Atlantic Coast Conference – Page 4

Atlantic chaos? ACC analyst believes Atlantic Division will be ‘very intriguing’

The phrase “Coastal chaos” has been fitting in the last decade when describing the volatility of the ACC’s Coastal Division, which saw each of the division’s seven teams win the division title from 2013-19. But while the Coastal has rightfully …

But while the Coastal has rightfully become known for its craziness, Mark Packer is already looking forward to seeing what he believes will be a really interesting race in the ACC’s Atlantic Division next season.

“We always talk about Coastal chaos,” Packer said recently on the Packer and Durham show on ACC Network. “I’m just going to make this point now. It’s February, so keep it in mind, it can change a gazillion times and probably will. We always talk about how crazy the Coastal is. That Atlantic Division is really going to be good. I’m just telling ya. There’s some teams with a lot of dudes back.”

In the Atlantic, there is defending division champion Wake Forest, which lost to Pittsburgh in the conference championship game but appears poised to contend for the division title again with returning quarterback Sam Hartman, who led an offense that averaged 41.0 points per game last season, second in the ACC behind only Pitt (41.4).

Then there is NC State, which also returns its starting quarterback, Devin Leary, to go with a defense that ranked No. 2 in the ACC last season in points per game allowed (19.7) behind only Clemson (14.8). The Wolfpack, like the Demon Deacons, figure to be ranked among the nation’s top 15 or 20 teams in the preseason.

Other Atlantic Division foes Florida State (Jordan Travis), Louisville (Malik Cunningham), Boston College (Phil Jurkovec) and Syracuse (Garrett Shrader) all return their starting quarterbacks as well.

Of course, Clemson’s quarterback situation is yet to be determined heading into the spring, with rising junior D.J. Uiagalelei and five-star freshman Cade Klubnik set to compete for the reigns of a Tigers team hoping to get back on top of the Atlantic and win the ACC again in 2022 after seeing their streak of six straight conference titles snapped last season.

“NC State’s going to get so much national love in the offseason, it’s not even funny,” Packer said. “(Louisville head coach Scott) Satterfield was on with us the other day. You got a sense, hey I love my offensive line, I got Malik Cunningham back, I like what we got on the perimeter, defense should be better. You’ve got storylines along that front. You’ve got the whole Clemson situation. Obviously, that’s a given. And what happens with their quarterback, who knows. We’ll watch that in the spring. That’ll be a fun thing to watch.”

Packer is excited to see how it all unfolds next season.

“That Atlantic Division in the ACC is going to be very intriguing,” he said.

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ESPN analyst sees ACC trending toward becoming a Clemson, Miami conference

An ESPN analyst was a guest this week on WCCP 105.5 FM The Roar and discussed the hype around Miami and new head coach Mario Cristobal, and what the potential re-emergence of the Hurricanes as a nationally relevant college football program might …

ESPN’s Roy Philpott believes things are looking up for Miami with Cristobal now in charge.

“There is a lot of buzz surrounding Mario Cristobal and Miami,” Philpott said in an interview with Kelly Gramlich on The Roar. “Now, it’s taking him a little bit of time to put that staff together. That’s generated a lot of conversation behind the scenes. But I think that as you look around at schools that have recruited Florida, the state of Florida, with a lot of success the last 10 to 15 years … Because Miami has just stunk and Miami has been without an identity and Miami has been without a quality head coach for any consistent period of time.

“Coach (Mark) Richt did it for a year or two, it was good. But it wasn’t what it was when Larry Coker, Dennis Erickson and Jimmy Johnson were doing their thing. Mario Cristobal at Miami, it feels like to me that legitimately they’re about to be back on the football map.”

If that’s the case, Philpott says it’s a good thing for the conference, especially from a financial and exposure standpoint.

“If you’re a fan of Clemson, if you’re a fan of the ACC, you’re looking at this from a twofold approach,” he said. “One, the league needs it. The conference needs it. If you’re talking about making up revenue gaps and generating more cash and more eyeballs and more television sets and that kind of thing, you need another brand to step up within the league, and you’re looking at potentially conference expansion somewhere down the line where you can renogiate and get a bigger deal. Again, that starts to maybe help close revenue gaps.”

