Around the ACC Blogs
As much as I wish I did, I don't get around to all the other ACC blogs on a daily basis. Sometimes, however, I do, and I often find some interesting things. . . maybe it should be a more regular occurrence.
First and foremost, I noticed while on BC Interruption that I missed the announcements of next weekend's TV schedule. Wake's game at Maryland will be a 12:00 start on Raycom (usually means ABC here in the Triad). I had been thinking about trying to head up to that one, but only if we got an afternoon start so that I could make it a day trip. Seeing as how a Raycom game will be shown in HD, I think I'll be enjoying that one from the couch. Also, Ron Cherry somehow ends up reffing what seems like a very large proportion of Raycom games, and who wants to miss out on the chance to see something like this again (yes I was just looking for an excuse to post this video):
BC Interruption also posted their Week 6 Power Rankings, putting Wake third behind Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. They even have Georgia Tech at 12 in their blogpoll ballot. They claim this has something to do with having seen them play, but I just don't get it. The only way I can see them justifying this is if they believe their team, Boston College, is incredibly good, so for GT to beat them they must be even better. I just don't feel like GT has any wins that stand out as being particularly high quality, so I can't even justify including them in the top 25.
Of course, Gobbler Country has Wake all the way down at 5 in their ACC Power Poll. Eh? I realize my job is to be optimistic about the Deacs, and that we haven't looked great for a couple of weeks, but still, 2nd worst of the one loss teams? I don't buy it.
FSU blog Scalp 'Em doesn't even bother to rank Wake. How do you respond angrily towards a slight from another blog? An angry glare? Maybe just a post calling them an idiot. Like this one!
I get one of those angry glares from GT blog The Legacyx4, who is annoyed by my non-ranking of the jackets. What can I say? They haven't beaten anyone. No wins over ranked teams and other things like that conspire against them. If they keep winning they'll certainly be in there eventually, just not yet.
Eagle in Atlanta pointed me towards ESPN's most recently updated bowl projections, and I was pretty flabbergasted (yes I did just use that word) by Bruce Feldman's prediction of Wake in the Emerald Bowl. Exactly how bad does he think we are? I won't be as optimistic as Mark Schlabach's prediction of the Orange Bowl until we beat Clemson, but that's a lot better. Maybe I'm crazy, but at this point I think the Deacs are much more likely to go to Miami than they are to go to San Francisco.
10/7/08, 6:43 PM
Zach - we just think that the triple option can beat any team on any given day if the Jackets limit their turnovers (we they seem to be doing increasingly).
Look at the trouble Wake had with Navy. It's a hard scheme to defend and most teams only see it once, maybe twice, a year.
10/7/08, 10:19 PM
its a power poll, recent results weigh heavily. even bye weeks hurt. if you guys beat the hell out of clemson you might be no. 1 next week.
also, georgia tech is for real. ive seen then three times (bc, vt, duke) and they have the second best d in the conference behind bc. also, gt's offense is much more efficient with jaybo shaw under center.
10/8/08, 4:46 PM
GT would not lose to Navy.
10/9/08, 1:14 AM
That's right, I'm still glaring.
Not really. However, I will say, in all honesty, that I see us becoming one of, if not the the single best team in the conference. We are on no level to claim that crown right now, but in one spring practice and 5 games, we have gone from a Chantastic, impotent group of scrubs to a team that gets better every single day.
If someone said that we would be where we are now (as far as how well our D has taken to the new DC, and how smooth the offense is running) 6 months ago... well, no one was saying it. That's what makes me feel so warm and fuzzy about my Jackets.
10/9/08, 8:28 AM
Man, as a Clemson fan, I have coach envy. I strongly believe we have some of the best players around, and our coaches screw it up.
Clemson has a 2-6 record on Thursday nights and every Clemson fan knows this.
We don't like Thursdays. Thursdays are meant for trivia night . . . Here's a good question, what's Clemson's average margin of loss on Thursday night?
18 points.