ACC Bowl Watch: 10/28

Will the Deacs go bowling?

Woo buddy.

It’s been a rocky 8 games but the Deacs find themselves at 4-4 with 2 games each on the road at home, home vs Syracuse and Pitt, on the road vs NC State and Duke. Outside of NC State in Raleigh right now, it would be very easy to say that Wake has a legitimate chance to reach 6 wins and a bowl. I decided to take a look at the ACC’s bowl list, what the rest of the ACC looks like, and how things could shake out bowl wise for the ACC.

Noted: this could all be completely scrapped by say the ACC throwing up on itself like it did this past week but hey, football!

Very basic stuff here, overall records of everyone in the ACC. Green means they’ve clinched a bowl game, and if a team gets eliminated from bowl contention(looking at you UNC and Louisville,) they’ll be marked as red.

For a brief of how the ACC Bowl tie-ins enjoy this graphic from the ACC:

Easy terms: Clemson to the CFP barring any chaos. IF, and I mean IF, there is a team that ends up in the top 15 they have a shot at either the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl. If not the highest ranking team goes to the Camping World Bowl In Orlando vs the Big 12. After that Belk(best bowl), Gator/Music City, Pinstripe,Sun all get next dibs and equal status so really just location and who they prefer. After those 4 in order leaves the Military Bowl, Independence, Quick lane, Independence, and either the Gasparilla or Heart of Dallas bowls.

This is where things get interesting.

I had to go through and predict games obviously so for transparency here’s what I went with. With these I used S&P+ rankings along with a bit of guesswork(honesty is the best policy) Some notes:

• I think Duke and UVA are frauds. Do they make bowls and do I think Duke beats Wake? Yes. However UVA being on top of the Coastal I’d be willing to bet doesn’t last that long and I think Duke fizzles out.
• NC State and Miami Dominate: If BC didn’t have to face Clemson they’d be here too but I think Miami took an L from a tough BC team and will be fine the rest of the way. NC State should roll through the rest of their schedule unless they... yanno turn back into NC State.
• Virginia Tech: I struggled with them all day. The Schedule isn’t super tough but at the same time... they look awful against the run, inept offensively and I just don’t. I went ahead and gave them the win against Pitt and said that at home in a rivalry game, they’d love to spoil UVA’s chances for playing for an ACC title.
• Wake: I tried to not be a homer here by giving them 7 wins but I do think they win 2 out of 4. I think they win a 54-48 shootout this week against Syracuse(defense will be optional) and I think they win against Pitt. If they don’t beat Syracuse, obviously this will be reevaluated but this is where i stand now.

So what does this all mean for bowls?

Clemson: They are CFP bound unless something just spooky happens. I would not welcome that nor would anyone else in the ACC besides MAYBE BC, but it’s generally in the best interest of the ACC to have a team in the CFP. Orange Bowl bound Tigers.

NC State: Was really hoping they won against Cuse so they could possibly sneak into one of the NY6 bowls. I have them running the table but just missing out of NY6 and ending up in Orlando in the Camping World Bowl.

BC: at 9-3 they pose an interesting conundrum. Losing 1 game the rest of the way would look nice for a team going to the high powered Belk Bowl. But in terms of fan base that wouldn’t make much sense compared to other teams eligible for Tier 1 bowls. For me the easy choice is the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Put them against an SEC school and let AJ Dillon run free.

Miami: This one is weird. I originally had them shipped out to Charlotte because of proximity and Miami vs the SEC makes for great TV ratings. However I think the a certain ACC bowl needs this firepower and traveling power more than anyone else. That’s right, Miami ships out to El Paso for the Sun Bowl. The only worry is that since they played there 3 years ago they may not want Miami again, but this is a bowl that needs to bring a school with a lot of fans who will travel. Miami fits that bill.

UVA: This is one that could get swayed depending on how they finish but since I have them at 8-4 I think the best move here would be the Belk Bowl in Charlotte. Proximity is fine, matchup is fine, Belk hopes they don’t lay an egg like they did last year.

Syracuse: This was the easiest one. Pinstripe Bowl in NY. They haven’t played there in 6 years, they’re good enough for the tier 1 and I think the Pinstripe Bowl would rather Syracuse than someone like Duke.

Duke: Speak of the (Blue) Devils! This one because of how it sorts out is pretty cut and dry, send them to the Military Bowl in Annapolis. Solid fan base, proximity is fine, at 7-5 they earned it.

VT: Independence Bowl. After a strong start, the mighty have definitely fallen here. Shreveport would be a good fit in terms of proximity and VT travels very well. Could help out when they’re going through the bayou to get there.

Wake: Detroit for the Quick Lane Bowl. While obviously before the season, I was really hoping for say the Pinstripe or Camping World bowl, looks like Ford Field will have to do. But after all the things Wake has endured this year, a bowl berth would be welcome.

GT: With the final spot my hometown team gets to go to Tampa. Not a bad destination and they get to play an American team not named USF/Houston/UCF. I think they’ll be happy with it.

I’ll be doing this every week if you guys like it. Let me know if there’s anything else you guys want to see, anything I missed, if you agree or not with this, etc. Always room for improvement!

As always,

Go Deacs