Category: ACC

College Football Expert Picks, Predictions: Week 11

College football expert picks, predictions for Week 11, highlighted by Alabama vs. LSU, Wisconsin at Michigan, and Miami at Virginia Tech.

College football expert picks, predictions for Week 11, highlighted by Alabama vs. LSU, Wisconsin at Michigan, and Miami at Virginia Tech.

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* next to the pick means the team will win, but not cover.
Click on each game for the game preview and CFN Prediction

Tuesday, November 10

Akron at Ohio

7:00 CBS Sports Network
Line: Ohio -27.5, o/u: 57
– Bet on this at BetMGM

Gill Alexander, VSIN: Ohio
Patrick Conn, Longhorns Wire: Ohio
Jeff Feyerer, Fighting Irish Wire: Ohio
Pete Fiutak, CFN: Ohio
Dan Harralson, Vols Wire: COMING
Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire: Ohio*
Jeremy Mauss, MW Wire: Ohio*
Big Game Ben Niewoehner, CFN: Ohio*
Kegan Reneau, Sooners Wire: Ohio*
Johnny Rosenstein, SportsBookWire: Ohio
Nick Shepkowski, Fighting Irish Wire: Ohio
Scott Steehn, WinnersandWhiners: Ohio
Keith Stewart, WinnersandWhiners: Ohio
Brian Stultz, Auburn Wire: Ohio*
Clucko the Chicken, CFN: Akron
CONSENSUS PICK: Ohio*

Miami University at Buffalo

8:00 ESPN
Line: Buffalo -9.5, o/u: 57
– Bet on this at BetMGM

Gill Alexander, VSIN: Buffalo
Patrick Conn, Longhorns Wire: Buffalo
Jeff Feyerer, Fighting Irish Wire: Buffalo
Pete Fiutak, CFN: Buffalo
Dan Harralson, Vols Wire: COMING
Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire: Buffalo
Jeremy Mauss, MW Wire: Buffalo
Big Game Ben Niewoehner, CFN: Buffalo*
Kegan Reneau, Sooners Wire: Buffalo
Johnny Rosenstein, SportsBookWire: Buffalo*
Nick Shepkowski, Fighting Irish Wire: Buffalo
Scott Steehn, WinnersandWhiners: Buffalo
Keith Stewart, WinnersandWhiners: Buffalo
Brian Stultz, Auburn Wire: Buffalo
Clucko the Chicken, CFN: Buffalo
CONSENSUS PICK: Buffalo

Akron at Ohio | Miami Univ at Buffalo
EMU at Ball St | Toledo at WMU
Colorado St at Boise St | Iowa at Minn
ECU at Cincinnati | Utah at UCLA
Notre Dame at BC | Miami at Va Tech
Oregon at Wash St | USC at Arizona
Indiana at MSU | Georgia at Missouri
Penn St at Nebraska | OSU at Maryland
Texas A&M at Tenn | Alabama at LSU
Florida at Arkansas | Wisconsin at Mich
Oregon St at Wash | Results So Far

NEXT: Eastern Michigan at Ball State, Toledo at Western Michigan

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Notre Dame’s Kelly gets national recognition for defeating Clemson

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame’s head coach, is named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Week after upsetting No. 1 Clemson.

After ending Clemson’s “rule” over the ACC, plenty of Notre Dame players got recognition. Actually, three of the did which you can see here, but it was Brian Kelly’s turn to reap the benefits of defeating the former No. 1 team in the nation.

A perfect 7-0 start the the season, the longest winning streak in college football, it’s fitting that Kelly is finally getting some people to turn their heads. The Bobby Dodd Trophy is well aware of the Irish’s leader’s excellence, as Kelly won the award in 2018.

If the Irish continue their solid play for the rest of the regular season, Kelly should be in line for plenty of year-end national awards as well.

Kickoff time set for Notre Dame vs. Boston College

Kickoff time has been announced for Notre Dame’s trip to Boston College this weekend as the Irish look to avoid an upset at the hands of BC.

This Saturday’s Notre Dame game at Boston College has an official kickoff time set after the Irish upset of Clemson last week.

Notre Dame fans will have to keep the majority of their afternoons free as the ball will be teed up at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be shown nationwide on ABC.

Notre Dame moved to 7-0 on their season with the upset victory of Clemson and is the only remaining unbeaten team in the ACC.

Boston College is 5-3 on the year after sneaking by Syracuse with a 16-13 victory on Saturday.

As you’re probably aware, last time Notre Dame knocked off No. 1 all the way back in 1993, they lost to Boston College a week later which ruined their national championship dreams.

Trevor Lawrence comments on Notre Dame’s upset of Clemson

Trevor Lawrence met the media on Monday and offered his thoughts on not being able to play at Notre Dame this past weekend.

Clemson star quarterback and the runaway favorite to be the first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft Trevor Lawrence wasn’t able to play because of testing positive for COVID-19 late the week previous.

Would Lawrence have made the difference between Clemson winning and losing?