On the other hand, Philpott wonders if Cristobal’s presence at Miami — and to a lesser extent, Billy Napier taking over as Florida’s new head coach — will negatively impact Clemson’s recruiting efforts in the Sunshine State, with what he sees as a “perfect storm” coming together at The U with Cristobal and new athletic director Dan Radakovich.

“From a Clemson perspective, maybe the downside is will you have as much success in Florida now with Mario Cristobal and with Billy Napier and what they’re going to try to do to recruit better,” Philpott said. “Florida’s got a long way to go in that regard with their talent. Miami, I don’t know if it’s quite as far.

“So that, to me, is something to watch in how quickly will a good coach like Mario Cristobal with credentials who can recruit, ties to the area, loves it, wants to be there … There’s talk of an on-campus stadium, you’ve got Dan Radakovich there who Clemson fans certainly understand what he brings to the table. All of that coming together, I think is a perfect storm for Miami.”

Philpott, though, doesn’t expect the powerhouse program that Dabo Swinney has built at Clemson to fall off.

But he thinks Miami is on the rise and that the ACC is trending toward becoming a Clemson, Miami conference as this decade continues.

“So if we look ahead to the future five to 10 years, can Clemson stay where it has? My guess there is yes,” Philpott said. “And then who else is getting set to emerge? Does this become a Clemson, Miami conference over the course of the rest of this decade? My educated hunch would be yes, and that brings more stature and prestige to the ACC in football, which is something I think the league really needs right now. And they’re getting closer to that. I think they’re working towards that, and there’s a chance that could happen here in the next couple of seasons.”

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ACC Preseason Baseball Coaches Predictions

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Florida State has been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball preseason favorite by the league’s 14 head coaches. The coaches voted Georgia Tech as the favorite to win the Coastal Division. The Seminoles …

The Seminoles received eight votes as the likely overall ACC winner. Virginia received three votes, followed by Notre Dame with two and NC State with one.

Florida State was also picked to finish atop the Atlantic Division with 88 total points, followed by NC State with 76 and Notre Dame with 70. Louisville placed fourth with 64, followed by Clemson (43), Wake Forest (35) and Boston College (18). The Seminoles received eight votes as the division favorite, while Notre Dame had three, Louisville two and NC State one.

Eight coaches picked Georgia Tech to win the Coastal Division, while Virginia had five first-place votes and Miami one. The Yellow Jackets tallied 91 total points, followed by Virginia (77) and Miami (71). Defending ACC champion Duke placed fourth in the voting with 60 points, followed by North Carolina (44), Virginia Tech (25) and Pitt (24).

Florida State finished 31-24 overall last season, placed third in the Atlantic Division and was one of eight ACC teams selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament. FSU earned three league postseason individual honors, with catcher Mat Nelson voted the ACC Player of the Year and Parker Messick joining NC State’s Carlos Rodon (2012) as the second player in conference history to be voted ACC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year in the same season.

Messick has been named the National Preseason Pitcher of the Year by Perfect Game, and the Seminoles have been ranked among the nation’s top 15 in every major preseason poll released thus far.

Nine ACC teams have been ranked in at least one major poll during the 2022 preseason, and 15 different ACC players have been named to at least one preseason All-America Team.

The ACC has placed at least one team in each of the last 15 College World Series and at least six teams in each of the last 17 NCAA Tournaments.

All 14 ACC baseball teams open their seasons on Friday, February 18, with conference play set to begin on Friday, March 11. The 15-game ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 24-29 at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the second consecutive season. Full ticket books are currently available by visiting CharlotteKnights.com or by calling the Knights Ticket Office at 704-274-8282.

Full results of the 2022 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll, with first-place votes in parenthesis:

Overall Champion

Florida State

Atlantic Division

1. Florida State (8) – 88

2. NC State (1) – 76

3. Notre Dame (3) – 70

4. Louisville (2) – 64

5. Clemson – 43

6. Wake Forest – 35

7. Boston College – 16

Coastal Division

1. Georgia Tech (8) – 91

2. Virginia (5) – 77

3. Miami (1) – 71

4. Duke – 60

5. North Carolina – 44

6. Virginia Tech – 25

7. Pitt – 24

Two analysts don’t pick Clemson to win Atlantic

During The Huddle: 2022 Football Schedule Reveal on ACC Network on Monday, show host Jordan Cornette and analysts Eric Mac Lain, EJ Manuel and Mark Richt made their picks for which teams they think will represent the Atlantic and Coastal divisions …

During The Huddle: 2022 Football Schedule Reveal on ACC Network on Monday, show host Jordan Cornette and analysts Eric Mac Lain, EJ Manuel and Mark Richt made their picks for which teams they think will represent the Atlantic and Coastal divisions in the 2022 ACC Championship Game, which will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Richt, Mac Lain and Cornette all picked Miami to win the Coastal, while Manuel went with Pittsburgh.

