ACC Bowl Week: Staff Predictions

You thought football was over once Clemson and Notre Dame finished their “game” in Charlotte a couple weeks ago? Oh no, we still have more to go!

The big games that matter for championship weekend went pretty much as expected, which is a disappointment to a few in your friendly Tar Heel Blog group as some of us were hoping for an upset here and there. Fortunately for Tar Heel fans, one upset wasn't Notre Dame sweeping the Tigers, and we all know how that result helped us.

Here’s your reminder of where we guessed a couple weekends ago:

The end result is that our standings aren’t changing too much, and there are only three people who have a mathematical shot of getting first place this season. Evan leads the pack by a full three games over second place, Matt. Joe is still in it mathematically, and got his picks in by the deadline to where he could finish in a tie with Evan, but things have to severely go his way.

One thing that is for sure set is last place. Just as a reminder, Jake launched mission “Do not finish in last place” a few weeks ago, and that mission was such a spectacular failure that it’s shocking we send him out week after week to speak as an expert on WCHL. Yet, even in misery he will finish 2020 with a winning record, so that’s saying something when even your worst can finish above .500 I mean, if Jake were in the NFC East, he’d be in the playoffs right now.

Honestly, yours truly is glad that Jake had a bad year because otherwise I’d be bringing up the rear. That said, I have Max, Chad, and Douglass all in my eye site so maybe I can climb up a rung or two.

There are six bowl games that will involve the ACC, all occurring within this week, and the first of which kicks off today in Orlando. The baked cracker bowl that used to be out west but now is named for the second bowl game in the Citrus Bowl (I’ve got that trademark pending) gets the ACC off and running this season, followed by the Duke’s Mayo tomorrow, the CFP games on Friday, and the Gator on Saturday before Carolina wraps it up with their Orange Bowl Saturday night. Thus, everyone was asked to pick a winner.

Here’s what the writers think will happen:

As you can see there is a real effort here to try and catch Evan, as both Joe and Matt have made strides to differentiate themselves from our leader. We’ll see if it works, but at some point you have to take a chance if you want to win it all. Meanwhile, Evan is taken the easy way out, and if favorites do what they are supposed to do, Evan will be the 2020 Tar Heel Blog Football Prediction Champion, where he will get this coveted trophy:

Sorry, we don’t have the budget for a trophy.

Alright, that’s all. Go Heels! Let start 2021 the right way!