Pitt picked to finish fourth in ACC Coastal. Your thoughts? Who wins the Coastal?

[cbpitt2]

http://triblive.com/sports/college/...-picked-to-finish-4th-in-acc-coastal-division

From the linked article:

The Panthers were picked to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal Division in voting by 167 media members.

Team (1st-place) Points
1. Miami (103) 1,065
2. Va. Tech (40) 932
3. Ga. Tech (9) 708
4. Pitt 643
5. N. Carolina (4) 606
6. Duke (4) 473
7. Virginia 219

Your thoughts? Who wins the Coastal? Where will Pitt finish? How does North Carolina and Duke get four first place votes each? Seriously. Clowns in the media.

 

[Rsross21]

I see Miami as the favorite, but I think 2-5 are all interchangeable. GA Tech is the wild card in my mind. They always have the slight competitive advantage with the triple option offense.

I personally think Pitt is year or 2 away from winning the coastal, but would not be completely shocked if they pull it out this year.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Well I do agree that 3, 4 and 5 are a coinflip. As you can see, the voters lump us fairly tightly together.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

I'm leaning toward Miami. Hard to believe they have never won it. We will find out a lot about Pitt the first 4 games.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

We aren't winning it, but wouldn't vote Ga Tech over us. UNC, I would. They've shown to have tripled down on determination to win in football. And we know what "determination" means, wink wink.

 

[VAPITTALUM]

http://triblive.com/sports/college/...-picked-to-finish-4th-in-acc-coastal-division

From the linked article:

The Panthers were picked to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal Division in voting by 167 media members.

Team (1st-place) Points
1. Miami (103) 1,065
2. Va. Tech (40) 932
3. Ga. Tech (9) 708
4. Pitt 643
5. N. Carolina (4) 606
6. Duke (4) 473
7. Virginia 219

Your thoughts? Who wins the Coastal? Where will Pitt finish? How does North Carolina and Duke get four first place votes each? Seriously. Clowns in the media.

According to this link PITT had 7 first place votes.

Like most on here, I would say 2-5 are pretty interchangeable at this point, with lots of question marks due to drafted/graduated players at key positions. We all know the areas where PITT is going to break in new faces; teams like UNC, VT, and GT are all going through the same transition.

 

[Pitt0912]

Miami should win, but you could say that almost every year and they haven't. I'm selling VT this year. Duke and UVA are both likely to be garbage. I think we'll finish second again, either by ourselves or tying for it with a 6-2 ACC mark.

 

[ThePanthers]

I think the media vote is pretty fair.

Could finish anywhere between 2-5, but it's all going to be close.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Winning the division isn't an impossibility. Maybe not likely; but certainly it wouldn't require divine intervention. Pitt has enough overall talent, if it meshes, matures and stays healthy to give any opponent a competitive game.

IMHO, it is not like it once was when we knew that our panthers would be physically (i.e., in size, speed and talent) seriously outclassed by any opponent.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

We will find out a lot about Pitt the first 4 games.

Maybe, but the season will be defined by what they do in the last 3 games (UNC, @VT, Miami).

Miami, VT, and UNC lost just as much as Pitt did on offense last year. None of these teams has a QB that isn't a giant question mark. Pretty much up for grabs.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

I think the media vote is pretty fair.

Could finish anywhere between 2-5, but it's all going to be close.

That fair ( Buffett banned word) word again, and it always has the same effect on me!

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The two ACC divisions are weird.. The Atlantic reads like the haves and have nots. Completely top heavy or completely bad. The Coastal is like the Parity Conference. I think Miami gets their bleep together under Richt. They might not return to dominance like they once was, but I do think they start becoming a regular 10 win team.

 

[PittMan 72]

Maybe, but the season will be defined by what they do in the last 3 games (UNC, @VT, Miami).

Miami, VT, and UNC lost just as much as Pitt did on offense last year. None of these teams has a QB that isn't a giant question mark. Pretty much up for grabs.

Yep, new QB's for Pitt, Miami, VT, UNC and GT. That unpredictability alone could make for a potentially wide open race in the Coastal. Then factor in other unknowns like injuries. Could be a very interesting race.

