Florida St

Heading into this Saturday it seemed like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were well on their way to a seventh victory and a berth in either the Gator or Sun Bowl. All they had to do was beat Syracuse, playing for a recently dismissed head coach in Greg Robinson and dead last in the Big East. But while the Orange haven't played particularly well this season, you can't accuse this team of quitting. What ensued was one of the more stunning results of the day, with Syracuse stunning the Irish 24-23 on a late touchdown pass. Where do the Irish go from here?

 

Conference Rank: 2nd

 

ACC Player Grades

 

Well, we're back for more this weekend with two huge games from a national standpoint and another game that could be a conference title preview. The three games are: #15 Florida State @ Georgia Tech (3:30 PM on ABC), #8 Florida vs. #6 Georgia in Jacksonville (3:30 PM on CBS) and #1 Texas @ #7 Texas Tech (8 PM on ABC). There are some question marks in each game, from the play of Florida State QB Christian Ponder to how effect the Red Raider defense can be against the powerful Longhorns. Here's a breakdown of each game by Billy Palmer and myself, along with predictions.

 

This is the first of my annual six statistical projections of BCS conference starters. The lineups are based on the Starting Fives series of articles released two weeks ago, along with a couple of changes due to recent developments.

 

ATLANTA, GA – For a second-straight year North Carolina was a unanimous choice to finish first atop the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball race in voting by 40 media members at the league’s annual Basketball Media Day.

Duke was picked for second, while Wake Forest was voted third. Miami was fourth, followed by Clemson (fifth) and Virginia Tech (sixth).

 

 

ACC FIVE-YEAR STANDINGS

 

This ranking tries to answer a simple question: Who has been the best team in the ACC over the last five years?

 

Thursday night is here, and for those of you with little or no interest in the ALCS there are a couple of intriguing college football games on tap. Florida State has a chance to make a statement in the ACC Atlantic race when they visit NC State. Yes, the Wolfpack have struggled this season, but keep in mind that they did beat East Carolina (a win that looks less impressive by the week it seems) in Raleigh and QB Chrisitan Ponder hasn't exactly lit it up against FBS competition for the 'Noles.

Unlike the NBA, where most starting lineups are set in stone weeks before the season, NCAA starting fives are highly unsettled and constantly in flux. Going through the BCS leagues this week, I'll be projecting the starting fives for each team. Also included is the team's most important bench option, and some notes on other possible lineups.

Bill Carmody (Northwestern)

Matt Doherty (SMU)

Bobby Gonzalez (Seton Hall)

Leonard Hamilton (FSU)

Norm Roberts (St. John's)