2005 ACC Football Preseason Predictions: Hokies Picked to Win ACC’s Coastal Division

The media did not predict an overall winner of the conference, so we’ll never get to know if the Hokies would have
been predicted to win their conference for the first time in history. Virginia Tech was predicted to finish second in
the Big East a total of five times. In 1999 the Hokies exceeded expectations and won the conference. In 1994 and 2000,
Tech finished second, exactly as expected. 2001 and 2002 saw the Hokies finish lower than their second place prediction.

It’s not surprising that VT was picked first in the Coastal Division. The Hokies host two of the top three
challengers in their division, Miami and Georgia Tech. However, Tech must travel to Virginia. The Hokies also don’t
play Florida State, but Coastal members Miami and Virginia both have to cross over to the Atlantic Division to play the
Seminoles. Virginia Tech begins ACC play at NC State on Sunday, Sept. 4.

Florida State also has a favorable ACC schedule. The Seminoles host the annual rivalry game with Miami this year, and
NC State, Maryland and Wake Forest also must travel to Tallahassee. FSU’s sternest road tests are trips to Boston
College, in the Eagles’ first ever ACC game, and Virginia.

Virginia Tech returns the majority of a team that won the ACC and went to the Sugar Bowl in 2004. The Hokies were
picked sixth in the preseason, but dropped just one ACC game to NC State. Tech beat Miami in the Orange Bowl to clinch
the championship in the season finale.

The Hokies do lose ACC Player of the Year Bryan Randall, but replace him with the exceptionally talented Marcus Vick.
Vick dominated spring practice for the Hokies and could be poised for a breakout season. Question marks remain for Tech
on the offensive line and in the defensive secondary, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Florida State returns only nine starters, four fewer than anyone else in the conference,
and attrition in the offseason has taken its toll on the Seminoles. Florida State first lost starting quarterback
Wyatt Sexton to Lyme Disease. They also lost starting cornerback and All-American candidate Antonio Cromartie to a torn
ACL. Sexton and Cromartie will both miss the entire 2005 season, as will star defensive lineman Clifton Dickson, who was
ruled academically ineligible for the fall semester.

Two Florida State star linebackers, A.J. Nicholson and Ernie Sims, had run-ins with the law this summer, but FSU head
coach Bobby Bowden said Monday that both will play in the season opener against Miami. Since their legal charges were
misdemeanors, Bowden told the press that he would "handle their discipline."

The winners of the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions will meet in the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville, FL on
Saturday, December 3rd.

In other news, four Hokies were named first-team preseason All-ACC. OL Will Montgomery and TE Jeff King made the
offensive first team, while DL Darryl Tapp and DB Jimmy Williams made the defensive first team.

There were some interesting choices from the media. First of all, Boston College defensive end and ACC newcomer
Mathias Kiwanuka was named preseason player of the year. Charlie Whitehurst of Clemson was the first-team QB, and Chris
Barclay of Wake Forest was one of two first-team running backs.

Here’s the complete list of All-ACC first-teamers.