Afterbirth (Week 12)

You know... the stuff that just kind of falls out when the party's over.

The Almost Competitive Conference

I am not one of those people who wants to spend time whining about a college football playoff. I think the bowl system has been a great thing for college football over the years, and I like the fact that – to steal a line from ESPN – every week matters. Having said that, I do think that the BCS formula could use more tweaking. Conference championships should still be valued and rewarded, but not if the champion of a certain conference… well… sucks. I won’t address the Big East, since they haven’t even risen to the level of mediocrity. But let’s look at the ACC.

This is a league that is loaded with mediocre teams. Six of the twelve teams have identical 7-3 overall records. Three teams were in last week’s BCS rankings, and all three of them lost on Saturday - North Carolina, Florida State and Wake Forest. Maryland could be in command of the Atlantic Division - if they could win more than one road game. They are the only team in the nation to beat four ranked opponents, but it’s a bit scary to think they could be in the ACC Championship game with a loss to Middle Tennessee State on their resume. Miami is atop the Coastal Division at the moment. This Thursday’s game at Georgia Tech could decide who wins that division. And you have to like the Yellow Jackets in that game. That means the loser of the ACC Championship game will have at least four losses, whereas the losers of the Big 12 and SEC title games will have no more than 2 losses, and might have just one. And, if you need one stat that says it all, Florida State’s leading rusher in the loss to Boston College… punter Graham Gano gained 24 yards on a fake punt.

Is there a team to get excited about here? Let me know if you find one. There are still some very important non-conference rivalry games on the slate – Georgia plays at Georgia Tech, Florida State gets Florida in Tallahassee, Clemson goes to South Carolina. Wins in any of those games might restore a shred of luster to the league’s reputation, but it may very well be too little, too late.