 

[PantherO]

Pitt is due for some good luck for a change and our defense has to be better doesn't it? I honestly do not see Pitt finishing below 3rd, but I think that would be more like tied for second. Perhaps we will catch Miami at a good time. Who knows. This is why we play the games. But I do think we are better than 4th in the Coastal.

 

[p45]

Maybe, but the season will be defined by what they do in the last 3 games (UNC, @VT, Miami).

Miami, VT, and UNC lost just as much as Pitt did on offense last year. None of these teams has a QB that isn't a giant question mark. Pretty much up for grabs.

Miami still returns an all-acc caliber wr & rb. Their front 7 on defense is going to be one of the best in the acc & even the country.. Miami is the team to beat.

Pitt at 4 seems reasonable.. Id probably power rank the coastal -

1) Miami
2) Georgia Tech
3) Virginia Tech
4) Pitt
5) Unc
6) Duke
7) Virginia

I dont understand why Georgia Tech gets no reapect on this board. They are solid every year & they return a ton of experience from a 9 win team. Duke has some upside.. Duke's qb should be good & that can count for a win or two. Unc will just be trying to hold everything together this year.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

I think Pitt fans see Georgia Tech as too one dimensional with the old wishbone-style run dominated offense.

 

[Cathedral Lawn Frisbee]

3/4 seems about right. Hoping to see much improvement from the D.

 

[pittdan77]

VA Tech is the enigma. They had some very Pitt like things happen to them the last few years. If you look at the division, there are four schools that are improving quickly as programs. That's a really good sign.

 

[rpost3]

Legit case for Pitt being anywhere b/w 2nd and 5th.
Pitt loses a lot of talent.
If the defense isn't significantly better, then QB and RB play will have to be even better than it was last year.
That means the RB stable being better than Conner and Browne being better than Peterman.
Pretty unlikely either happens.
I won't be surprised to see Pitt win 6 or 7 games.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

I think Pitt fans see Georgia Tech as too one dimensional with the old wishbone-style run dominated offense.

Bingo was his name-o.

WE certainly struggle with it (but we struggle with everything for the most part). But it doesn't seem to be a rambling wreck for all that many others.

 

[DiehardPanther]

My thoughts are I would prefer being underrated than overrated because our coaching staff will use it as motivation.

I think our division is up for grabs. A lot of the starting QB's moved onto the NFL.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Ga Tech was a nail biter last year with a 4th down stop.

 

[cashisking884]

Would probably go Miami.
With so many new QB's, you have to ask:

1. Who is best able to relieve pressure off their new QB?
2. Who is best able to make it difficult for the other team's new QB?

Miami returns most of their OL, and have arguably the best single RB and WR core in the ACC. So they are probably best suited for the first question.
On defense they return arguably the best front 7 in college football. So that goes a long way to the second question.

I'm not sure any other team in the Coastal is set up better as it relates to both questions, at least pre-season. But it's possible one of these new QB's in the division takes off, making the first question less important.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

http://triblive.com/sports/college/...-picked-to-finish-4th-in-acc-coastal-division

From the linked article:

The Panthers were picked to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal Division in voting by 167 media members.

Team (1st-place) Points
1. Miami (103) 1,065
2. Va. Tech (40) 932
3. Ga. Tech (9) 708
4. Pitt 643
5. N. Carolina (4) 606
6. Duke (4) 473
7. Virginia 219

Your thoughts? Who wins the Coastal? Where will Pitt finish? How does North Carolina and Duke get four first place votes each? Seriously. Clowns in the media.

Seems about right until Pitt proves otherwise.

 

[PittPharmacy1989]

Winning the division isn't an impossibility. Maybe not likely; but certainly it wouldn't require divine intervention. Pitt has enough overall talent, if it meshes, matures and stays healthy to give any opponent a competitive game.

IMHO, it is not like it once was when we knew that our panthers would be physically (i.e., in size, speed and talent) seriously outclassed by any opponent.

It's certainly possible. Miami will likely not go undefeated in the Coastal. They also have to play Florida State, so that sets up as probably a two loss ACC record. If Pitt can win all our Coastal games other than Miami (lose to them) but beat our lesser cross over opponents we could sneak in even with losing to Miami. Probably not very likely but definitely possible. Just don't think we can be quite consistent enough this year to pull this off.