As my colleague Adi Joseph pointed out yesterday, the ACC has been doing its best Jekyl and Hyde impression so far this season.

The conference has been toiling in the land of mediocrity over the past few seasons while the SEC and Big 12 roll on past.

But in some ways, that makes the conference so fun. While most of the other conferences have clear front-runners and cellar dwellars, the ACC is a toss-up.

So what do we know?

We know that Virginia Tech is good, and that Maryland, Duke, and Virginia are not. But there are eight other teams sandwiched in between, all with conference title aspirations.

The best part is, that for the most part, the non-conference schedule is over. With the exception of Miami and Georgia Tech, everyone else will be playing a ACC opponent.

Hopefully that will make our job a little easier.

1. Virginia Tech (Last week – 2):

After getting no respect from the media (Terrapin Trail included), the Hokies served notice: The road to the ACC Title still runs through Blacksburg. – Mike Lemaire

2. Miami (Last week – 1):

The ‘Canes are still the second best team in this up-and-down league, and should be rated as such even after they lose to Oklahoma this weekend. – Aaron Kraut

3. Georgia Tech (Last week – 5):

Make QB Josh Nesbitt pass…or don’t and make the Yellow Jackets look real good. – Eric Detweiler

4. Clemson (Last week – 6):

Look for the Tigers to beat the Terps by four touchdowns Saturday. – Jakob Engelke

5. North Carolina State (Last week – 8):

Yup, it’s time to hope on the Tom O’Brien bandwagon. The Wolfpack beat a solid Pitt squad behind QB Russell Wilson, who is so far and away the conference’s best offensive player that it’s not even funny. – Aaron Kraut

6. Florida State (Last week – 3):

No one embodies the Jekyl and Hyde style of the conference quite like Bobby Bowden and his ‘Noles. When are the fans in Tallahassee finally going to start questioning head coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher? – Mike Lemaire

7. North Carolina (Last week – 4):

The Tar Heels went to Atlanta and returned with proof they weren’t as good as everyone thought. – Eric Detweiler

8. Boston College (Last week – 9):

The Eagles surprised Wake Forest behind 25-year old freshman QB Dave Shiniskie, who is most likely taking advice on how to beat up on 18-year olds from old ‘Nole Chris Weinke. – Michael Lemaire

9. Wake Forest (Last week – 7):

How do you go from beating Stanford, who beat No. 24 Washington this weekend, by 10, and then lose to Boston College the next week? – Jakob Engelke

10. Duke (Last week – 10):

To put it simply, the Blue Devils won this week. At this point, you deserve to stay out of the bottom two just for scoring more points than the other team, regardless of who that other team is. – Aaron Kraut

11. Maryland (Last week – 11):

The Terps find new ways to give up 30+ points each week. – Eric Detweiler

12. Virginia (Last week – 12):

Mike Groh, Al’s son, used to be the offensive coordinator for Virginia, now he is the graduate assistant for Alabama. Is there anyone in the country who would argue that isn’t a promotion? – Mike Lemaire

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Football, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.