For those of you who live in ACC country, this season has been nothing short of chaos. Week-in and week-out fans of the Coastal Division have been on a roller-coaster ride of mind-bending what-if scenarios. Dreams were cut-short by another loss by a team that for at least one week looked as though they would run away with the division. So, what's going to happen Thursday night? Will we have closure on anything?
First, we're goint to assume that Miami will lose to Georgia Tech, and I think that's a BIG assumption (sorry Jacket's fans but I'm of a different Tech cloth and I think Miami is back in old form). Also, we have to take into account that this is Georgia Tech’s final conference game of the year. So, IF we’re going under the assumption that GT beats Miami. They will finish (temporarily) in the driver’s seat at 5-3.
On Saturday (remember Miami/GT is on Thursday night) North Carolina plays NC State, Virginia plays Clemson and Virginia Tech plays Duke. Since we're assuming things here I'm going to assume game outcomes. UNC wins (4-3), VT wins (4-3), UVA loses (3-4). Actually, I AM biased, so for the sake of argument let's assume UVA wins too (4-3).
Everyone that is still in play is at 4-3. The final week of the season brings resolution to everything. UNC beats down the lowly Blue Devils and finishes 5-3. I may be biased, but the Hokies have manhandled the Cavaliers in the new millenium, winning 7 of 8 by a combined 241-127. Virginia Tech goes to 5-3. However, IF I am wrong you would just swap UVA for VT from here on out since both Virginia universities defeated North Carolina.
Where does that leaves us? Well, it really does ALL come down to what Miami does on the field. If they beat Georgia Tech on Thursday, none of this will matter. However, if they DO lose to GT and then again on the final Saturday of the season to a dreadful NC State team that will be foaming at the mouth to ruin Miami's season, everything goes to the VT/UVA winner (at 5-3) by virtue of the fact that they both defeated the Tarheels and the Jackets.
Of course, if Miami beats GT to go to 5-2 and then LOSES to NC State, they finish 5-3. Head-to-head they would eliminate the VT/UVA winner and then LOSE the head-to-head with UNC. This scenario would make UNC the winners of the division, and is really their only hope of winning after the loss to Maryland.
Still confused? There’s really no way to know until the final whistle blows on Thanksgiving weekend who will be punching their tickets to Tampa as the winner of the ACC’s Coastal Division. If the smoking-hot Hurricanes continue their streak and win out, those tickets getting punched could be bus tickets for the 240 mile trip to Raymond James Stadium. But, let me say in closing; all you fans of the Jackets, the Hokies, The Cavaliers and the Tarheels, have faith…sometimes these things have a funny way of working themselves out.
