Gold: The Hokie Pokey and week 9.

Okay, so Clemson isn’t going up to Blacksburg to prove to the world that they’re an elite level team.

They’re still – in my mind – the best team in this league. But, Virginia Tech paid Clemson forward for all the crap the world’s been dumping on the Hokies for back-to-back embarrassing ACC losses, and the subsequent poor behavior.

That was a very thorough and respectful beating Tech administered to the Tigers last night, and Frank Beamer’s team is now back in the hunt for the Coastal Division.

There’s still a long way to go, but here’s the best way to see a rematch of this game in Jacksonville....

Virginia Tech becomes very big Miami fans on Saturday. With Georgia Tech sitting at 3-1 in the league and having already beaten the Hokies this year, Tech either needs the Jackets to lose twice (possible, but unlikely), or Miami to win and create the possibilty of a 3-way tie atop the Coastal division at 6-2. If that’s the case, we’ll likely end up with tie-breaker #7 which brings it down to BCS rank and there’s a good chance that the Hokies rank would be ahead of Georgia Tech and Miami.

Clemson, on the other hand will be waving Old Gold and Black pom-poms next week when Boston College comes to Winston-Salem. The Tigers need the Eagles to lose twice or hope that the Deacons catch fire and win four of their remaining five (including that game against BC) to create the possibility of a 3-way tie with Wake in the Atlantic Division. Of course, BC could also lose at Miami at the end of the year...

Should the Tigers, Eagles and Deacons end the year at 6-2, there’s a chance that Chris Clark will be crowned Miss America!

There’s a long way to go and a lot of teams are still in the hunt for Jacksonville.

For instance....

If State can hold on to the football, they should be able to win up in Charlottesville, then all they have to do is beat Georgia Tech and Clemson before....never mind....it’s a little too much of a long shot to even type.

Tomorrow, as Chuck Amato told me yesterday, the mission for the Wolfpack is to simply NOT TURN THE BALL OVER. Is that too simplistic? Maybe, but unless you’re overwhelmingly superior or the luckiest sons of....you just can’t win by turning it over on the road.

NC State is -9 in the turnover department, 114th in the nation in that statistic.

Please, please, PLEASE can we see a little more play action on 1st down? I’m begging you guys, open it up, pretend that you’ve got a quarterback that knows what he’s doing?

The pick: NC State 26 Virginia 24

Boston College takes on Buffalo, one of the worst teams in Division 1. In fact, it would be a stretch to think that they’d be competitive at all in Division 1-AA.

The Pick: BC 40, Buffalo 3

Vanderbilt comes to Duke in what will likely be one of the most intimate gatherings of college football fans in the sport’s history. Vandy’s not bad, and they did manage a win at Georgia (you think Mark Richt wants that Saturday back or what), but they’ve got the 90th rated offense in the country and I say that Duke is on the verge. Whether or not the verge is ready to take that next step....

The Pick: Verge 24 Vandy 16

Wake Forest knew last week that coming to Chapel Hill wasn’t going to be easy because no matter what the circumstances are these in-state games always have more at stake. The players know each other intimately. They’ve grown up together. They were teammates. Lived on the same street. Hung out at Goodberry’s together.

Now, Dick Baddour has gone and fired John Bunting and all the players who love their coach are just a little bit faster, just a little bit stronger, and have their senses heightened just a little bit more. If Carolina doesn’t play their best game of the year I’ll be very surprised. Of course, UNC’s best still shouldn’t beat a very good Wake Forest team that should be able to run the ball to keep the chains moving and allow for Riley Skinner to make plays in the passing game. I think we’re going to have ourselves a little bit of a shootout at Kenan.

The Pick: Wake Forest 48 North Carolina 38

A week ago Georgia Tech allowed Clemson to run for more than 300 yards in a 31-7 whipping on the road. This week, the Yellow Jackets shouldn’t have to worry about a team running the ball like that because Miami isn’t capable of that type of a showing. Not that the Hurricanes can’t hurt Tech, because Kyle Wright is still dangerous and the U does have some outstanding athletes on offense. We’re going to see an SEC style defensive struggle in Atlanta.

The Pick: Georgia Tech 16 Miami 13

The Seminoles have never lost two conference games at home – until this year. Florida State has never lost three ACC games in the same season – until last year, and this year. But it’s been 30 years since the Noles have been .500 or worse heading into November (Bobby Bowden’s 1st season in Tallahassee) and 20 since they’ve been .500 or worse after any game in October. A loss in College Park would leave Florida State at 4-4 for the season and 2-4 in the ACC. I know this seems like it’s all about FSU and that Maryland is just an innocent bystander. I think that’s the way this goes.

The Terrapins are decent. But, they don’t have any real weapons on either side of the ball and therefore rely on the generosity of their opponents (or their weak schedule) to win games. As long as FSU doesn’t gift wrap a 6th win for the Terps (much like the Pack did last week) we’ll hear a lot of tomahawk chopping from whatever band FSU rents.

The Pick: FSU 27 Maryland 20

East Carolina heads to Hattiesburg to attempt what NC State failed miserably a month and a half ago. The Pirates are going to try and beat Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are good, but they’re not as good as you would think of a team that beat NC State by 20 on September 16.

They’ve only won once since and ECU is an improving team that I feel is going to give this one a run.

Can USM handle Pinkney to Allison? If they can’t I’m smelling a road upset.

The Pick: ECU 34 USM 30.

Some other’s worth noting...

It’s the largest outdoor cocktail party, in Jacksonville. And, judging from their home loss to Vanderbilt earlier this year you’d think that Georgia thought it was two weeks ago. The Bulldogs are a bit of a mess on offense and Florida is just a little to solid for the Dawgs.

The Pick: Gators 24 Bulldogs 13

"You can’t spell Citrus without UT!"

I think I’ll laugh about that line forever. Steve Spurrier came back to the college game and beat the Volunteers in Knoxville a year ago. But, Tennessee was bad. I think we’re going to have another good game, maybe a little higher scoring than a year ago.

The Pick: Tennessee 27 South Carolina 23

And a few weeks ago Tommy Tuberville complained about how his Auburn Tigers could go unbeaten and get shut out of a BCS title game and how the SEC was at a disadvantage and how there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll and how Elvis and John Lennon were still alive. Then his team went out and got stomped at home by unranked Arkansas. Suddenly, there’s no more whining.

Charlie Weis spent a fair amount of time during his press conference this week discussing the polls and how his team was jumped by a couple of schools in spite of the fact that the Irish didn’t lose their game. He made some very valid points, but the answer is always going to be the same, "shut up and go play". In many cases, when you complain, you ultimately pay the price with a loss. I don’t know if Navy can do that since they haven’t beaten the Irish since before Viet Nam. But, I won’t be surprised if it’s close.

The Pick: Notre Dame 31 Navy 24