Just not flying under the radar anymore - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

Q: If a team is picked by a ‘sleeper’ and ‘one to surprise’ by a large number of experts, is the team really a ‘surprise’?

The N&O’s Joe Giglio kicked off the media’s quiet love affair with NC State when he picked the Pack to win the Atlantic Division back in early May and the hits really haven’t slowed down much as major media arms like The Sporting News have followed up on the positive direction of the program and ESPN keep talking about you being ‘a darkhorse’.

Over the weekend I came across two multimedia items of interest.

First, check out Joe Ovies’ interview at The Wizard of Odds by clicking here. Ovies does a very good job of appropriately defending ACC Football to the doubting Wiz before he chooses NC State to win the Atlantic Division.

Next, check out the following video from ESPN college football expert Mark Schlabach. At about the three minute mark Schlabach re-emphasizes the comments that we already shared with you from earlier in the summer.

Since we’re talking about this topic, we have opened a new poll asking for your Atlantic Division predictions. For the record, I voted for Clemson.

Please feel free to use the comments sections for other links and news that you run across to discuss today.

EDIT
Cross Divisional Schedules:
BC – VT, UVa, UNC
Clemson – GT, Miami, UVA
FSU – Miami, GT, UNC
UMD – UVA, Duke, VT
WF – Miami, GT, Duke

29 Responses to Just not flying under the radar anymore

Wufpacker 08/04/2009 at 6:09 PM #

statemech2010:
I would guess that is merely a reflection of our fans’ well-known abilities and willingness to skew polls. Currently (as of this writing) we have dropped to the #2 slot, 0.2% behind Penn State.

The sad part: If you follow the links to the actual “draft” of the 40 teams by Forde, Schlabach and Maisel, which took place earlier today, we didn’t even sniff the top 40 (not that we should have).

I was actually surprised that 6 ACC teams were chosen (VT, FSU, Clemson, Miami, GT, and BC). VT was the highest at #13. Miami not being taken until #24 was a bit of a surprise. BC being taken at all was a huge surprise, but perhaps we can take solace in that…I think the only reason they made the top 40 was due to results that were largely TOB’s doing.

EDIT – Yes, after checking on PackPride, there is a thread announcing this poll. According to posts on that thread, as of this morning we weren’t even in the top 40. In the middle of the afternoon apparently someone set up an automatic voting code and after that we went to #1 within minutes.
VaWolf82 08/04/2009 at 6:17 PM #

We are being set up for a very disappointing season.

BS! This is something that you can LET someone do to YOU…or something that YOU can do to yourself. But there is no way that someone else’s half-baked speculation will have any effect on me.
Wufpacker 08/04/2009 at 7:48 PM #

My only point was that I believed that the type of pre-season speculation we have been receiving was probably a year or two away from being realistic. Add to that the attrition we’ve been experiencing lately and the recipe for disappointment is there for folks who have their hopes up, and these folks would do well to temper their expectations. Sorry if my poor choice of wording implied otherwise.

Also, it does make it hard for us to “sneak up” on other teams.

Admittedly, believing the media’s hype and having those hopes up probably has something to do with believing what you’re told and not thinking for yourself, so your point is well-taken.
Broccoman 08/05/2009 at 9:36 AM #

I’m excited, even if I suspect we’re going to need the ball last to win most weeks. I really see a lot of 41-38 games this year the rate it’s going. TOB’s going to end up as bald as Sendek became here at this rate.

At least we won’t be the most boring team.