ACC Bowl Predictions after Week 1 - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

Dinich, who ignored us yesterday (click here), takes a moment to project the ACC bowls after week one.

Discover Orange Bowl, Jan. 3: Clemson
Allstate Sugar Bowl, Jan. 2: Florida State
Chick-fil-A Bowl, Dec. 31: Miami
Russell Athletic Bowl, Dec. 28: Georgia Tech
Hyundai Sun Bowl, Dec. 31: Virginia Tech
Belk Bowl, Dec. 28: North Carolina
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, Dec. 30: Wake Forest
Advocare V100 Bowl, Dec. 31: NC State
Military Bowl, Dec. 27: Maryland

It is actually hard to argue with the projection at the moment because of some intangible parameters that exist in the middle of the ACC bowl line-up. First, State went to Nashville last year so we are not going to be a fit for a repeat trip. Second – ignore the extreme baby blue bias of the Charlotte region for a moment and just focus on the fact that – related to the Belk Bowl, UNC-CH is still expected to be better than us this year and the Wolfpack has been to Charlotte more recently than the Heels.

With those two parameters in place, NC State kind of has to be able to clearly be projected to be good enough to earn a Sun Bowl bid to merit jumping up the projections. And, with Brandon Mitchell sidelined until at least early October it is hard to make that projection yet. If the Wolfpack manages to win at Wake Forest and at home against Syracuse in early October then you can expect to see a real chance for a move in the projected bowl assignments. Until then…nothing matters anyway.

29 Responses to ACC Bowl Predictions after Week 1

packalum44 09/03/2013 at 9:59 AM #

^ I think Pitt had a hyped D but we had a hyped secondary last year and how did that turn out? Stats are misleading when you play in a cupcake conference.

It was apparent that Pitt’s d-line was grossly over matched, as were their corners and linebackers. I only watched for a few drives but on one of them, the same play was run 3 TIMES in a row! Essentially Winston throwing a screen pass to his best receiver, who was given 10 yards of cushion (sound familiar?). 3 TIMES! Then Pitt adjusted coverage and FSU ran the ball for 10 yards. Pitt was out-coached.

Winston was rarely pressured. No push up front. Kudos to the play calling and Winston’s execution, to get rid of the ball quickly. Also helped that he’s tall and hard to bring down…he wasn’t afraid of the blitz though he hasn’t seen SEC d-lines yet…

With that said he looked terrific given what we saw. He will probably be very very good. Our only hope (in 2-3 years we have none this year) of beating the ‘Noles and getting to Charlotte is for him to get injured. I don’t wish it upon him but just saying the kid looked like Cam Newton in college, who was just better than everybody out there.

If I’m a Clemson fan, I’m pissed. Winston is better than Manuel.
ShavlikLeague 09/03/2013 at 12:51 PM #

I was 10 rows off the field and it was brutal. We’re lucky the dew point was low, heat index _only_ in the low 90’s. Otherwise they would been carrying people out of there on stretchers…

Sitting in the heat for an hour is one thing. Sitting in it for two to three hours is another, especially given how under-prepared the concessions stands were. Easy for those who sat in the shade all game to make heat-related comments. I visited a buddy who has seats under the overhang and it was nirvana under there, compared to out in the direct sun.

As far as Heather’s picks? Hope that wherever she lives it’s legal to smoke pot…
TheCOWDOG 09/03/2013 at 2:53 PM #

I truly believe that at my age, a dead right arm, and other miscellaneous, I coulda found a guy or 3 to complete a toss to last night.

Pitt’s D was horrendous. Ain’t about to deem Winston nothing, yet. Of course, that’s subject to change, but he is just another college QB for the time being.
Wulfpack 09/03/2013 at 6:18 PM #

Pitt being terrible or not is not the point. That was a masterful performance for a freshman. He put the numbers up. He will continue to do so.