For those prediction lovers, here ya go

[TIGER-PAUL]

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/acc-football-2019-predictions

Pitt – the defending Coastal champs – returns only 10 starters and has to replace two 1,000-yard running backs. The Panthers are counting on new play-caller Mark Whipple to help quarterback Kenny Pickett take a step forward in his second season under center.

Coastal Division
Rank Projected
1 Virginia 6-2 9-4
2 Virginia Tech 5-3 8-4
3 Miami 5-3 8-4
4 Pitt 4-4 6-6
5 Duke 3-5 5-7
6 North Carolina 2-6 4-8
7 Georgia Tech 2-6 4-8


ACC Championship Game
Clemson over Virginia

 

[pitt-girl]

Unless I'm missing something (which is very possible), I don't get the Miami love. Didn't they lose almost their entire recruiting class?

 

[ratking17]

Athlon is one of the worst in the prediction forecasting magazines. It's all somewhat of a crapshoot but I do enjoy reading them. The phil steele magazine is the best in my opinion

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

The coastal is pretty much a question of, who sucks less.

 

[cashisking884]

Unless I'm missing something (which is very possible), I don't get the Miami love. Didn't they lose almost their entire recruiting class?

Teams that didn't have great W-L records but actually performed really well in the analytics, are always big jump candidates. ND in 2016 had a horrible record but actually finished Top 25 in the S&P+ in terms of quality of play. The next year they had a huge turnaround in Ws because the record caught up with the quality of play. Texas in 2017 was the same way, and last year the record caught up with quality of play.

Miami is probably the biggest candidate for that this year when you look at where the metrics had them compared to their record in 2018. Add in the amount of teams they return + the huge number of transfers they added, and compare it to the Coastal, and it's easy to see why Connelly's projection model has them in a favorite in 10 of 11 games next year.

 

[cashisking884]

Athlon is one of the worst in the prediction forecasting magazines. It's all somewhat of a crapshoot but I do enjoy reading them. The phil steele magazine is the best in my opinion

Billy Connelly's SBNation has surpassed Steele as the best preview.
But in terms of physical magazine, Steele is still the best.

 

[ratking17]

Billy Connelly's SBNation has surpassed Steele as the best preview.
But in terms of physical magazine, Steele is still the best.

Completely agree with both of your comments

 

[FireballZ]

I think Pitt will do better than that, but I agree w/ UVA v. Clemson.

 

[cashisking884]

I don't trust UVA's offense enough to be high on them.

Last year they couldn't buy a big play. Everything short play after another, avoiding loss of yards and staying ahead of the sticks.

Now they lose Ellis and their OL. I just don't see them being as efficient as they were last year. So they now they are going to need more explosive plays from the offense to off-set it. But where are they going to come from? Perkins is what he is as a passer, and that just isn't his game. And the WR core is probably below average.

It's going to be even more of a struggle for them offensively than it was last year.

 

[ratking17]

UVA QB was small if I recall. Does he last the entire year?

 

[pittmeister]

So the over/under is 6-6? I'll take the over...

 

[McKee Place]

Well that is going out on a limb for them

 

[pittmeister]

Well that is going out on a limb for them

What's your prediction?

 

[H2PZoo]

Unless I'm missing something (which is very possible), I don't get the Miami love. Didn't they lose almost their entire recruiting class?

8-4 is getting love? I bet Miami fans do not think so

 

[str61166]

Better than some tweet i saw going around predicting Pitt 1-7 in conference with the lone win being UNC.

Making coastal predictions... when in doubt, try to pump hype into Miami and VT.

But everyone seems to love Virginia this year, and it’ll make that opening night game all the more interesting. Virginia winning the coastal wouldn’t shock me. I just feel like it’d be too much of an oddity to have literally all 7 teams in the coastal each winning the division once between 2013-2019... but if any division in FBS is going to do it, it’s going to be the coastal.

 

[pittdan77]

The coastal is pretty much a question of, who sucks less.

Same as every year.

