The ACC went into bowl season with two teams in BCS bowls for the first time. With it came an opportunity to change its national reputation in football, which has taken a beating in recent years.
Most of the ACC’s eight bowl games offered compelling matchups, but the league failed to cash in, and instead might have backed itself into a corner that will take a few years to overcome.
ACC teams went 2-6 in their bowls, but really, the two that mattered were the Sugar and Orange Bowls. The other six were nice lead-ins to the BCS bowls, but Virginia Tech versus Michigan in New Orleans and Clemson versus West Virginia in Miami were the two games that would affect the conference’s image.
Virginia Tech thoroughly outplayed Michigan in the Sugar Bowl, and may have done enough to win the game, but managed to fall in overtime, 23-20. The Hokies were burned by a questionable touchdown reversal by the review crew in overtime, but that’s not why they lost. They dropped the game because their special teams are no longer special and coach Frank Beamer and his staff made some curious decisions.
Clemson appeared ready to take a lead in the second quarter when a fumble at the goal line turned into a 99-yard West Virginia touchdown, and the Tigers, who had 42 freshmen on the roster, never recovered.
The Mountaineers scored 35 points in the second quarter and led at halftime, 49-20, and won the game, 70-33. Their point total is the most ever in any bowl game. The national fallout from that game has the ACC somewhat on the defensive, though there really isn’t anything to defend. Some pundits have called it the most damaging performance in league history.
Here is a look at the grades for the ACC’s bowl performances.
