Here are this week's updated ACC Bowl projections.
Bowl Game | ACC | Opponent |
---|---|---|
Orange Bowl | Florida St. (10-3) | West Virginia |
Chick-fil-A Bowl ACC #2 v. SEC 3/4/5 | Virginia Tech (10-3) | Miss St |
Champs Sports Bowl ACC #3 v. BE #2/ ND | N.C. ST (8-4) | Notre Dame |
Sun Bowl ACC #4 v. Pac 10 #4 | Miami (7-5) | Louisville |
Meineke Car Care Bowl ACC #5 v. BE #3 | Clemson (6-6) | UConn |
Music City Bowl ACC #6 v. SEC 6/7/8 | UNC (7-5) | Tennessee |
Independence Bowl ACC #7 v. MWC #3 | GT (6-6) | Air Force |
Military Bowl ACC #8 v. Army or C-USA #6 | MD (8-4) | East Carolina |
Fight Hunger Bowl #9 | BC (7-5) | Boise State |
Virginia Tech and Florida State are pretty much interchangeable here. I also have to say that I like the ACC's chances of going 6-3 or better if these matchups hold. The ACC is 18-23 in bowl games over the last five years.
This is not a power poll. I don't attempt to rank teams based on how good I think they are. I only rank teams based on their resume. What have they done? Not how talented are their players or what other polls project them to do, but what have they done? The poll is designed to be dynamic. I try to start from scratch every week.
I do attempt to reward teams for "quality losses," while punishing them for poor performances. I do not give excessive credit for stomping horrible teams. I reward quality play, win or lose, particularly against other good teams. I am not bumping team A 10 spots and docking team B 10 spots when team A beats team B by a field goal in what was essentially an equally played game. I like to reward playing well against good teams, win or lose, and punish losing to poor teams more harshly than I reward defeating poor teams. To that end, TCU and Boise will probably not climb much higher in my poll for the rest of the year because they don't really play anyone. And if those two don't blow out the weak competition every week they will start to slip in addition to not climbing.
I Reward Grinders. I reward those who play difficult schedules. Teams that play a tough team every week don't get to spend extra time preparing for their tough games, and they also don't face the attrition other teams face because they are able to pull their starters in blowouts. Fewer plays for important players reduces the chance those players will get injured.
Change my mind using my criteria if you can.
1. Auburn
2. Oregon
3. Wisconsin
4. Ohio State
5. Stanford
6. Arkansas
7. Michigan State
8. TCU
9. LSU
10. Oklahoma
11. Boise State
12. Virgina Tech
13. Nebraska
14. Missouri
15. Oklahoma State
16. Alabama
17. South Carolina
18. Texas A&M
19. Florida State
20. Mississippi State
21. West Virginia
22. UCF
23. Maryland
24. NC State
25. Nevada