Surely there wasn’t a single person out there who predicted four years ago — when Miami and Virginia Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference — that heading in week three of 2008, Wake Forest would be the highest-ranked of only four undefeated ACC teams while Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson and Maryland would all be hanging on for their very lives.
And the Deacons’ success is thanks only to a game-winning field goal with just three seconds remaining against Ole Miss.
Exactly one ACC conference game has been played so far this season, yet aside from the Wake, only Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Florida State are unbeaten — and the latter two teams have only played once.
The ACC’s 33 percent clip of undefeated teams (4 of 12) is better than just one major conference, the Big East (25 percent, 2 of 8 teams), and one wannabe-major conference, Conference-USA (25 percent, 3 of 12 teams), which isn’t very impressive despite surging East Carolina.
The Southeastern Conference (8 of 12), the Big 12 (10 of 12), and the Pac-10 (6 of 10) all have more undefeated teams than teams with losses. Even the Big Ten, which has developed a reputation of being soft, boasts 8 of 10 teams without a defeat.
What does this all mean? Perhaps not much, aside from the need for ACC teams to either schedule better or play better. The latter option requires far fewer excuses.
