At this point there are basically fives teams playing for a legitimate shot at the ACC Championship Game. Yes, others are still in the mix but in that happy place where dreams meets reality and reality runs over dreams like an 18 wheeler over a grape, there are only five teams left.
The game of the week, as denoted by a 7:45 PM start on ESPN Saturday night is FSU vs Clemson. This was once called Bowden Bowl but the youngest of that pair is now doing cheeky color analysis somewhere and well that is pretty much all Bobby is doing to for all intents and purposes. Clemson controls its own destiny in the Atlantic. A win here and they are 4-2 with NCSU and UVa left. Plus, Clemson has a game in hand in a tiebreaker with Boston College who only has two losses. FSU can claw back to 3-3 and ahead of Clemson with a win but would need help since BC owns the tiebreaker on them. Got all of that?
Duke and Georgia Tech also control their respective destinies in the Coastal which could end with a bloody run vs pass offensive extravaganza next week in Durham. Duke only needs to slip by UNC to stay at one loss in the conference. And yes, the more I write about Duke actually winning in football the greater the chance than I am going to impale myself with this keyboard. UNC will be looking to play spoiler and grab one of the two winnable games it needs for bowl eligibility goodness.
Georgia Tech has Wake Forest and must tread carefully versus the Deacs who can be both dangerous and harmless in the same game. The looming issue for Wake is whether Riley Skinner, knocked out of the Miami game with a concussion, will be able to play. If he does not, that will not bode well for the Deacs though Georgia Tech will probably have the football for 2/3 of the game so it may not matter who is calling the signals for Wake. The Yellow Jackets need two wins and they go to Tampa.
Miami will keep their outside shot at the Coastal alive. Canes need to win out and get help from Wake or Duke to overtake Georgia Tech. Maryland and NCSU were demoted to ESPN360 from ESPNU perfectly illustrating how little anyone cares about this game, Wolfpack fans included.
Virginia Tech will try to terminate a two game losing streak(wait...what?) against ECU in Greenville. The Hokies should take care of business but you never can tell what might happen in Greenville at night.
VT 30 ECU 14
Miami 34 UVa 10
NCSU 38 MD 28
GT 31 Wake 17
UNC 28 Duke 20
Clemson 45 FSU 24