5 Burning Questions: ACC Style

5 Questions facing the conference leading into the football season.

1)      Now that Virginia Tech running back Darren Evans is out for the season, will they still win the ACC?

Many analysts still have the Hokies winning the ACC, but I see another team winning the conference. In Paul Johnson’s second season at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets should have a very strong year on offense. This year’s team is more experienced and future NFL running back Jonathan Dwyer (7.0 ypc last year) should lead the Yellow Jackets to a BCS bowl. ESPN's Mel Kiper thinks Dwyer could be a top 15-20 pick in next year's NFL Draft. [AJC]

2)      How many ACC coaches will get fired?

One of the best stories in the conference is Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen losing 86 pounds in the offseason. This will help him in his daily life, but he has only nine returning players and this will hurt his chances of staying for another season. We do expect running back Da’Rell Scott to have a monster season.

Miami is another team with a brutal schedule as they have non-conference games against Oklahoma and South Florida. Randy Shannon has been involved with this team for a long time as a defensive coordinator and head coach. This will not help him this season if he doesn’t find a way to get Miami back to being one of the top teams in the nation. There is a chance that Miami could lose their first four games (Florida St., Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma). I see the Hurricanes winning six or seven games and Shannon and Friedgen will get fired. Both of these schools should go after Tommy Tuberville if Marland doesn't offer the job to coach-in-waiting James Franklin.

3)      Will Florida St. coach Bobby Bowden retire after the season?

Assuming that the Seminoles have to vacate some of their wins because of the academic cheating scandal, Bowden might realize that it will be difficult now to catch Penn St. coach Joe Paterno in the race for the most wins in college football history. FSU has a tough schedule with road games against BYU, Boston College, North Carolina, Clemson and Florida. We see N.C. State or Boston College winning the Atlantic Division and Bowden will retire after the season with another mediocre season.

4)      How will Dabo Sweeney do in his first full season at Clemson?

I thought this was an interesting promotion last season, but the Tigers finished with three straight wins. Running back James Davis is now in the NFL and the Tigers return running back C.J. Spiller. Sophomore running back Jamie Harper and Spiller should improve the run game. We love the hire of Kevin Steele as the defensive coordinator and expect Clemson to have seven or eight wins.

5)      Will Duke make a bowl game?

Former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe is in his second season as coach of the Blue Devils. His team won four games last season after winning only one game combined the past two seasons. If the Blue Devils are going to make a bowl game, they are going to need big years out of quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and future NFL defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase. Look for sophomore quarterback Sean Renfree to push for playing time and help lead the Blue Devils to six wins and a bowl game. The Blue Devils could be the team that gets Friedgen fired as I expect Duke to upset Maryland on Oct. 24.