Tag Archives: Louisville

ACC Football Recruiting Class of 2014 Rankings Update (June 18)

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Clemson's Demarre Kitt is the Best of the ACC's Top Recruits in the Last Month

Clemson Commitment Demarre Kitt is the Best of the ACC’s Top Recruits in the Last Month

The 2013 college football season is still a couple months away, but with the 2014 recruiting season heating up, we’ve actually got things to keep track of. Like always, recruiting rankings mean absolutely nothing, especially when they’re compiled with nine months remaining in the recruiting period and no hard, binding letters signed yet. Still, it’s fun to see where teams stand, and if your school’s doing well, you get to give yourself a badge of pride for an afternoon (or whatever else you might do to get enjoyment out of this).

Below you’ll find a breakdown of ACC recruiting rankings from Rivals, 247Sports and Scout, as well as a breakdown of ACC players currently ranked in the ESPN 300.

ACC Football 2014 Recruiting Rankings (June 18)

Each service compiles rankings with a different scoring system, using the total number of points accumulated per school to decide their rank compared to all other classes. However, this also provides an unfair advantage to larger classes, emphasizing quantity over quality. With that in mind, we also included averages (except with 247, which won’t let us sort by average), to account for high-quality, smaller classes. For school with large classes right now, like Florida State, Boston College and Louisville, the overall rankings are an advantageous figure. But for schools with just a few recruits thus far, like Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Wake Forest, it hurts — which is where the averages come in. Also note that while Scout and Rivals use the standard “stars” system (1-5), 247Sports has an algorithm out of 100 that they explain on their site. Under “composite” below, you’ll find the average ranking score for each school (using both total score and average score), so we can get a much fuller picture on the quality of respective classes using a variety of methods.

TEAM Total Players Scout (pts) Scout (avg) Rivals (pts) Rivals (avg) 247 (pts) Composite
Clemson 11 13 19 (3.25) 9 4 (3.64) 12 11.40
Florida State 15 9 20 (3.2) 8 19 (3.38) 5 12.20
Miami 12 15 26 (3) 12 14 (3.45) 13 16.00
Louisville 15 22 35 (2.93) 15 52 (2.93) 16 28.00
Virginia 7 26 22 (3.14) 30 35 (3) 35 29.60
North Carolina 14 21 37 (2.86) 16 53 (2.93) 21 29.60
Virginia Tech 10 29 51 (2.5) 28 26 (3.25) 26 32.00
Boston College 15 32 54 (2.45) 19 57 (2.87) 24 37.20
NC State 11 46 63 (2.27) 29 54 (2.9) 31 44.60
Duke 11 42 55 (2.45) 31 68 (2.7) 29 45.00
Georgia Tech 9 53 59 (2.33) 32 55 (2.89) 33 46.40
Pittsburgh 2 71 32 (3) 83 46 (3) 80 62.40
Maryland 5 63 64 (2.2) 58 61 (2.8) 69 63.00
Syracuse 4 73 68 (2) 68 43 (3) 75 65.40
Wake Forest 3 79 78 (1.67) 86 79 (2.33) 84 81.20

When checking out the ESPN 300 rankings, you can also see that the majority of the ACC’s top recruits went to the top-ranked schools. A look at the top 10 ACC recruits:

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ACC Football Positional Rankings 2013: Quarterbacks

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Clemson, Led by Tajh Boyd and Cole Stoudt, Have the ACC's Top Quarterback Unit for 2013

Clemson, Led by Tajh Boyd and Cole Stoudt, Have the ACC’s Top Quarterback Unit for 2013

While we’re still over two months away from the season, it does indeed seem to be that time of year — when college football blogs like this one and so many others start churning out season preview materials. We’ll be holding off till July and August for the team-by-team season previews, but in the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with taking a look at each position on the field and evaluating ACC squads’ respective strengths and weaknesses.

This week, we start with the quarterback position. Last year it was a strength — or at least it was supposed to be — and while it could be once again in 2013, that will rely on some new starters stepping up in a big way. Though it may not be as top-heavy as last year’s crop (especially after seeing EJ Manuel, Mike Glennon, Ryan Nassib and Sean Renfree headed to the NFL), the ACC still possesses a really strong group of passers who all look to either start or end their careers on a positive note.

Keep in mind that these are full unit rankings — not just one player — so just because one individual quarterback is better than another, it doesn’t necessarily mean the team’s entire crop of passers is. Still, disagree with any of these picks? Share your own selections below.

ACC Positional Rankings 2013: Quarterbacks

1. Clemson Tigers: Seeing both Tajh Boyd and offensive coordinator Chad Morris return was a godsend for the Tigers, who get one more year of the potent passing attack led by those two men. In 2012, Boyd broke out for over 4,400 total yards and now he has his eyes set on both a Heisman Trophy and a national title. Beyond Boyd, the team will lean mostly on Cole Stoudt in garbage time, after losing Chad Kelly tore his ACL in the spring. Stoudt, a junior, threw for 212 yards and three scores last season in relief of Boyd.

