best in the country.

Other observations

• Wake Forest was just unimaginably bad.  92nd in offense and 93rd in defense!
• Boston College was completely bi-polar.  104th in offense and 6th in defense!  Eagle fans have to be thrilled their offensive coordinator retired. Only Michigan and East Carolina had a greater split between offense and defense.