 

[MDPittalksio96]

Just my two cents

Coastal Division
Rank Projected
1 Virginia 6-2 9-4
2 Miami 5-3 8-4
3 Pitt 5-3 7-5
4 Virginia Tech 4-4 6-6 (they have lost a lot from a squad that wasn't great)
5 Duke 3-5 5-7
6 North Carolina 2-6 4-8
7 Georgia Tech 2-6 4-8


ACC Championship Game
Clemson over Virginia


Personally, I don't like the fact that we have to play UVA game 1. They are the most experienced team in the division. That being said it could also be used to our advantage in that maybe we can catch them off guard? Maybe the defense will be aggressive and throw Bryce Perkins off his game. Who knows with the coastal though?

 

[joeydavid]

Just my two cents

Coastal Division
Rank Projected
1 Virginia 6-2 9-4
2 Miami 5-3 8-4
3 Pitt 5-3 7-5
4 Virginia Tech 4-4 6-6 (they have lost a lot from a squad that wasn't great)
5 Duke 3-5 5-7
6 North Carolina 2-6 4-8
7 Georgia Tech 2-6 4-8


ACC Championship Game
Clemson over Virginia


Personally, I don't like the fact that we have to play UVA game 1. They are the most experienced team in the division. That being said it could also be used to our advantage in that maybe we can catch them off guard? Maybe the defense will be aggressive and throw Bryce Perkins off his game. Who knows with the coastal though?

What's the tiebreaker here?

1 Virginia 4-4
2 Miami 4-4
3 Pitt 4-4
4 Virginia Tech 4-4
5 Duke 4-4
6 North Carolina 4-4
7 Georgia Tech 4-4

 

[Elsalvador]

Personally, I don't like the fact that we have to play UVA game 1. They are the most experienced team in the division. That being said it could also be used to our advantage in that maybe we can catch them off guard? Maybe the defense will be aggressive and throw Bryce Perkins off his game. Who knows with the coastal though?

I echo these exact sentiments..Not just because it's how Pitt's opener has been for many years running, since FSU in 2013, I like the D-1AA opponent first to get your feet wet a little bit. Give me Delaware first game of the year. I wish I was the schedule maker...No Okie State, don't play good 1-AA teams EVER..

But yes, you gotta come out ready for an all-out battle 1st game and leave it all out there. Instead of keeping your playbook semi-closed before playing PSU over the past couple years, Whipple's gotta open it up. Not saying one ACC W or L will change everything, but it can easily affect the scope of the division.

 

[pittdan77]

What's the tiebreaker here?

1 Virginia 4-4
2 Miami 4-4
3 Pitt 4-4
4 Virginia Tech 4-4
5 Duke 4-4
6 North Carolina 4-4
7 Georgia Tech 4-4

Good luck.

Three-Team (or More) Team Tie: (Once a team is eliminated from the tie, the tie-breaker procedures restart for the remaining teams. If the three (or more) team tie can be reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker format
will then be applied.)

1. Combined head-to-head win percentage among the tied teams.
2. Win percentage of the tied teams within the division.
3. Head-to-head competition versus the team within the division with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) Conference win percentage, and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken first to last, using the league’s tie-breaker policies.
4. Combined win percentage versus all common non-divisional opponents.
5. Overall win percentage versus non-divisional opponents.
6. Win percentage versus common non-divisional opponents based upon their order of finish (overall win percentage) and proceeding through other common non-divisional opponents based upon their divisional order of finish.
7. The tied team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.
8. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee.

 

[joeydavid]

Good luck.

Three-Team (or More) Team Tie: (Once a team is eliminated from the tie, the tie-breaker procedures restart for the remaining teams. If the three (or more) team tie can be reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker format
will then be applied.)

