ACC Schedule Rankings
1. Miami – The ‘Canes face a major challenge early as defending Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and the Oklahoma Sooners come to South Beach. Ending the regular season on the road at South Florida will be difficult. The 'Canes open with FSU in Tallahassee, then play Georgia Tech and at Virginia Tech in consecutive weeks. Miami also gets Clemson from the ACC Atlantic Division. UM will likely be underdogs in their first four games of the year.
2. Florida State – An early season road trip to BYU, who nearly crashed the BCS party last season, won’t be easy. The Seminoles will be making the rounds in state, playing the defending national champion Gators in Gainesville and playing rising South Florida for the first time. In the ACC, FSU plays North Carolina, Miami and Georgia Tech from the Coastal Division and has defending champion Boston College, Clemson and Wake Forest on the road from the Atlantic Division.
3. Virginia Tech – Give the Hokies a lot of credit for not scheduling a single FCS team and for opening the season on a neutral field against Alabama. This non-traditional pairing gives us a marquee inter-conference game in early September. Nebraska is the big name coming to Blacksburg and VT will look for revenge against ECU. The Hokies have Boston College, Maryland and NC State from the ACC Atlantic Division. The Georgia Tech in Atlanta will be huge.
4. Georgia Tech – The annual end of the year rivalry with Georgia looms large, especially after the Yellow Jacket victory in Athens last fall. GT plays two SEC teams, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, on the road. After Jacksonville State, the Yellow Jackets play Clemson and at Miami in back-to-back Thursday night games. Tech also plays at FSU and Wake Forest from the ACC Atlantic.
5. Maryland – The Terrapins defeated California in College Park a year ago, now Maryland heads west for the return trip. Rutgers, with Greg Schiano at the helm, remains a formidable regional foe from the Big East. Maryland has to play Virginia Tech in November. Road trips to Wake Forest, NC State and FSU in division will be very difficult.
6. Clemson – The TCU Horned Frogs will likely bring a lofty early season ranking to Death Valley in September. Though the Tigers have had the upper hand in recent years in the rivalry, a trip to Columbia to play South Carolina waits at the end of the year. Road games against Miami and Georgia Tech from the Coastal Division won’t be easy.
7. Virginia – The TCU game will be a major challenge for a Virginia team that missed out on the postseason last year. Indiana is a winnable game against a Big Ten opponent. A road trip to Southern Miss may be harder than most think. Virginia plays at Maryland, Boston College and at Clemson from the ACC Atlantic Division. They host Virginia Tech to finish the year.
8. NC State – The season opener against South Carolina gives this young team a great opportunity to get a big win on a national stage. Pittsburgh will come to Carter Finely Stadium in a game the Wolfpack feel they can win. State has Duke, at Virginia Tech and North Carolina from the ACC Coastal Division.
9. Boston College – The rivalry with Notre Dame is one of the most underrated in all of college football. Central Michigan is decent, but there isn’t much more to get excited about on the non-conference schedule for the Eagles. BC has at Clemson and at Virginia Tech in the first two months of the season. The Eagles will host North Carolina.
10. North Carolina – The Tar Heels will be playing two FCS opponents from the Southern Conference. East Carolina is a solid team and a road trip to UConn could be tricky but there is no headliner game on this schedule. Carolina plays Florida State and at Virginia Tech in back-to-back weeks. Crossover games against FSU, BC and NC State are tough.
11. Wake Forest – A road trip to Navy will be very difficult as the Midshipmen beat the Demon Deacons last regular season. Baylor and Stanford are winnable games against BCS conference competition. The two teams went 9-15 last year. Miami, Georgia Tech and Duke are the cross-divisional games.
12. Duke – There are at least three winnable games on the schedule, although only one of the two FCS games can count towards the team’s win total for the postseason. A non-conference schedule like this is what a program trying to develop some confidence needs. The road schedule is manageable with league trips to NC State, Virginia, UNC and Miami.
