Revisiting My Bold 2007 ACC Predictions

Back in August, I joined basically every other media outlet in making my
preseason picks for the ACC. I tried to pick overall record, ACC record, and
bowl destination for each ACC team. Now that the season has ended, it’s time to
take a look back and see how I did.

Related Links:
Chris
Coleman’s Bold 2007 ACC (and VT) Predictions – 8/24/07
ACC
Game-by-Game Predictions – 8/27/07

It’s not easy picking college football games, or predicting how seasons will
turn out. Especially this year, with so many upsets. Who would have picked
Appalachian State to beat Michigan, or Pitt to knock off WVU? Not I.

With that in mind, let’s compare my preseason picks with the postseason
results. We’ll start with the Atlantic Division.

Atlantic Division
Team	Projected Overall	Projected ACC	Actual Overall	Actual ACC
Boston College	8-4	4-4	10-2	6-2
Clemson	8-4	5-3	9-3	5-3
Wake Forest	7-5	5-3	8-4	5-3
Florida State	7-5	5-3	7-5	4-4
Maryland	4-8	2-6	6-6	3-5
NC State	5-7	3-5	5-7	3-5

I had a three-way tie between Clemson, Wake Forest and Florida State in the
Atlantic Division, with Clemson winning the tiebreaker. I did nail the ACC
record for both Clemson and Wake Forest, and I picked NC State’s overall and ACC
record correctly.

Now, for the Coastal Division.

Coastal Division
Team	Projected Overall	Projected ACC	Actual Overall	Actual ACC
Virginia Tech	10-2	7-1	10-2	7-1
Virginia	8-4	4-4	9-3	6-2
Georgia Tech	10-2	6-2	7-5	4-4
UNC	1-11	0-8	4-8	3-5
Miami	8-4	6-2	5-7	2-6
Duke	1-11	1-7	1-11	0-8

Pretty rough year for me in the Coastal Division. Obviously I got Virginia Tech
right. I looked at Virginia’s schedule and immediately thought they would have a
good year, but not quite as good as they actually had in conference play.

I had Virginia Tech vs. Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, and that was a
dropped Aaron Kelly touchdown pass from becoming a reality.

I also projected how the bowls would shape up. That’s even tougher than
actually picking the records and standings.

Bowl Comparison
Bowl	Projected Team	Actual Team
Orange	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech
Chick-fil-A	Georgia Tech	Clemson
Gator	Florida State	Virginia
Champs Sports	Clemson	Boston College
Music City	Miami	Florida State
Meineke Car Care	Virginia	Wake Forest
Emerald	Wake Forest	Maryland
Humanitarian	Boston College	Georgia Tech

Ouch. At least I got the Hokies right. I guess there’s a reason I write for a
Tech site, rather than, say, a Maryland site.

Best Picks

Virginia Tech – For the second year in a row, I nailed Virginia Tech’s
overall record and ACC record. This year I picked them to win the ACC
Championship Game and go to the Orange Bowl.

Wake Forest – Not only did I get Wake’s ACC record right, I picked every
single one of their games correctly back in August, up until the last game of
the season. I had Wake losing to Vandy, but the Demon Deacons won the game.
Still, I was just one game off, and picked every other game correctly. This is
the second year in a row I’ve had Wake going bowling in my preseason picks. I
don’t think there’s too many people who can say that.

Clemson – They didn’t win the Atlantic like I predicted them to, but they
were just a dropped touchdown pass away from doing so. I picked their ACC record
correctly, and was just one game off on their overall record.

NC State – I nailed the Wolfpack’s ACC and overall records perfectly.

Florida State – I hit the ‘Noles overall record perfectly, and was just
one game off with their ACC record.

Worst Picks

Maryland – Okay, so I wasn’t all that much off on the Terps in terms of
record, but this is the second year in a row that they’ve done better than I
thought they would. I don’t think they have all that much talent. Either I’m
wrong and they do, or Ralph Friedgen just knows how to win football games.

UNC – I picked UNC to win a grand total of one game this year. They
appear to have way more talent than I gave them credit for. They only won four
games, but I picked them to lose to Duke, and I thought they’d be a lot worse
than they actually were.

Georgia Tech – I have a bad habit of giving the Yellow Jackets too much
credit.

Miami – What’s new? The ‘Canes have once again finished below
expectations. I picked them to go 8-4, but they didn’t even qualify for a bowl.

Boston College – I didn’t think the Eagles would adjust well to a new
coach, but they certainly did, winning the ACC Atlantic Division and playing for
the conference crown against Virginia Tech.

Next Season

I know it’s early, but I think Virginia Tech and Clemson will be the favored
teams to win their respective divisions next season. The Hokies lose a lot of
guys on defense, but who else are you going to pick from the Coastal? Georgia
Tech and UVA must visit Blacksburg. And who’s going to pick Miami?

Clemson returns just about everybody from a team that almost won the Atlantic
this year. They’ll feature a senior quarterback in Cullen Harper, who happens to
be the best quarterback in the conference.

We’ll have a better idea about next year’s ACC after the bowl games, and
after players declare for the NFL Draft.