TSP's College Football Conference Previews: # 4 ACC

We are on to the second week of our BCS conference previews. Today we take a look at our #4 ranked conference, the ACC.

Projected Finish
Atlantic Division
1. Clemson
2. Florida State
3. Wake Forest
4. Maryland
5. Boston College
6. NC State

Coastal Division
1. Virginia Tech
2. North Carolina
3. Miami
4. Georgia Tech
5. Virginia
6. Duke

Off the Radar Team
Butch Davis enters his second season at the helm in Chapel Hill. North Carolina experienced a number of growing pains in 2007 and finished just 4-8. The expectations will be pretty average again for the Tarheels, but a few factors could lead to a surprisingly good season. First, Davis has more depth this season than last. We like the way Davis recruits, and he'll have two classes in the program this season. Along with the added depth, UNC returns 17 of 22 starters. These young players showed flashes last year and will be much more confident. The final reason we like this team is that they play an extremely favorable schedule in a weak division.

Best Chance for the Heisman
The best chance for a trip to NYC will likely come from the Clemson trio of quarterback Cullen Harper or running backs James Davis and CJ Spiller. One of these three should really shine this season, and Harper is the most likely candidate. He has the one of the best receivers in the conference (senior Aaron Kelly) and can throw to either of his filthy running backs out of the backfield. Plus, teams will gameplan against the run, creating even more opportunities for Harper.

Bold Predictions

• This might not seem bold, but Clemson will win the conference. The reason we are listing it here is because we still feel Bowden is a bad coach, but he has too much talent and the conference is too weak for him not to succeed.
  
• Wake Forest will continue to compete for an ACC Championship. If Clemson slips up, Jim Grobe's team will be right there.
• The only team that won't be in the hunt for the Coastal Division crown will be Duke. The other five teams all have question marks, but could find a way to Tampa Bay.
• Florida State will make a move away from senior quarterback Drew Weatherford. They pretty much have to if the offense wants to produce. We hope to see true freshman E.J. Manuel gets some snaps this year.
  

TSP College Football Conference Preview Schedule
Monday August 11th: Big East
Thursday August 15: Pac 10
Thursday August 21st: Big 10
Monday August 25th: Big 12
Thursday August 28th: SEC