Virginia Tech (10-2, 7-1) Virginia Tech is always a safe bet to win the Coastal. The Hokies just reload each season and this year they bring back a powerful offense. Their defense is looking a little sparse but we’ll see if that prevents them from reaching the ACC Title game.
Miami (9-3, 6-2) Right out of the gate Miami will face its toughest challenges of the year on the road against OSU, Pitt, and Clemson. It doesn’t get any prettier later on down the stretch either but at least the ‘Canes host FSU, UNC, and VT. I think Randy Shannon will inspire the troops at the end to finish it out, but that first set of road games could MAKE or BREAK Miami’s BCS hopes…
Georgia Tech (8-4, 5-3) Georgia Tech has been at the top of the conference for the past couple of seasons. Paul Johnson came to Georgia Tech from Navy and brought with him his powerful option offense attack. In his first season at the helm his offense won him 9 games. Last season, GT went 11-3 and won the conference. It seems like nobody could stop the Yellow Jackets. Unfortunately they lose Jonathan Dwyer but QB Joshua Nesbit returns with five other starters. The defense should still be solid too with 8 starters returning.
North Carolina (7-5, 4-4) All eyes will be on UNC this season. Many believe this is the year the Tar Heels make a serious push towards the conference crown. Several key role players return making this one of the more veteran squads in the ACC.
Duke (5-7, 3-5) Duke could be the surprise of the conference. The Blue Devils will take an ugly beating against the defending Champs, Alabama, but after that they’ll string together wins against Wake, Army, Virginia, and Maryland. They travel on the road to Annapolis, but if they can steal a win from the Midshipmen they’ll be bowl bound in 2010—for the first time in 16 years!
Virginia (3-9, 0-8) For the past couple of seasons the only thing Virginia has done well is lose football games. As a result, Mike London was brought in as head coach to try and steer Virginia back in the right direction. It’s going to be difficult to see immediate results this season with only 12 returning starters but I guess that’s why they call it a “rebuilding” year, right?
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