As for the Atlantic, while Manuel and Mac Lain picked Clemson to win the division, both Richt and Cornette predicted NC State to represent the Atlantic in the conference title game.

Here’s what they had to say when making their predictions:

Mark Richt: “NC State. NC State I think is the most balanced team in the league. I think they’re going to win their side of the division, without any doubt. And then I’m taking the boys at The U. Again, usually it’s year two when a coach gets his act together. But I think Coach (Manny Diaz) left a lot of really good players, and Coach (Mario) Cristobal really understands the culture of that place. I mean, let’s face it – home run hire at the AD position (Dan Radakovich), home run hire at the head coaching position. A lot of momentum just going into the season. So, I think it’s going to be Miami.”

E.J. Manuel: “Coach, I gotta disagree on the Coastal side. I’m going to say the Pitt Panthers get another chance to get back there. Kedon Slovis, he’s going to make that move to help himself, move on to the draft. It’s a good team. If they had a quarterback versus Michigan State, they win that game. And I’m going to say on the Atlantic side, I think Clemson gets back. I think Clemson picks it back up, they’re going to be back dominant.”

Eric Mac Lain: “I agree with both of y’all. I think we could see easily, all those situations. I think it’s going to be Clemson and Miami. At the end of the day, I think both those teams are going to have unbelievable years, but would not be shocked by NC State or Pitt playing in that game.”

Jordan Cornette: “TVD (Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke) I think is the best quarterback in the conference next year. Of all the great quarterbacks, I think he’s going to be the best quarterback, so I agree with you guys there. I do think Miami gets there. As for the other side … I think NC State.”

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Packer calls out ESPN for knocking ACC, Clemson

On the Packer and Durham show on ACC Network on Wednesday, Mark Packer and Wes Durham discussed the final AP Top 25 Poll, which was released Tuesday. The final AP Poll features three ACC teams in the top 15 (No. 13 Pittsburgh, No. 14 Clemson, No. 15 …

On the Packer and Durham show on ACC Network on Wednesday, Mark Packer and Wes Durham discussed the final AP Top 25 Poll, which was released Tuesday.

The final AP Poll features three ACC teams in the top 15 (No. 13 Pittsburgh, No. 14 Clemson, No. 15 Wake Forest) and four ACC teams in the top 20 (No. 20 NC State).

“Wait a minute, (ESPN analyst) Joey Galloway said the league stinks,” Packer said, when Durham mentioned the ACC having three teams in the top 15. “I’m not going to let that go away, because he was wrong when he said it eight months ago, and he’s been proven wrong again. So, I’m just going to reiterate, they’ve got three in the top 15. The league stinks, right?”

Durham pointed out that this year marks the second time in the last six seasons the ACC finished with four teams ranked in the AP top 20 (2016).

“The league stinks, remember,” Packer sarcastically responded. “Four in the top 20, three in the top 15, and we’re just going to bury the league before we see any games this year. That’s what I learned this year at ESPN. OK, I keep saying, can we just play the games and see where this goes? I’m just asking. Just asking. We ended up having four teams in the final AP top 10 (No. 3 Michigan, No. 5 Baylor, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Michigan State) that you couldn’t find them when the season started – four in the top 10. You gotta play the games. All that hype, all that nonsense, talking heads throwing stuff against the wall, wanting to be heard, put it on Twitter, social media, all that garbage – you’ve got to play the games, man. That’s why we love the sports.”

Durham also brought up the fact that Clemson (10-3, 6-2 ACC) finished No. 14 in the AP Poll despite a 2-2 start and three losses before the month of November, thanks to six straight wins to end the season.

