The ACC will be good television at the very least this season, although some of the most exciting stories will probably take place off the field with the Nevin “The Snake” Shapiro garbage in Miami, the new QB competitions throughout the conference, UNC attempting to clean up the mess -relatively speaking, considering most coaches in the country would be ecstatic to coach the players Butch Davis left behind!- left by the former regime and, to a lesser extent, how the great academic institutions in conference will react going forward.

Regardless of how many players The U dismisses or punishes, the ACC will be flush with talent at the top and may find one of their teams competing for a National Championship come January.

Coastal

1. Virginia Tech 12-0 (8-0 in conference)

They aren’t too many programs in the country, never mind the ACC, that could lose so many elite weapons at key positions and be expected to compete for a conference title and BCS National Championship. But Frank Beamer has built a powerhouse that, when combined with a WIDE OPEN schedule, should be able to put together one of the best seasons in his tenure. Logan Thomas is a 6’6″, 245lb athlete who steps in for Tyrod Taylor and may be the 2011 version of Cam Newton. It’s a lot to put on a first-year starting sophomore but he has the weapons around him along with the strong defensive presence on the opposite side of the ball when they run into high-powered offensive teams. As talented as Beamer’s team is this season, the main reason we expect an undefeated season going into the ACC Championship game is the Hokies’ schedule. They play arguably their toughest road game at Georgia Tech in the middle of November and their strongest opponent -depending on the punishments levied out against Miami- is against Clemson at home on October 1st. They are going to get knocked for a dough-boy soft out-of-conference schedule but the Hokies may have learned their lesson after basically getting knocked out of the BCS Championship race after losing to Boise State in week one. We won’t mention what happened the week after against James Madison.

2. North Carolina 10-2 (6-2)

Here’s my sleeper team on the national scene. The Tar Heels benefit from a Virginia Tech-like soft schedule and shouldn’t play a team with a winning record in 2010 until they face Miami on October 15th and who knows what the ‘Canes will look like at that point. UNC’s defense has the potential to be a force to be reckoned with. Quinton Coples -the top ranked defensive player on most experts’ 2012 NFL Draft Board- and Dontae Paige-Moss bookend a dynamic defensive line that should make up for the loss of multiple NFL Draftees from the 2010 team, a few of whom never even saw the field due to their role with agents. They only return four starters on the offensive side of the ball but if they can get solid play from hyped recruit Bryn Renner at the QB position UNC should be in business. If bloodlines have anything to do with talent, even when the UNC offense stalls, opposing teams will be locked inside their own 20-yard line since C.J. Feagles -son of all-time leader in red zone punts Jeff Feagles- will be punting for the Tar Heels.

3. Miami 6-6 (4-4)

There’s a storm running through South Beach and its name is Nevin F. Shapiro. The former booster turned rat has implicated almost 15 players from this year’s squad in his scandal and is the exact reason why I wait so long to put out our season preview. Whether or not the likes of Jacory Harris, Sean Spence and Ray Ray Armstrong will be eligible to play this season is still up in the air. It’s not like we’re mentioning back-ups or little used reserves, we’re talking about leading receivers, tacklers, passer and a few of the most dynamic players in the program overall. It’s going to be damn near impossible to make predictions for this season’s version of the Hurricanes but we’re still talking about a team that has a new head coach, a turnover prone quarterback and a defense that still has yet to become better than the sum of its parts. We’ll obviously see what happens but if the Hurricanes wind up with more than 8 wins I’ll be extremely shocked. That’s coming from a big Miami supporter by the way! Their schedule -unlike their ACC peers- doesn’t do them any favors.

4. Georgia Tech 6-6 (4-4)

Give Paul Johnson a couple athletes, a decent size budget, facilities that don’t necessarily have to be good and a nice little contract and he’ll reward you with Bowl games about nine out of every ten years. The Yellow Jackets will get their share of victories this season but they won’t come in the dominating fashion that they did a few years back. Instead, 2011 will probably be a copy of what Tech fans saw in 2010. Johnson brings stability to a program that can win in the ACC but lacks the difference-makers to do so this season. Roddy Jones should put up decent numbers this season in the option but will need help from three newcomers in the backfield in order to maximize his potential. Once a QB masters the triple option attack he becomes dangerous but when you enter fresh faces, multiple reads and constant ball movement in an equation, turnovers tend to be the outcome.

5. Duke 4-8 (1-7)

Duke should win more games than they did last season but David Cutcliffe hasn’t been able to recruit as well as we originally thought but he does have seven starters returning on the offensive side of the ball to go along with quarterback Sean Renfree, who Cutcliffe is really high on. Other than that the Blue Devils will probably be looking forward to hoops season sometime in October after that get pumped by FSU.

