Atlantic Coast Conference: Bowl Projections #2

The Atlantic Coast Conference bowl picture has started to clear up. However much relies on Saturday’s Championship game.

The Atlantic Coast Conference bowl picture has changed a bit in the last couple of weeks. None of the participants really changed, but the bowl order has been altered. Part of this has to do with the long standing rule that allows a bowl to take a team with one conference loss worse than the best available team.

So the first thing we must do is look at the bowl available teams and double check their records against each other.

Clemson Tigers (8-0)
North Carolina Tar Heels (8-0)
Florida State Seminoles (6-2)
Pitt Panthers (6-2)
Louisville Cardinals (5-3)
Miami Hurricanes (5-3)
Duke Blue Devils (4-4)
Virginia Tech Hokies (4-4)
NC State Wolfpack (3-5)

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It would also be important to note Notre Dame at 10-2 with access rights to ACC bowls.

The reason for grouping the teams this way is to show certain things. One, the Russell Athletic Bowl would have to take the Tar Heels if they are available. The New Years Six bowls do not have that requirement, so they could bypass a North Carolina team that does win the ACC Championship. For now, I am still marking Clemson as the predicted champion.

First Bid – Playoff – Clemson Tigers
Second Bid – Peach Bowl – Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Third Bid – Peach Bowl – Florida State Seminoles
– The Peach takes the Seminoles to grab their national status and active fan base. They do this at the expense of the Tar Heels. The Peach gets a classic and lots of gate money, but the winningest UNC team in some time gets relegated to Orlando.