We could have that debate for a long time and not come to any certain conclusion but as well as DJ Uiagaleilei played, there were some plays and first downs left on the field because of misfires.  That said, Uiagaleilei played at an absurd level and showed exactly why he was regarded as one of the very top recruits in the entire nation last year.

Related:  The best photos from Notre Dame’s upset of No. 1 Clemson

Back to Lawrence though, the Clemson quarterback met the media via a video call on Monday and shared his thoughts on Saturday’s upset victory by Notre Dame and a bit on the time frame of when he knew he wouldn’t be playing in South Bend.

Lawrence on when he knew he wasn’t playing:

“I probably knew Saturday of the Boston College game,” Lawrence said. “I talked to coach Swinney and Danny Poole, our trainer. I asked if there was anything I could do to help on my end. Danny said there’s really no way for me to be in position where I could play. Coach Swinney, we talked about it. He said after the game he was probably going to say something to get that out of that way and let everybody know I wouldn’t be able to play.

Lawrence on not getting to play at Notre Dame Stadium:

“Obviously hate that I wasn’t able to play. Really a once-in-a-lifetime experience to get to play there. Super cool place. Just a cool thing to be a part of. Definitely wish I could have played, would have meant a lot to me. Can’t do anything about it, but just glad I was able to be there for my team.

Lawrence on if his absence was the difference between winning and losing:

“Who knows? Football is such an interesting game,” Lawrence said. “D.J. made a ton of plays that were great. Obviously, I would have loved to have been in there. D.J. was prepared and did everything he could. I would have loved to be able to play, for sure.”

Lawrence appears to be back on track to return for 7-1 Clemson next weekend as the Tigers travel to Florida State on November 21 after getting an off week this week.

Notre Dame’s five biggest plays from Clemson upset

Lord knows there were a ton of huge plays made by Notre Dame as they upset Clemson on Saturday but here were the five biggest for the Irish.

What a 24 hours it’s been living in the moment of Notre Dame knocking off the No. 1 Clemson Tigers and moving up to the second spot in the nation’s top 25 polls.A ton went right for the Irish on Saturday night in their win and like happens against great teams, a ton went a bit wrong as well.What were the five biggest plays that shifted the showdown into Notre Dame’s favor though?

Let’s go through all of them in chronological order as it started early for Notre Dame.

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NBC draws massive number for Notre Dame-Clemson

NBC was nearly as big of winner as Notre Dame on Saturday with the massive number the Irish vs. Clemson drew.

Games with the hype of Notre Dame and Clemson on Saturday night often times don’t live up to the billing, but this one had it all.

A quick start by the underdog, highlight catches, controversial calls, back and forth action a late comeback and a pair of overtimes to boot.

All of that coupled with the most anticipated Saturday Night Live of the year having to be pushed back made NBC a huge winner in the ratings game Saturday night as the game averaged a total audience delivery of 9.44 million viewers according to NBC, making it the most viewed Notre Dame game on NBC since the famed “Bush Push” contest in 2005.

Dave Chappelle hosting Saturday Night Live to conclude election week certainly didn’t hurt matters either as some looking for that as the game went to a second overtime helped the audience peak at 14.2 million viewers from 11:30-11:45 p.m. ET.

Notre Dame’s home season, the 30th of which has been broadcast on NBC, concludes on December 5 when the Irish host Syracuse at 2:30 p.m. ET.

College Football Playoff Chase: Who’s Still Alive After Week 10

Who’s still alive in the chase to get into the 2020-2021 College Football Playoff?

Who’s still alive in the chase to get into the 2020-2021 College Football Playoff?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Next week it’s really on when the Pac-12 adds its two-cents into the mix.

As always, the ground rules for this are 1) win your Power Five championship and go unbeaten and you’re almost certainly in, or 2) finish with one loss and a Power Five championship and you’re probably in, or 3) lose one game in the SEC, Big Ten or ACC and as long as that’s it, you have a shot.

Everyone else is playing for the joy of college football.

– Finished. Done. Let’s go take a steam
– The Group of Five hopefuls
– One-loss teams still alive
– Unbeaten College Football Playoff contenders

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Teams that haven’t played yet, but have a chance

With a short season, go 7-0 with a Pac-12 championship and there’s a shot. 6-1 and ehhhhhhh.

Pac-12
Arizona, Cal, Utah, Washington

– Finished. Done. Let’s go take a steam
– The Group of Five hopefuls
– One-loss teams still alive
– Unbeaten College Football Playoff contenders

Finished. Done. Let’s go take a steam …

These teams are either Power Five programs with multiple losses or Group of Five programs with one loss. Also being added is any Pac-12 team with a loss – there’s no chance with the league’s short schedule.

Unless something insane happens, these 83 teams are out of the College Football Playoff hunt.