6. Virginia 3-9 (1-7)

See Duke above, but subtract the good quarterback and hoops team to look forward to. Things are going to get a little bit uglier before they get better in Charlottesville.

Atlantic

1. Florida State 10-2 (8-0)

EJ Manuel was able to shed the “serviceable” tag late last season after taking over for Christian Ponder and has instead been given expectations heading into this season. When you’re a big-time quarterback at Florida State expectations can either sink you or motivate you. Look for Manuel to be motivated this season. The ‘Noles will find out where they rank among college football’s finest early in the season when they face Landry Jones and Oklahoma on September 17th , a game the young Seminoles might be overmatched in but also a contest the Sooners wouldn’t want to play a year from now. This is Jimbo Fisher’s chance to pull away from the rest of the pack inside Florida, something he’s been doing on the recruiting trail already. Defensively, FSU should be head and shoulders above the rest of the ACC from game one. They return eight starters to a unit that looked absolutely dominant at times last season. As long as Manuel can limit mistakes and put the ‘Noles in a position to win, the rest should figure itself out and the Seminoles should find themselves in the ACC Championship game in December.

2. Clemson 8-4 (6-2)

The Tigers return 15 starters from a disappointing 6-7 team that never got going under quarterback Kyle Parker and head coach Dabo Swinney. Whether it had anything to do with Parker having one foot out the door after being taken in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies is debatable but after a 3-point loss to eventual Champion Auburn the Tigers’ season spiraled out of control. Tahj Boyd, a big-time recruit out of high school, will take the reins for Clemson. Expect teammates to rally around Boyd, who may not be as polished a pocket passer as Parker but will do everything necessary to get first downs and move the chains on a consistent basis. Like a few other teams in the conference, Clemson’s schedule lines up perfectly for them and eight wins should be the absolute minimum for Swinney and Co. If Boyd catches lightning in a bottle and RB Andre Ellington can step up the way he saw CJ Spiller do so a few years ago, Clemson could be in for a big season. But we’ve expected that in the past of the Tigers, only to be let down. Will 2011 be the year they take a step forward or just another season in which we’re left shaking our heads and calling for Dabo’s at the same time?

3. Maryland 7-5 (5-3)

Danny O’Brien. Danny O’Brien. Danny O’Brien. I’m sure you’ve heard the name constantly if you follow ACC football so we might as well give him a little more press. The ACC Rookie of the Year in 2010 looks poised to have another solid season but big things are expected of him in College Park. As long as he can stay upright he should put up decent numbers but anybody who thinks his personal success will immediately translate to team success has to slow down a little bit. While the Terps should be improved, first-year coach Randy Edsall isn’t the type to sling the ball around the field 40 times a game and will test fans patience with his conservative ways at times. Maryland fans will probably see the Edsall’s biggest impact on the defensive side of the ball in 2011, as his teams are usually put in the right position to create turnovers and score points. It will be a learning year for sure but the future is bright in College Park, something that hasn’t been said with a straight face in a long time around those parts.

4. Boston College 6-6 (4-4)

A new offense might hinder sophomore QB Chase Rettig’s immediate growth but will be good for him over the long haul. As long as he can still figure out how to hand the ball off to Montel Harris he should be all set for 2011 as much of the offense will look that way in the short term. Luke Kuechly has been a man-child on defense over his first two seasons and is one of the top-rated players on everybody’s 2012 Draft Board. The Eagles will most likely put together a prototypical BC season in 2011, losing a game that they should have won, winning one nobody thought they would and ending the season on a winning note in a Bowl game. They’re one of the few teams in college football I steer clear from every weekend during the gambling season because they keep games close but are far too unpredictable. Well, I guess you can say they’re predictably unpredictable. Either way, stay the hell away from them in Vegas!

5. N.C. State 6-6 (2-6)

The Wolfpack might start the season off on a 6-1 tear and everyone in Raleigh will be telling one another “Who needs Russell Wilson?!” Then the heart of their schedule will kick them in the face like Jordan Jefferson and they’ll be thanking the athletic director for setting up games against Liberty, Wake Forest, South Alabama and Central Michigan early in the year because without those they would be up a creek without a paddle. If they don’t start 5-2 or 6-1, heads up because things are only going to get worse from there!

6. Wake Forest 1-11 (0-8)

Chris Paul is the perfect player to take the Wake torch from Tim Duncan and carry it throughout the NBA over the next decade. Demon Deacons fans can watch proudly as their university is represented in a class manner night in and night out. Unfortunately, that’s about all I could muster in terms of positives for Wake Forest for the upcoming season. But hey, there’s always the Gardner-Webb game on September 17th to look forward to! Yikes.