The Big Ten may have four teams in the top five of the latest College Football Playoff Poll, but Pat Narduzzi believes in the strength of the ACC.
Narduzzi has been very vocal in his praise for the ACC, and he doubled down Monday when asked about the perception of the league when compared to conferences like the SEC and the Big Ten.
“I’ll say this again, the ACC from top to bottom is the best conference out there,” Narduzzi said. “Every weekend anybody can beat anybody. The Virginia football team was a good team. They’ve got their whole entire offensive line back. They were down three guys. They weren’t out for the year.
“I think the ACC top to bottom is really good. Yeah, it hurts when you’re beating each other up, no question about it.”
Miami is still the highest-ranked program in the ACC, ranked at No. 9 after a loss to Georgia Tech over the weekend, and SMU (14), Louisville (19) and Clemson (20) are also ranked. Pitt fell out of the rankings following a loss to Virginia over the weekend.
Only three ACC programs are likely on the CFP selection committee’s radar at this point. According to ESPN analytics, Miami has a 65% chance to make the CFP, followed by SMU (36.1%), Clemson (9.8%), Louisville (2.8%) and Pitt (0.4%).
14 of the 17 programs in the ACC are at least .500 this season, and that’s without preseason favorite Florida State failing to deliver in any regard this season.
The ACC doesn’t have the top-end talent of the SEC or Big Ten, but the rumors of the conference’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
There’s a pretty good chance that at least two ACC programs are in the CFP this season. Even with the league “probably” getting dinged for losses more so than other conferences.
“I don’t go evaluate it,” Narduzzi said. “The disrespect is there preseason. I’m sure it’s there midseason.”
