Tar Heel Blog Staff ACC Predictions: Week 6

So much for consensus. Against the wisdom of the entire Tar Heel Blog staff, not to mention every sportsbook out there and most of the country, a hapless-looking Boston College team beat Louisville, then left-for-dead Georgia Tech took advantage of a couple of splash plays and pulled off the upset over ranked Pittsburgh just a week or so after firing their head coach. It didn’t matter for our standings, because everybody lost those picks, but it still hurts. Anyways, on to this week, where we’re fixing to get embarrassed again, because there’s not a lot of dissent here:

Grid View

First of all, we’ve got a new entrant into the top 3! Al’s been trailing just behind the podium positions for a couple weeks now, and now finds himself in a tie for third with Matt. We’ll be watching that Duke-GT game, which will break that tie, and if that and the UVA-Louisville game go Al’s way, he could vault into a tie for second.

But there’s not much more that can happen, because there is not a single game this week with more than one person picking against the grain. Personally, I’m almost more surprised we didn’t have anybody, including resident doomers Brandon and Matt, pick against UNC this week; they’re Vegas underdogs on the road. I guess UNC’s recent streak over Miami and the Canes’ last action being a loss to Middle Tennessee State were just too powerful. Elsewhere, we’ve got Douglas betting on Louisville continuing to run cold after that loss to BC — this might be two weeks in a row where a previously very good quarterback who had so far looked like a shell of his former self gets right against the Cards. Al’s got Georgia Tech riding the momentum of their Pittsburgh win into a win against a well-coached but not super-talented Duke team, and I’m surprised nobody’s joining me in picking FSU against NC State, after the former held Wake Forest’s explosive offense in check and just had a cold day offensively while the latter’s vaunted defense made DJ Uiagalelei look as good as he has all year. The line’s only 3 points, so I can’t help but wonder if some of my colleagues just saw a 30-20 final score and assumed State played Clemson close... I kid, I kid. State’s strength is in its front 7 and Florida State’s weakness is its offensive line, so that’s a big point in the Wolfpack’s favor. I just have a feeling...

Do you agree with our consensus picks? Disagree? Have thoughts on the more interesting matchups? Let us know!