1. Combined head-to-head win percentage among the tied teams.
2. Win percentage of the tied teams within the division.
3. Head-to-head competition versus the team within the division with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) Conference win percentage, and proceeding through the division. Multiple ties within the division will be broken first to last, using the league’s tie-breaker policies.
4. Combined win percentage versus all common non-divisional opponents.
5. Overall win percentage versus non-divisional opponents.
6. Win percentage versus common non-divisional opponents based upon their order of finish (overall win percentage) and proceeding through other common non-divisional opponents based upon their divisional order of finish.
7. The tied team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.
8. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee.

Oh well, Pitt has a 0% chance of being selected by a commissioner of a southern conference...

 

[cashisking884]

Just my two cents

Coastal Division
Rank Projected
1 Virginia 6-2 9-4
2 Miami 5-3 8-4
3 Pitt 5-3 7-5
4 Virginia Tech 4-4 6-6 (they have lost a lot from a squad that wasn't great)
5 Duke 3-5 5-7
6 North Carolina 2-6 4-8
7 Georgia Tech 2-6 4-8


ACC Championship Game
Clemson over Virginia


Personally, I don't like the fact that we have to play UVA game 1. They are the most experienced team in the division. That being said it could also be used to our advantage in that maybe we can catch them off guard? Maybe the defense will be aggressive and throw Bryce Perkins off his game. Who knows with the coastal though?

I’m more worried about our offense against UVA.
UVA wants to keep everything short and in front of the defense when they are on offense. That’s what Narduzzi’s defense is tailor made to prevent. In Year 5, I’m going to say Narduzzi will have decent success stopping their nickel and dime attack.

It’s when we are on offense that I don’t have much confidence against their defense. They are really good on that side of the ball, and what can anybody bank on us being offensively good at going into the season?

 

[MDPittalksio96]

It’s when we are on offense that I don’t have much confidence against their defense. They are really good on that side of the ball, and what can anybody bank on us being offensively good at going into the season?

I have the same worries as well. It's going to highly depend on if Whipple chooses to spread the ball around and actually throw more than 5 yards down the field. We have a great steeple of RBs that would indirectly benefit if we had a respectable passing attack. They wouldn't be keyed on and locked down. I also worry about the oline. Borbs is a great coach and he doesn't have to reverse any of the damage of John Peterson this year but those guys on the line are very young.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Athlon is one of the worst in the prediction forecasting magazines. It's all somewhat of a crapshoot but I do enjoy reading them. The phil steele magazine is the best in my opinion

He's good but he has trouble with the Coastal too. Picked Miami last year with Pitt 6th.

 

[cashisking884]

He's good but he has trouble with the Coastal too. Picked Miami last year with Pitt 6th.

I don't really care as much about predictions with preview magazines. I'm more looking for an in-depth breakdown that is strong on analytics and logic. Steele does a good job of that.

And to be fair to Steele, he's a lot like Connelly in that "he" isn't predicting this stuff as much as the computer algorithm he uses is predicting this stuff. And with a team like Miami, the computer is always going to be high on them because they enjoy arguably the greatest intra-divisional talent advantage in college football when you compare their recruiting class rankings to the rest of the Coastal. So every year the computers are telling Steele or Connelly, "It's Miami in the Coastal this year."

 

[9nationalchampionships]

A prediction before fall camp begins! I can only go as far as our D will put a hurtin' on the Cavaliers. Of course, until I get a look at our OL their D may put a hurtin' on our O as well!

 

[str61166]

He's good but he has trouble with the Coastal too. Picked Miami last year with Pitt 6th.

He had Syracuse last in the Atlantic too, and the confusing thing about the Pitt pick was despite having them 6th, he thought they’d still be bowl eligible. So while he was right about the bowl eligible part, no way in hell that would’ve happened if they finished 6th in the Coastal with that OOC schedule. Probably would have been more like 4-8 at best.

That said, Duke finished 6th in the coastal with a 1st round pick QB and went 8-5 with a bowl win... and didn’t exactly have an easy non-coastal schedule with Clemson, Army, Northwestern and Baylor.

So OK, it is a hard division to predict. Agree with the above post though his analysis/roster breakdowns is why I’ll probably buy his guide again this year. Already heard where he picked Pitt to finish in the coastal since some people got it early though.