ACC Football Staff Predictions: Championship Week

We’ve made it folks. Another college football season is almost in the books, and the vast majority of teams are now done and waiting for Sunday and their bowl assignments. The coaching carousel spins around and around, and if you weren’t careful, you’d think we were in the offseason already.

But as it is, we still have more football.

This weekend is championship weekend, and there are multiple games out there that fans should have some interest in, including this weekend’s ACC matchup. Folks, Charlotte may not have many fans in the stands for this one just because of the size of both fanbases, but the actual contest between Wake and Pitt promises to be spectacular. You have two high powered offenses with two defenses that have been known to give up massive points, complete with two experienced quarterbacks trying to take advantage of a rare opportunity to be a non-Clemson ACC Champion. The game will have zero impact on the CFP, but it has the potential to be a real fun watch.

So how did we get to that title game? Well, we don’t need to relive what happened last week as the rest of the ACC finished up their slate, but in the traditional week where the ACC meets up the SEC in certain areas, and rivals meet up, the staff had some opinions about who would make it out. Those decisions lead us to this week of determining an overall champion. Thus, let’s remind ourselves how last week turned out:

Max is doing well for a reason, as he picks with his head and not his heart, but the rest of us wrapped up this UNC season being disappointed yet again. Personally, I only picked against UNC once, versus Notre Dame, meaning I was 7-5 in picking games involving the Tar Heels this year. The fact that I’m still even sniffing the top is amazing. Unfortunately, I gave schools with zombie coaches (Florida and Virginia Tech) no chance and it turned into me having a bad week. Max, though, just plowed ahead.

This week we are doing the Power Five title games as well as the AAC, since Cincinnati has to win it in order to make the CFP. It’s very likely that game will be watched more than the ACC, as the Bearcats look to disrupt the status quo. Elsewhere, Michigan needs to take care of business, Oklahoma State hopes to sneak in in case there’s a slip up in either of those other games, and Bama has to pull an upset in order to make it. You also have the Pac 12.

Let’s see what we all think:

Max is in prevent mode here, as the only staffer that has a shot of catching him is Joe, and Joe is going for the tie by picking Pitt when Max went Wake, and Oregon when Max went Utah. All of their other picks are the same, and everyone else is just trying to not finish in last or try for the stand. I don’t expect Alabama to win, necessarily, but it’s one of the only real other plausible spots of difference where I have a shot at sneaking into third.

Will last week’s winner finish in last? Can Joe sneak up and tie Max or will Max run away with the gold? Enjoy this weekend’s game and find out next week!