ACC Bowl Season Kicks Off Today

The first two bowl games featuring ACC teams kick-off today as UNC plays Pittsburgh in the Meineke Car Car Bowl and tonight Boston College takes on traditional national power Southern Cal in the Emerald Bowl.

UNC continued to improve under Butch Davis in his third year, going 8-4. Their year ended on a sour note and ruined a chance at a ten win year, losing to rival NC State 28-27. This was still another step in the right direction for Davis and the UNC program though. Their opponent in their second straight car care bowl is Pittsburgh from the Big East. Pitt also lost to NC State earlier in the year. Pitt finished the year 9-3, losing their last two ball games to West Virginia and Cincinnati. Both were very close however, and it could be argued that Pitt was 3 or 4 plays away from going undefeated. On paper, this looks like a good match-up. UNC has a very good defense with lots of speed. Pitt features a balanced offensive attack led by true freshman running back Dion Lewis and his 1600 yards and 16 TDs. Pitt comes into the game as a 3 point favorite.

I look for Pitt to be able to control the line of scrimmage and be able to run the ball against UNC. UNC's offense has struggled many times this year but has done enough to help the defense get eight wins. In the end I just think Pitt has a little more across the board (especially offensively) and will win a close game.

The Emerald Bowl is an interesting match-up. This is a great opportunity for Boston College to get to play a national powerhouse on national TV. USC did not have a typical year for them over the past decade but they still have a ton of talent. Boston College continued their run of extremely consistent football over the past 15 years, this time under first year coach Frank Spaziani. They went 8-4 (the same record as USC) and made their fourteenth straight bowl game. USC will be led by running back Joe McKnight (if he is allowed to play) and Damian Williams at wide receiver. The USC defense, usually one of the fastest and best in the country, has been shredded this year. They lost a ton of playmakers (eight starters) from last years' Rose Bowl team and it showed.

On paper, this looks like a blowout. USC has more four star players (ratings coming out of high school) than BC does three star players. However, USC is young and raw at many positions (QB and on defense) and has not been "USC" this year. USC comes in as a touchdown favorite. BC did not play any team close to the overall talent level of USC this year. If it overwhelms them (even though it is young talent) this game could get a little ugly. USC has not scored enough points this year to blow teams out, and they have given up too much on defense, but they are the better team in this one. I look for USC to win fairly comfortably with BC playing tough but just not quite having the talent necessary to hang with the Trojans.

ACC Loses Challenge for First TIme

For the first time in the eleven year history of the ACC/Big 10 challenge, the Big Ten was able to win the inter-conference matches. The swing game was the Duke vs. Wisconsin game as this one was close throughout and it became apparent that whomever won this game would decide which conference won. Duke never led but never got far behind but was unable to close down the stretch.

Monday the Big 10 won the only game of the challenge with Penn St. beating Virginia. I thought Virginia would win this game but Penn St. had the home court advantage. It can also be noted that Virginia is even worse than I thought they would be and probably won't win very many games this year. First year coach Tony Bennett has his work cut out for him. My prediction 0-1.

TUESDAY

Purdue beat Wake Forest fairly easily to give the Big 10 a 2-0 lead. Purdue was the better, more experienced team and it showed; especially in the second half. Wake has some talent (Aminu and Smith) but not enough to beat a good Big 10 team on the road. My prediction 1-1.

Northwestern beat NC State to give the Big 10 a 3-0 lead. NC State really only has one player on the court most of the time that is ACC caliber (Tracy Smith). Cases could be made for Javi Gonzalez and maybe freshman Scott Wood but other than these few guys State has a lack of overall talent. They will struggle throughout the year to score the basketball and need to defend better than they did on Tuesday if they want to win very many games. A fairly unathletic Northwestern team manhandled NC State for most of the night. My prediction 1-2.

Virginia Tech beat Iowa to scratch the board for the ACC, making it 3-1. Virginia Tech is led by Jeff Allen and Malcolm Delaney this year and they will try and ride them to as many victories as they can get them. Iowa is a bad team and VT should have won this game. My prediction 2-2.

Maryland beat Indiana at Assembly Hall to make it 3-2 Big 10. Indiana is still in a rebuilding mode but played hard against Williams' bunch. Maryland, in the end, had the best player on the court (Vasquez) and he led them down the stretch and finished with 23 points. My prediction 3-2.

UNC beat Michigan St. to even the Challenge to 3-3 with one night remaining. Michigan St. was punched in the mouth early and never could recover. Despite a valiant second half run, UNC had built too big a halftime lead (16). Ed Davis played outstanding and UNC got their first good game from their guards, especially Larry Drew. UNC has great talent and if they can get it to all come together could make a nice run later this year. My prediction 3-3.

WEDNESDAY

Illinois made a furious run in the second half to come back from 24 down to win at Littlejohn Coliseum. This made the challenge 4-3 Big Ten. Clemson just collapsed. No other way to describe it. In my opinion, they need to quit pressing at times when they get a big lead. The press allows them to get a big lead but teams get used to seeing it over the course of an entire game. I think it allows teams to make runs on them because they can get so many easy baskets. Clemson really should have won this game and it would have given the ACC the challenge. My prediction 3-4.

Miami beat Minnesota, in what many considered to be a mild upset, to even the challenge at 4-4. Miami made the plays down the stretch in what was a close game throughout. Miami might be slightly underrated this year and could be a bit of a surprise in the ACC. My prediction 3-5.

Boston College beat Michigan to give the ACC a 5-4 lead with two games to go. Michigan was obviously overrated this preseason (#15) as their record now sits at 3-3. Boston College is always fundamentally sound under Al Skinner and won this early season game without their best player form a year ago Tyrese Rice (adjusting pretty well to not having him in the line-up). My prediction 3-6.

Wisconsin beat Duke in the major swing game of the challenge to make it 5-5. Duke got down early and never made it all the way back. They never got too far behind but could never get over the hump. Kyle Singler kept Duke in the game in the first half and freshman Andre Dawkins hit 4 second half threes to almost bring Duke back. In the end Trevon Hughes was too much for Duke and Bo Ryan improved his home record at Wisconsin to 111-10 in his nine years. My prediction 3-7.

Ohio St. was the more talented team and it showed as they handily beat FSU to clinch the challenge for the Big Ten. Evan Turner is an NBA prospect and FSU had no answer for him. BIG TEN won this game and the challenge for the first time 6-5. My prediction 4-7.

The two things I learned most from this challenge were: The ACC is down this year overall. This conference lost a lot of talent from a year ago and it showed in this competition. And number two, my horrible record for picking games continues. I picked 4 right and 7 wrong. Pathetic.