2. Louisville Cardinals: Teddy Bridgwater has all the hype and expectations anyone could possibly deal with in one season, yet I think he’ll still succeed. The Heisman contender and possible first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft is the core of a young Cardinals team that’s aiming to be unbeaten this fall. For when games get out of hand, the ball will likely be handed to Jerry Arlinghaus, the 6’4″ sophomore from nearby Covington, KY with a nice arm.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels: Bryn Renner‘s ability to transition to Larry Fedora’s spread offense has made him a rising star in the ACC, and don’t be surprised to see him put up even more impressive numbers as he closes out his senior season at Chapel Hill. Behind him, Fedora’s also stock-piling players who fit right into his system, with big passers like redshirt freshman Kanler Coker and true freshman Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky was named as “the next Johnny Manziel” by ESPN’s Joe Luginbill back in December, which is quite the name to live up to.

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NCAA Releases APR Rates: How ACC Football Fared

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Duke Once Again Topped the ACC's APR Scores; But How Did the Other Schools Fare?

Duke Once Again Topped the ACC’s APR Scores; But How Did the Other Schools Fare?

Today, the NCAA released its annual APR rates, which evaluates just how well institutions encourage actual “student athletes” to progress through school and graduate. As you may have heard, it’s caused some controversy around college sports, specifically because it penalizes schools for transfers, and schools see additional penalties if players don’t complete classes after declaring for the draft (more common in basketball than football, really).

Given the ACC‘s sense of academic stature, ratings like these should not be much of an issue, though. Out of a score of 1000, all you have to do is maintain at least a 930 (very few institutions were unable to do this during the 2011-12 evaluation period). And yet, a couple ACC schools struggled mightily. Two were just above the cut line, while another finished under. Just four were under 950 this year, though (compared to five last year). Overall, however, the league managed a pretty high average, with Duke achieving the third-highest football score in FBS, at 989. Northwestern was tops in FBS at 996, followed surprisingly by Boise State (993). The full ACC team breakdown for you:

Duke: 989

Clemson: 985

Georgia Tech: 983

Boston College: 982

Miami: 977

Wake Forest: 970

Virginia Tech: 970

Pittsburgh: 962

Virginia: 959

Syracuse: 958

Florida State: 954

NC State: 947

Maryland: 937

North Carolina: 934

Louisville: 924

Some additional thoughts:

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Too-Early 2013 ACC Football Power Rankings (June 10)

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Can FSU Quarterback Jameis Winston Live Up to His Growing Hype?

Can FSU Quarterback Jameis Winston Live Up to His Growing Hype Around Tallahassee?

The college football season is in sight! No, seriously it is. I received my Athlon Sports 2013 season preview magazine a couple weeks ago. Football Study Hall was able to amass a power poll based on all the preseason rankings thus far. Things are happening! And with that, we’re edging closer and closer to late August. Until then, these rankings are just conjecture, but oh well — we all need something to pass the time until kickoff.

1. Clemson Tigers (Last: 1): Clemson’s season is very likely to boil down to the first and last weekends, with 10 trap games in the middle. Vegas obviously likes the Tigers, but will the pressures of being a National Championship contender finally get to the team at some point? That’s why they play the games, of course, but win or lose the opening game against Georgia, it’s worth circling September 19 vs. NC State and October 19 vs. FSU as some potential bumps in the road.

2. Louisville Cardinals (Last: 2): Is is ridiculous to say that anything short of an undefeated season will be a disappointment for Louisville? The Cardinals play the 90th-most difficult schedule in the country in 2013 — a nice way of saying “nobody.” Like Clemson, though, they’ll be up against the weight of expectations, which could end up being the toughest opponent they face all season.

3. Florida State Seminoles (Last: 3): Jameis Winston will need a couple of games to adjust as the Seminoles’ starting passer, but until then he’ll have plenty of support from his defense, which is more experienced than the “returning starters” numbers let on. FSU doesn’t face a major-conference team with a winning record until October (Clemson), so there’s ample time for everyone — players and coaches — to get settled in.

4. North Carolina Tar Heels (Last: 4): North Carolina had one of the top 15 offenses in the country last season, and that was just the first season under Larry Fedora’s system. As he continues to burn up the recruiting trail, this is a team poised to be even better in 2013 as they adapt to Fedora’s spread style. The Heels’ defense may be a trouble spot, but if they’re scoring as they should, it may not matter much. Continue reading →

Early 2013 ACC Football Betting Lines

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"Clean, Old Fashioned Hate" is One of 48 ACC Matchups With Current Betting Odds in Vegas

“Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” is One of 48 ACC Matchups With Current Betting Odds in Vegas

While I’m not endorsing gambling (unless you’re in Las Vegas, then go right ahead), it’s always a great sign that college football’s right around the corner when you can start betting on games. To that end, Golden Nugget’s sports books have published lines for almost 250 games this fall — 48 of which are involving ACC squads. The full list of ACC games, which I’ve included below, are gleaned from the list provided by Don Best via SB Nation.