ACC
Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

American Athletic Conference 
East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, Tulane, Temple, Tulsa, UCF, USF

Big Ten
Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers

Big 12
Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia,

Conference USA
Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP, UTSA, WKU, (Old Dominion not playing in 2020)

Independents
Army, (New Mexico State, UConn not playing in 2020. UMass

MAC
Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio,

Mountain West
Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming

Pac-12
Arizona State, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA

SEC
Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

Sun Belt
Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy, ULM

– The Group of Five hopefuls
– One-loss teams still alive
– Unbeaten College Football Playoff contenders

NEXT: Group of Five hopefuls

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Notre Dame up into top 2 in Amway Coaches Poll

Notre Dame moves up in the latest Amway Coaches Poll after upsetting former No. 1 Clemons in South Bend.

Notre Dame got their signature 2020 win last night, a double-overtime thriller against Clemson, where the Irish outlasted the Tigers 47-40. Yes, presumed No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence didn’t play, but does that really matter at all?

No, Clemson has been a dominant force in college football without Lawrence and will continue after he moves onto the the NFL. What the Irish did last night was something no other ACC opponent can claim to do since 2017, beat the Tigers in a conference game.

This is a night many Irish fan’s wont forget, we certainly won’t. They were rewarded for their effort in the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports by being ranked No. 2, two spots ahead of Clemson who they just defeated.

In other games in the ACC, No. 10 Miami, FL barely got by NC State, 44-41, Liberty beat another member of the conference on the road in Virginia Tech, and No. 24 North Carolina waxed Duke, 56-24.

Here is the full Amway Coaches poll, with ACC teams in bold and last weeks ranking in parenthesis.

1 Alabama (2)

2 Notre Dame (4)

3 Ohio State (3)

4 Clemson (1)

5 Florida (8)

6 Texas A&M (7)

7 Cincinnati (6)

8 BYU (9)

9 Miami, FL (10)

10 Indiana (13)

11 Georgia (5)

12 Oregon (14)

13 Oklahoma St. (12)

14 Wisconsin (11)

15 Marshall (15)

16 Iowa St. (17)

17 Coastal Carolina (16)

18 Oklahoma (19)

19 SMU (18)

20 USC (20)

21 Auburn (21)

22 Liberty (NR)

23 Northwestern (NR)

24 Texas (NR)

25 Army (21)

Dropped out: No. 23 Boise St., No. 24 UNC, No. 25 Michigan

Notre Dame up into top 2 in Amway Coaches Poll

Notre Dame moves up in the latest Amway Coaches Poll after upsetting former No. 1 Clemons in South Bend.

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Notre Dame got its signature 2020 win last night, a double-overtime thriller against Clemson in which the Irish outlasted the Tigers 47-40. Yes, presumed No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence didn’t play, but does that really matter?

No, Clemson has been a dominant force in college football without Lawrence and will continue after he moves onto the the NFL. What the Irish did last night was something no other ACC opponent can claim to have done since 2017, beat the Tigers in a conference game.

This is a night many Irish fan’s will not forget; we certainly won’t. The Irish were rewarded for their effort in the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports by being ranked No. 2, two spots ahead of Clemson.

In other games in the ACC, No. 10 Miami barely got by NC State, 44-41, Liberty won on the road at Virginia Tech and No. 24 North Carolina waxed Duke, 56-24.

The full Amway Coaches poll, with ACC teams in bold and last weeks ranking in parenthesis:

1. Alabama (2)

2. Notre Dame (4)

3. Ohio State (3)

4. Clemson (1)

5. Florida (8)

6. Texas A&M (7)

7. Cincinnati (6)

8. BYU (9)

9. Miami, FL (10)

10. Indiana (13)

11. Georgia (5)

12. Oregon (14)

13. Oklahoma St. (12)

14. Wisconsin (11)

15. Marshall (15)

16. Iowa St. (17)

17. Coastal Carolina (16)

18. Oklahoma (19)

19. SMU (18)

20. USC (20)

21. Auburn (21)

22. Liberty (NR)

23. Northwestern (NR)

24. Texas (NR)

25. Army (21)

Dropped out: No. 23 Boise St., No. 24 UNC, No. 25 Michigan

Klatt has Notre Dame in his top 3 after defeating Clemson

Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt reranks his top 10 teams after last nights action, with Notre Dame going up after upsetting Clemson.

The praise is starting to roll in for the Irish and rightfully so. Last nights epic double-overtime thriller gave many national pundits more ammo to move Notre Dame higher in their rankings. Already ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has moved the Irish into his his top two. Fox’s Joel Klatt didn’t put the Irish that high, just one off.

The 47-40 upset of No. 1 Clemson in South Bend has shaken the college football world. Brian Kelly guided his Notre Dame team to one of the biggest wins in his tenure and the recognition that comes with it.

Notre Dame now has a great chance at to make the College Football Playoff’s, even if they suffer a loss in the ACC Championship. They should be favored in every remaining game on the schedule, with the potential exception of a Clemson rematch in the conference title game.

Last night was electric, but the Irish can’t afford to let their guard down as they travel to Boston College this next weekend. Remember, the Eagles gave the same Clemson team a run for their money, but ended up losing late in the second half. Take a look at last nights highlights, it was one hell of a ballgame.