Packer called out those at ESPN who said early in the season that Dabo Swinney’s dynasty at Clemson is over.

“Boy, the program’s dead, right? That’s what I heard on ESPN,” Packer said. “You’re afraid to say it. I’m going to say it. There were people on ESPN after the first week of the season that said, ‘It’s over.’ They finished what, Wes? How many wins they have? Double digits. ‘Program’s over. They stink. Forget about ‘em. Stick a fork in them, they’re done. Dynasty’s over.’ At some point, are we not held accountable for some of the garbage that’s spewed on radio and television? I’m just asking. I am asking that question. … I do have an answer. If I gave it to you, it’d be my last day at ESPN.”

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ACC Adds Shorter Isolation Period Options for Vaccinated Individuals

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today an addition to the league’s Medical Advisory Group Report that includes options for reducing isolation for vaccinated individuals, if permitted by local and state public …

In addition to the updated report, the Medical Advisory Group has also stressed that due diligence be maintained on everyday mitigation strategies as the best way to reduce and minimize the spread of COVID and its variants.

The ACC’s Medical Advisory Group has been meeting weekly since the spring of 2020 to share information on the impact of COVID-19 on ACC campuses and intercollegiate athletics. The first MAG report was released on July 29, 2020, and today is the 12th version of the report over the last 17 months.

The updated report maintains the below language related to isolation, while adding two options to shorten isolation for vaccinated individuals.

Pursuant to CDC guidance, an individual who tests positive for COVID-19 shall be isolated for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms/positive test and at least 1 day (i.e., 24 hours) has passed since recovery defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement of respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath). A student-athlete’s medical treatment will be determined by institutional medical staff, and be considered unavailable for training, team/group activities or game play until the student-athlete has both completed necessary isolation and had a medical clearance by team physicians.

A vaccinated individual who tests positive for COVID-19 may complete isolation when one of the following occurs, if permitted by local and state public health officials:
Once asymptomatic, the individual has two negative tests (i.e., molecular PCR or antigen) from specimens that are collected at least 24 hours apart; or
At least seven (7) days have elapsed since the first positive test, the individual’s symptoms are improving, and the individual has one negative test (i.e., molecular PCR or antigen) within 24 hours of being cleared.
Such an individual must be fever-free for at least 24 hours to be cleared under either of the above options.

The MAG is comprised of an individual from each member institution and includes a cross-section of infectious disease experts, public health experts, campus student health experts, team physicians, athletic health care administrators and a mental health expert.

Following the announcement of ACC’s modified 2021-22 COVID-19 Game Rescheduling Policy on Wednesday, December 22, the league’s Athletic Directors clarified that for men’s and women’s basketball, a team must have a roster minimum of seven game available scholarship (updated Dec. 27) student-athletes and one countable coach to play a game.

Another ACC Team Won’t Play in Bowl Game

Another ACC team has will not be playing in a bowl game. Earlier today Virginia and Boston College had their bowl games cancelled. Tonight it was announced that Miami will be unable to participate in the Sun Bowl against Washington State. Miami …

Another ACC team has will not be playing in a bowl game. Earlier today Virginia and Boston College had their bowl games cancelled.

Tonight it was announced that Miami will be unable to participate in the Sun Bowl against Washington State.

Miami Hurricanes announce they won’t be able to play in the Sun Bowl due to COVID cases @WPBF25News pic.twitter.com/3Y4txQelQn

— Yianni Kourakis (@WPBF_Yianni) December 27, 2021

ACC Team Delays Departure for Bowl Game

The Atlantic Coast Conference has already had one bowl game impacted when Texas A&M pulled out of the Gator Bowl. Now an ACC team has delayed their departure for their bowl game. The Virginia athletics department announced today (Dec. 24) the …

The Atlantic Coast Conference has already had one bowl game impacted when Texas A&M pulled out of the Gator Bowl. Now an ACC team has delayed their departure for their bowl game.

The Virginia athletics department announced today (Dec. 24) the Cavalier football team’s travel to Boston for the Fenway Bowl has been rescheduled for December 26 while awaiting results from COVID-19 testing to be completed. The team was originally scheduled to depart Charlottesville the afternoon of Dec. 25.