Week One

North Carolina at South Carolina (-12)

Penn State at Syracuse (+6.5) (at East Rutherford, NJ)

BYU at Virginia (+3.5)

Alabama at Virginia Tech (+17) (at Atlanta)

Georgia at Clemson (+3.5)

Florida State at Pittsburgh (+13)

Week Two

Syracuse at Northwestern (-13)

Oregon at Virginia (+21)

Florida at Miami (+2.5)

Week Three

Boston College at USC (-21.5)

Nevada at Florida State (-26)

Louisville at Kentucky (+14)

Week Four

Clemson at NC State (+11)

North Carolina at Georgia Tech (-4.5)

West Virginia at Maryland (+2)

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Atlantic Coast Convos Too-Early 2013 Top 25 (June 5)

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Without Everett Golson Under Center, the Irish Suddenly Look Shaky on Offense

Without Everett Golson Under Center, the Irish Suddenly Look Very Shaky on Offense

We’re inching closer and closer to the start of college football season, if you didn’t realize. Of course, the calendar still says 74 days left until kickoff, but the fact that it’s June means preview magazines are coming out, summer practices are right around the corner and we can all start speaking in baseless conjecture again. As always when you’re basing rankings on nothing but how a team “looks” to you, things have changed from last month’s poll, as you’ll notice below. Completely disagree? Believe that you’re better at ranking teams that have yet to play a game (and are over two months away from doing so)? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Atlantic Coast Convos 2013 Top 25 (June 5)

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (Last: 1)

2. Stanford Cardinal (Last: 2)

3. Texas A&M Aggies (Last: 3)

4. Oregon Ducks (Last: 5)

5. Georgia Bulldogs (Last: 6)

6. Ohio State Buckeyes (Last: 4)

7. South Carolina Gamecocks (Last: 7)

8. Clemson Tigers (Last: 8)

9. Louisville Cardinals (Last: 9)

10. Florida Gators (Last: 11)

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ACC Football Chat: Coach Speak, “Respect,” and Increased Cooperation Between ACC & Its Members

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Last Week, Jimbo Fisher Tried to Dispel the Myth of ACC Inferiority -- But Was it All Coach Speak?

Last Week, Jimbo Fisher Tried to Dispel the Myth of ACC Inferiority — But Was it All Coach Speak?

Last week around the ACC, the buzz was all about respect and a new sense of cooperation between the league and its members (specifically the football schools). Jumping off from these ideas, Hokie Mark and I chatted about what it all means, and what these ideas may develop into over the coming years. Check out the conversation below:

Mark: Earlier this off-season, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma made sports news with his statement to the effect that SEC football superiority is largely “propaganda.” Now Florida State‘s Jimbo Fisher has come out and said that the ACC is not far behind the SEC and that “perception is a huge part of it.” Is this just coach speak, or are OU, FSU and others in the ACC really close enough to dethrone the SEC?

John: College football coaches are, to a point, politicians, in that they’ll say whatever needs to be said to stay in the good graces of their fans/constituents. Stoops also said in the last month that the BCS was terrible after what happened to his team last year — ignoring all the times his team benefited from that same flawed system. Point is, he’ll say whatever’s necessary to make it appear like it’s not his fault that his team has fallen short of expectations. Fisher is in a similar boat, but has also just come off a season in which the ‘Noles largely met preseason expectations (ACC title, Orange Bowl). Both do have a point, however.

The college football season is largely shaped by the preseason polls, and whether or not a team appears in them regularly determines whether they’re in the title conversation at the end of it. So the bias toward the SEC has actually created a situation where the league gets off to a running start against the competition. That’s not to say the top teams in the SEC aren’t better than the top teams in other conferences (they are, for the most part), but they do get a slight leg-up on the perception front, which is half the battle in college football.

What about you, though? Obviously your team’s been in the national title conversation more often than mine has over the past decade, so how does it feel being discounted when you’re near the top of the polls?

Mark: Not at all, John. I’m one of those guys who thrives on not getting respect — it makes me want to prove it. And I think for the most part the Virginia Tech football team is the same; when they are disrespected, that’s when they are most dangerous. I know the Key Play has “Beat Bama” t-Shirts for sale, and Hokies everywhere seem to be running with the #BeatBama hash tag. So even though we are prohibitive underdogs, I’m quietly optimistic that Beamer & Co. will have “a little something” for Alabama.

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