Winless Bowl Season Puts Bright Spotlight on Weakened ACC Football
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
College football’s bowl season is the time when teams break from playing their peers taking off across the country to represent their school and conference against the best of the best. The end of season showdowns draws some of the most interesting matchups pitting prolific offenses against stout defenses, top head coaches going one-on-one in a chess match on the field, and at times we get amazing individual pairings of All-Americans strutting their skill and athleticism against the other to the delight of the diehard fan.
The other important byproduct of the bowl season is fodder for watercooler talk covering which conference is better than the other. During the 2020 college football bowl season, the Atlantic Coast Conference failed their fanbase in disconcerting fashion with a winless record highlighted by two teams on the game’s biggest stage in the College Football Playoff.
The ACC posted an 0-6 mark for the 2020 postseason stretch. Of the six games, the three ACC teams were higher ranked than their opponent:
Favored ACC Matchups
No. 21 Oklahoma State 37, No. 18 Miami 34
Kentucky 23, No. 24 NC State 21
No. 3 Ohio State 49, No. 2 Clemson 28
Unranked ACC Matchup
Wisconsin 42, Wake Forest 28
Underdog ACC Matchups
No. 5 Texas A&M 41, No. 13 North Carolina 27
No. 1 Alabama 31, No. 4 Notre Dame 14
2020 ACC Bowl Season Breakdown
A college football fan that has been around the block a time or two knows the end of season representation is not always what one saw on the field from said team during the regular season schedule. Many teams “do not show up” with the mindset of nothing to play for in “lesser” bowls. Teams can also suffer losses of top players opting out to get a one-week head start on training for the NFL Combine often leaving their brothers in a lurch. But one could argue that every ACC team accepting a bowl bid in 2020 had something to play for this season taking excuses out of the equation.
Miami Hurricanes
In the Cheez-It Bowl, the Miami Hurricanes (8-3, 7-2 ACC) had something to play for, but fell short. The historic football program has yet to claim an ACC Conference Championship and last claimed a national title in 2001. Off a 6-7 campaign in Manny Diaz’s first season, the Hurricanes turned the proverbial corner during the regular season with a winning record but only beat one ranked team, then-No. 18 Louisville, dropping their other three games against ranked programs; No. 1 Clemson, No. 17 North Carolina, and No. 21 Oklahoma State. Playing Oklahoma State in Orlando, although neutral site is still on partial home turf.
North Carolina State Wolfpack
North Carolina State is another ACC program that saw a big turnaround from the 2019 season. The Wolfpack discarded a 4-8 run flipping it around to finish 8-4, 7-3 ACC, after dropping their Gator Bowl meeting with an unranked Kentucky squad.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The unusual year brought unusual outcomes for Wake Forest in 2020. Head coach Dave Clawson has done a great job turning around the Demon Deacons program with four consecutive winning seasons after the program lived through seven losing campaigns from 2009-15. In a traditional season, Wake Forest may not have made a bowl game with a 3-4 ACC record finishing 4-5 overall. The Badgers entered the 2020 season as an AP Top 15 team but the COVID virus effectively ravaged their Big Ten championship plans.
North Carolina Tar Heels
A Tar Heels fan can argue with a valid point that North Carolina is still building in Mack Brown’s return to the sidelines, thus not as much was expected of them in the Orange Bowl. After five wins in two seasons under Larry Fedora, Brown posted a 7-6 record in 2019 bettering his efforts with an 8-4 overall, 7-3 ACC, 2020 run. In the Tar Heels defense, UNC had a 27-20 lead on the No. 5 Aggies early in the fourth quarter before A&M went on a 21-point run to close out the game.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
An ACC purist may note that the Fighting Irish are not a traditional part of the Atlantic Coast Conference; as that may be true, Notre Dame still won the regular season title with a 9-0 record that included a 47-40 double-overtime home win against No. 1 Clemson. Had Notre Dame taken down No. 1 Alabama, those purists might be singing a different tune welcoming their newish brothers with open arms. Statistically, Notre Dame performed well against the Crimson Tide but failed to convert two red zone opportunities, missed a field goal, and threw an interception giving Bama another chance to put points on the board.
Clemson Tigers
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has built an ACC empire at Memorial Stadium. Of Swinney’s 12 years on the sidelines at Clemson, the Tigers have posted 10 consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins with a string of five trips to the College Football Playoff. Getting trounced by 21 points as the favorite against No. 3 Ohio State is bruising to the ego and pride for Clemson and the ACC, especially after beating the Buckeyes 29-23 a year ago. The 21-point loss in the semifinal lines up with a 17-point National Championship Game loss to the LSU Tigers. Two years away from hoisting a national championship trophy, are the Tigers starting to slip on the national stage despite being one of the best recruiting programs in the country year after year?
Final Analysis
If Notre Dame resumes being an independent college football program during the 2021 season, Clemson will continue on atop their perch in the ACC. The 2020 schedule showed an ongoing trend of parity among the rest of the ACC teams with a handful of hopefuls striving to Clemson’s level but falling short.
On the national scene, the ACC is still a couple of steps behind the juggernauts in the SEC, and may even be behind the Big Ten now. The ACC’s 0-3 record in this year’s bowl season against the SEC, 0-2 versus the Big Ten, help drive that point home.
Photo credit: USA Today; No. 1 Justin Fields vs. Clemson