ACC Modifies COVID-19 Game Rescheduling Policy

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday that it has modified its 2021-22 COVID-19 rescheduling policy. The decision was unanimously supported by the league’s athletics directors as a result of the current …

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday that it has modified its 2021-22 COVID-19 rescheduling policy.

The decision was unanimously supported by the league’s athletics directors as a result of the current rise in COVID cases and its impact on winter sport programs. If possible, games that cannot be played as scheduled will be rescheduled. If a game cannot be played and cannot be rescheduled, it will be considered a no contest.

For men’s and women’s basketball, a team must have a roster minimum of seven game available student-athletes and one countable coach to play a game. If a team does not have the requisite number of participants, and elects not to play, the game shall be a no contest. If a team has the requisite number of participants and does not participate, the game will be declared a forfeit. This policy shall be retroactive to any results beginning with the 2021 ACC winter sports schedule.

Finally, the ACC’s Medical Advisory Group continues to monitor and discuss the current circumstances and, if necessary, may make adjustments to the current protocols.

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Are adjustments coming to ACC’s COVID-19 policies?

Adjustments could be coming to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s COVID-19 policies including game rescheduling. That’s when the league’s athletic directors approved a revised policy for football and men’s and women’s basketball among other sports …

Adjustments could be coming to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s COVID-19 policies including game rescheduling.

That’s when the league’s athletic directors approved a revised policy for football and men’s and women’s basketball among other sports regarding testing protocols, mitigation strategies and the forfeiture of games amid the lingering coronavirus pandemic. Former Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, who’s moved on to the University of Miami in the same role, said the conference’s athletic directors are going to meet Wednesday to discuss more potential alterations to the policies given the vaccination status of many of the ACC’s coaches and student-athletes.

“We may need to adjust our medical advisory group information as it relates to getting back to play,” Radakovich said Tuesday during his appearance on “Packer and Durham.” “It’s a very different circumstances today than it was even a year ago. A lot of people are vaccinated. A lot of athletic teams.”

As part of the league’s revised policy, teams that have a vaccination rate of at least 85% are required to test their unvaccinated players just once a week with a minimum of three tests per week required of unvaccinated individuals on teams with a vaccination rate any lower than that. Fully vaccinated individuals aren’t required to participate in surveillance testing.

But if an ACC team can’t play a contest on its originally scheduled date due to an insufficient number of available players because of COVID-related issues, the policy calls for that team to forfeit. In that scenario, the forfeiting team would be assigned a loss and the scheduled opponent a win that would both count in the league standings.

If both teams have COVID-19 issues that prevent them from playing on the originally scheduled date of their contest, each would have to forfeit and take a loss in the league standings, according to the current policy.

Radakovich said the forfeit policy will likely be “another piece” that’s discussed among the athletic directors.

“I think the forfeit policy was put into place back in the early fall to encourage student-athletes to get vaccinated because if you weren’t and your team did’t have the requisite players, your team would forfeit,” he said. “So it was something out there that was another encouragement for student-athletes to get vaccinated. Now, just as we’ve learned during this pandemic period, there’s new information, and there are new variants that are coming out. So we have to adjust this policy.”

The ACC made it through the football season without any of its conference games being affected by COVID-related issues. But with the United States seeing a surge in coronavirus cases recently, particularly those linked to the Omicron variant, the policy is already having an impact on the basketball season.

Multiple men’s basketball teams within the conference, including Florida State, Wake Forest and Boston College, have had games postponed or canceled. Wake Forest and Boston College were scheduled to play each other Wednesday, but that game has been canceled because of coronavirus-related issues within Boston College’s program.

With the forfeit, Boston College drops to 1-1 in ACC play. Wake Forest, assigned the win, moves to 2-0 in the league.

“The variant, while it hits, might not be as severe to those who are vaccinated, but we’ll hear a lot more about that in the next day or so from our medical advisory group and then look forward to making some decisions because (COVID-19) is still here,” Radakovich said. “It’s still prevalent. And we’ve got to be able to do as we’ve done in the last 18 to 20 months and navigate it to allow us to have a safe and competitive athletic season whether it was football in 2020 or 2021 and now basketball and moving into the spring sports.

“There’s a way to get it done. We’ve shown that can happen. We’ll just need to continue to adjust.”

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