2011 recap: ACC

In the first of a series of 6, we do a quick recap of the 2011 season to remind everyone where these teams are standing going into 2012.

10 days until kickoff....

The 2011-2012 bowl season was a big one for the ACC.  For the first time, the conference sent two teams to bowl games.  Clemson got to the Orange Bowl by virtue of winning the ACC Championship Game.  Meanwhile, Virginia Tech was picked to be an at-large selection in the Sugar Bowl, which needed two at-large teams due to the unprecedent national championship featuring two SEC teams.

Unfortunately, the ACC did not fare well at all in the BCS bowls.  VT lost in heartbreaking fashion in the Sugar Bowl to Michigan.  However, Clemson proved to be a complete embarassment, losing to West Virginia by allowing the Big East team to score 70 points.

Of the 8 teams to go to bowl games, only 2 (Florida State and NC State) won.

It is interesting to note that Notre Dame played 3 ACC teams during the regular season in 2011, beating them all.  (Wake Forest, Maryland, Boston College.)  They lost to Florida State in a bowl game.

The biggest moment of the ACC season probably game during the final minutes of the Virginia Tech-Miami game in Lane Stadium.  Smart use of "Enter Sandman" after the conclusion of the game to keep fans off of the field.  (Except for that chubby kid that get knocked over a few times.)

At one point, Clemson and Virginia Tech were ranked in the top 10, and it looked like the ACC Championship Game could be a matchup between two teams in the top 5 or 6.  However, after starting 8-0, Clemson went 1-3 in their final month of play.  Yet they were able to rebound in a rematch with VT and come out with a bigger victory than the first matchup.  That would prove to be the only decent game Clemson would play during the last 6 games.

Boston College, Maryland, and Duke were not elligible for bowls.  Miami was barely elligible at 6-6, but sat out due to pending NCAA sanctions.

For 2012, UNC is the only school with a brand new coach.  However, due to NCAA sanctions, they will not be playing in the postseason.

Once again, Notre Dame is playing three ACC teams, but this year, they are trading Maryland for Miami, bringing back the old "Catholics vs. Convicts" matchup that was so high profile in the 1980s.  The game will be a night game at Soldier Field in Chicago.