Kudos for ACC Football

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The ACC had its best overall television numbers ever in 2005. According to a summary released by the league, it was the top-rated conference on ESPN. The ACC, in fact, had three of ESPN’s top five regular-season games. The Florida State-Miami game on Labor Day night was ABC’s highest-rated regular-season game in 2005.

Remember, these TV ratings came for what was certainly an “off year” overall in the ACC, with FSU, Miami, and VT all a bit weaker than expected. NC State, Maryland, and Virginia also fell short of expectations.

The ACC was also a big hit in the NFL draft, as we mentioned before. More from the AJC:

A total of 51 ACC players were chosen in the NFL draft, a record for any conference and 15 more than the ACC’s previous high. The Big Ten was a distant second with 41. The SEC was third with 37…In the past two years, the ACC’s powers-that-be have added Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to form a 12-team conference. It was painful process that had some schools within the conference questioning their wisdom and critics outside the conference questioning their integrity. But again, the numbers tell the story. Those three schools were responsible for 21 of the ACC’s 51 draft choices.

As I always believed it would be, expansion has been wonderful for ACC football. Now, it’s just high time for NC State to follow up its success in placing players in the first round with better results on the field. As you can see, the nation will be watching.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

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10 Responses to Kudos for ACC Football

  1. Dan 05/16/2006 at 1:51 PM #

    The ACC and NC State have the same strengths and the same weaknesses. The top talent in the country is all over the NC State and the ACC. The problem. No depth at all. No one has a team that is good all over. That and the QB play has sucked in the ACC.

    That’s not going to improve on the field this year, but Amato & Co. are kicking ass in recruiting already this year. Goes to show what having a staff in place can do for you.

  2. choppack1 05/16/2006 at 5:40 PM #

    I think one of those top 3 games was the VaTech-NC State game.

    We really can’t thank FSU enough for changing this conference. Once again, I was at the FSU-State game in Tally in 2005 and I turned to a friend and said, “Win or lose, this is just incredible.” I mean, I love basketball, but when everything comes together – perfect weather, a loud stadium, a big and important win – you just can’t beat the football experience. Ok – I’m jonesing for football and it’s not even June – not good.

  3. tractor57 05/16/2006 at 5:48 PM #

    The landscape of ACC football has surely changed. No where do I even see a mention of Clemson (after living in Spartanburg for 13 years I got really tired of orange).
    The addition of FSU really did start a revolution (not evolution, revolution).
    ACC football has come so far in the last 15 years – and I think State has finally begun to make up some of the ground lost during the O’Cain years (I don’t blame all the lost ground on O’Cain but with the advent of Amato lots of things have been upgraded. Even the quality of the football has been upgraded but then so has the quality of the opposition).
    Like I once heard:
    “An antelope wakes up every morning in Africe with just two choices –
    Run faster than the lion or be eaten”

  4. ziggawuf83 05/17/2006 at 9:44 AM #

    I couldn’t agree more. When I came to NCSU from Ohio in 1983 I was shocked at the lack of interest in football and the overall lack of enthusiasm across the entire conference. At that time I only recall Clemson being anywhere near as excited about football as the other major schools I had been to. It was charming, in a way, to tailgate in a half empty parking lot at Carter-Finley and sit on the hill in the end zone with a crowd of folks who had no idea what was going on on the field. But it was not REAL FOOTBALL. Today, it is an entirely different experience. National exposure, more rivalries, higher intensity, and a much higher conference-wide excitement about football season. NC State football is really on the map (I still have to pinch myself) even if we have not won the conference or been in a BCS bowl recently. Thanks to the “powers that be” who had the vision and the guts to expand the conference and make the deals that put the ACC and NCSU on the map.

  5. choppack1 05/17/2006 at 3:26 PM #

    ziggawuf – You’re correct. I think the sustained success of the Sheridan years changed the landscape. We were lucky that even after the consecutive 3-8 years, MOC was able to bring a key victory or two and decent seasons so that we didn’t lose that.

    I’m not really sure when it changed – but NC State definitely has a bigger time feel to it than it did several years ago.

    Real college football is one of those things you just have to experience. Once you feel it, you’ll have the desire to repeat it. Our fans still have a long way to go but I’d rate the atmosphere of Carter Finley ahead of all but FSU, Clempson and VaTech in the ACC.

