The biggest story in college football the past two years, beside the fact that the NCAA attempts to defend the fraudulent BCS formula, is the shakeup of Division 1 ball caused by the expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Last year, the ACC welcomed former Big East powers Virginia Tech and Miami. The two schools finished first and third, respectively, in the ACC in 2004. Their December 4 contest, a 16-10 Virginia Tech victory, was essentially the conference title game. Both schools are threats to win the national title this year and for most years in the foreseeable future. Needless to say, the Hokies and Hurricanes brought immediate gridiron muscle to a conference best known for its basketball.
The ACC expansion was completed on July 1 as the conference officially welcomed another former Big East member, Boston College. Now, no one will confuse BC with a southern football factory. But Boston College would bring depth and power – not to mention one of the nation's biggest sports markets – to any conference in the country.
"Lineman U" consistently boasts one of the nation's best rushing attacks and it turns out an ever-growing list of NFL players, including the centers on five of the last eight Super Bowl champions (Tom Nalen at Denver, and Damien Woody and Dan Koppen at New England). Leading BC's pro-style offense has also become a pretty sure way to find a job in the NFL. Four former Boston College quarterbacks have started at least one NFL game over the past two seasons, Matt Hasselbeck, Tim Hasselbeck, Brian St. Pierre and Doug Flutie.
The ACC has long been considered one of the dominant conferences in college basketball, if not the very best in the sport. Its expansion into a two-division "super" conference suddenly makes it one of dominant leagues in football, as well.
Note the preseason Top 25 rankings from College Football News. The ACC leads all conferences with seven teams in the Top 25. The SEC, which is generally the toughest conference top to bottom year after year, has six teams in the Top 25. The list is rounded out by the Big 10 (five), PAC 10 (four, including No. 1 USC), Big 12 (two) and Big East (one).
The ACC has some of the most passionate fan bases in the country, led by schools such as Clemson and Florida State, where football rules year round. But just two years ago, the ACC was something a football afterthought and, at best, a one-horse wagon. It was a conference utterly dominated by Florida State. From 1992 to 2000, the Seminoles won at least a share of the conference title every year while posting a 70-2 (.972) record against ACC opponents.
But in 2005 no fewer than three teams are legitimate conference and national title contenders. The conference will host its first championship game Dec. 3 at Jacksonville, smack dab in the heart of SEC country. Jacksonville, of course, is also the neutral-site host of the "World's Biggest Cocktail Party" – the game between SEC powers Florida and Georgia.
A few other ACC teams, Boston College and Georgia Tech most notably, are an upset away from finding themselves in the BCS mix at the end of the season. And over the half the conference's teams could earn bowl bids.
The ACC has wasted no time touting its new-found prowess, calling itself "The First Family of College Football" on various merchandise and promotional materials. The motto is a play, of course, on the name given to the Bowdens. Two of the Bowdens are head coaches in the ACC, dad Bobby at Florida State and son Tommy at Clemson. Jeff Bowden is Florida State's offensive coordinator while another of Bobby's sons, Terry, is the former head coach of SEC power Auburn and currently an ABC college football commentator.
The ACC may not be the first family of college football conferences. But there's no doubting it's now among the game's royal powers.
