After six weeks, the ACC is down to one undefeated team (Clemson). A bunch of teams are battling to be in the top half of the conference. If these teams were stock, who are you buying, selling, and holding? Here are a few teams for each category.
BUY
Notre Dame. What? At 1-3, things were worrisome. Splitting NC State and Syracuse means 2-4. But will Notre Dame finish 4-8? Probably not. With 5 home games left, there is plenty of time to right the ship. A wounded and vulnerable Stanford team comes to town next, with Army and Navy looming. A bowl might be tough, however, as the remaining schedule is Miami (H), Virginia Tech (H), and disappointing Southern Cal (A). Still, things should get better, right? A buy low opportunity.
Louisville. At 4-1, Louisville has scored 290 points. Can they get better? Well, maybe not better… but they have gotten past the Florida State/Clemson part of the schedule. The only highly ranked team left on the schedule is Houston, who just lost to Navy. The remaining six teams certainly could pull an upset, as is the nature of the game. But they would be major upsets: Duke, NC State, Boston College, Virginia, Wake Forest, Kentucky. The college football scoring record is 723 points (Florida State in 14 games). Louisville is on pace to score 754 if they play 13 games (which seems quite likely).
SELL
Syracuse. Look, Dino Babers may have Syracuse on the right track. But, like the rebuilds at other schools, the dividends will not be paying off this year. Absent an upset, the only real winnable game left on the schedule is Boston College–a road game where B.C. will have 15 days to prepare. 2-10 or 3-9 is far from out of the question.
Boston College. At 3-3, B.C. would need a 3-3 finish to go bowling. They host Syracuse and UConn, which is nice. But where does that sixth win come from? A trip to NC State–possible. Louisville? Um, no. A trip to Florida State? Unlikely. A trip to Wake Forest? See above regarding the Demon Deacons. And if Syracuse is going to win ANY game this year, it is the B.C. game. Meanwhile, UConn will be VERY interested and motivated to beat B.C. A bowl is looking unlikely, even with one of the softest OOC schedules possible.
HOLD
Wake Forest. At 5-1, Wake Forest is in the drivers seat for a bowl game, and possibly a very good bowl game. The Demon Deacons still have games with Virginia, Army, and Boston College. Even assuming losses to Florida State, Louisville, and Clemson, 8-4 is on the table. Getting to six wins would have been impressive pre-season… but 8? Wow. Still, with the much tougher back end of the schedule, Wake Forest is not going to struggle to put up more than 3 more wins down the stretch. Again, no knock on Wake, but they have peaked at 5-1.
Miami. Like Louisville, Miami is 4-1. Like Louisville, Miami has dominated its opponents–except for the one narrow loss to an elite team. In Louisville’s case, Clemson; in Miami’s case, Florida State. It is less clear, however, that Miami is going to run the table unscathed again. Miami still has trips to Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Virginia, and North Carolina State. Meanwhile, North Carolina, Pitt, and Duke will visit Miami. 10-2 is possible and 9-3 is certainly doable. Either way, Miami seems to be on the right track.