  6. tractor57 05/17/2006 at 5:41 PM #

    I’ve had the opportunity to visit FSU for one game and many games at Clemson. The atmosphere at Clemson was the best I’ve ever experienced. I got really tired of orange everywhere but the football was good and the fan support was outstanding. State has improved in both areas markedly but it still has a way to go to be at the forefront.
    I also have attended some games at South Carolina and I will NEVER grace them with my presence again (only time I have ever been blessed out by a female fan for what was happening on the field and I did not do anything besides being there to deserve such). I’ve heard the fans at Georgia are worse but never been there.
    At Clemson I got some ribbing but I never got what I felt was bad treatment.

  7. Glen Sudhop54 05/18/2006 at 10:24 PM #

    Sadly, State football only “feels” big time at Carter-Finley. Hopefully it will be big time someday. Truth is, no one in the history of NC State has underacheived like Amato. We are 12-11 the past 2 years thanks to a Sendek-like nonconference schedule. Even with Rivers as a Senior we lost 5 games. State football is exciting to watch and very rarely do we lose by more than a few points. We’re always in the game, but we can’t finish against the big boys (except FSU). Isnt that one of the reasons we ran Herb outta town? That he lost too many close games? Sure seems like a double-standard. Herb certainly didnt underachieve with a slew of top draft picks either. How many top 10 picks does Chuck need to be successful, or even beat a weak UNC club? I’m not convinced that we didnt run the wrong coach outta town

  8. redfred2 05/19/2006 at 8:35 PM #

    ^Glen Sudhop54

    We definitely did not run the wrong guy out of town, though there is one who should have gone before him. Sendek strangled the life out of his players with discipline and a bland persona, Amato is just the opposite. His style has been maybe even less effective than Herb’s, but the fire is there. He needs to take control of his assistant coaches, make the instill discipline at practices single day, and settle down on the razzle dazzle play calling. The defense, that was just depleted, should have earned more wins on it’s own last year, especially with the horses that we have in the backfield. Give Amato a chance to show us something this season, I think he deserves maybe one year more after that, but I don’t want to sound like a CASS’er. If they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with careless personal and off sides penalties always keeping the opposition in the games, I may be right with you before this coming season is over.

  9. Glen Sudhop54 05/19/2006 at 11:34 PM #

    I’m certainly willing to give Amato a lot of rope, the passion is there. It’s just frustrating that we always seem to shoot ourselves in the foot. I’m not saying that Amato is a poor coach, but we DO play like a poorly coached team way too often. Lining up offsides, unsportsmanlike conduct nearly EVERY time we score, running into the kicker/punter etc. I don’t know, if you’re gonna showboat and grandstand as much as the State players do you gotta win more. Philip Rivers’ sheer greatness masked a lot of the weaknesses of Amato and staff.

    About Herb, it WAS time for him to go. I am not a Sendek apologist. I just think it ironic that he could never do anything right in the eyes of most Wolfpackers and Amato can do no wrong. I have a feeling if Chuck were a basketball coach we’d be doing stupid stuff like hanging on the rim on EVERY dunk, throwing the ball into the backcourt, calling timeouts when we have none left, double-dribbling etc.

    It would be nice if someone for State could score a touchdown and JUST HAND THE BALL TO THE REF!! Yet, they all start breakdancing and throwing their helmets off and acting as if it were payday at the liquor store or something.

    I look forward to eating crow—-I’ve been waiting for years

  10. redfred2 05/19/2006 at 11:55 PM #

    Your comments about Amato coaching BBall made me laugh, all probably right on the mark. I would also be worried about red paten leather scuff marks all over the coaches box. Could he even see in the RBC with white rap around sun glasses on? All just more showboating. If it were the other way around Sendek would have the quarterback heaving bombs into the endzone on every down but there wouldn’t be anyone back “in position” to receive them.

    “JUST HAND THE BALL TO THE REF!!”

    That’s way too much to ask these days. You know that.

    I seriously think Amato may be able to turn it around if he studies his own films more than he ever has in the past. He had the recruiting going, not a all positions, but there is no doubt that he is getting attention from some of the best available. I can’t see Chuck A with tie on anyway, his apparel suits just fine. I like to try to laugh about things like that every once in a while, but it doesn’t sit well with a lot of people here.

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