More, Less, or the Same: College Football Edition

ACC media days are underway this week. The American Athletic Conference also has their media days this week as well.

They're down there in Dallas, Texas, if I remember correctly. But in the ACC, because we're in the heart of ACC country, we're going to be in Charlotte. I'm excited for that. Victoria, you're going to be there. Yes.

Adam Gold, who's the host of the Adam Gold show, which you're listening to right now. He will be there. Right. He's so excited. He's already making his way.

I know, right? He's like, I got to get there early. I've got to get on that train. I got a train to catch. I got to get down there.

Yes. Dennis Cox sitting in for Adam Gold today. Don't worry. Adam will be back on air tomorrow. You're going to hear a lot of different voices, a lot of different people from all across the conference over the next three days.

You're going to hear from people like Dabo Sweetie on this show. Yeah. You're going to hear Commissioner Jim Phillips has his forum tomorrow.

I was going to say. Right and early at 930. Yep. You'll definitely hear comments from Jim Phillips tomorrow as well. So you'll hear part of that.

And Adam will definitely have a strong reaction, I'm sure. Yeah. So a lot going on with ACC Media. To whatever he can say anyway. Well, yes. To whatever he can say. But I am on record saying this, Victoria.

Yes. That the 2022 college football season is one of the best college football seasons that we've seen in the state of North Carolina. It was fun. It was a great football season. And the football season really kicked off well, I think, just even week one where we had UNC at App. We had NC State at ECU. We had the Aggie Eagle Classic. With North Carolina A&T State and North Carolina Central.

Played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. That was just week one. Yeah. And all three of those games were bangers.

Oh yeah. Just absolute games. Like absolute great games in their own different ways. NC State ECU was like a slugfest struggle. App State UNC just lit up the scoreboard. So each one of those games was great. And then we had multiple teams not only at the FBS level make bowl games, but you have the FCS level. We have multiple schools here across the state making to post-season action in some way shape or form. So Victoria.

Yes. Let's give our predictions for this upcoming season. So we're going to look back at 2022. We're going to go in order of the record from last season.

We're going to start with the least number of wins to most number of wins. We factored head to head so we're not playing favorites. Yes. Yeah. No favorites here.

No favorites here. Okay. So let's dive into it. We're going to look at last year's win total. The last year's results we're going to say either more wins. Less wins or the same number of wins.

All right, Victoria, let's dive into this. Okay. So first one, UNC Charlotte. They went three and nine, two and six in the conference. Yes. Did not make it to any kind of bowl game.

Yeah. It's kind of hard to do that. You only have three wins. You talk about a coaching change that happened during the middle of the season last year. To me, you can't get much less than three. So I'm going to say more, but then I'll say they're going to make a bowl game.

But I'll say more. They might get four or five wins this upcoming season. I know they start the year at home against South Carolina State, which is an FCS school from the Miak, but they have a couple tough road games. You got to go to Maryland. You got to go to Florida. Got to go to ECU as well.

So I don't know. It's going to be hard to piece together some of these wins. Can you get ones? Can you get a win against Navy? Can you get a win on the road at SMU? Can you beat Florida Atlantic? I mean, yeah, it might get four wins this upcoming season. Five.

Also, if you make a bowl game, trust me, I would love to see that, but it's not an easy schedule for a team that's resetting things. So I'm going to say more, not much more. Right. You can only go up, hopefully, from there.

All right. What have we got next? So next up, my fave. Upstate.

Oh boy. We went mid. Six and six. Three and five.

Sunbelt. So obviously, also no bowl game. They started out hot and then it didn't. They just, they, you know, fizzed out. They really did. They got the game at UNC week two. They started at home against Gardner Webb, which is an FCS school, but an FCS school that made the postseason last season.

Yeah. So it's not going to be a pushover game, but a game that they should win. But they got to go at North Carolina. Home against East Carolina. I'm actually really looking forward to that matchup. I'm like, wait, why don't ECU and Upstate play each other more often?

The, the borders of North Carolina. I was like, to me, that should be in every game. Every season App and ECU should play each other in football. Every season. Make it home and home every year. Be fun if they met in the middle too, like a neutral site.

You come from the mountains, you come from the coast. We're going to play in, we're going to play in Mebane. In Greensboro.

Is that what we're going to play? At UNCG. Hey, we're going to meet you at the Tanger Outlets.

Yes. We'll see you. In Mebane. Week three, three thirty at the Tanger Outlets.

Out there in Mebane. That's where we're going to meet you. But still, that's not an easy game either. I think it's going to be a fun game. That, that should be a fun one. I actually really do want to go to that game.

You host Coastal as well. It's not an easy schedule for App State this upcoming year. Got to go on the road to Wyoming, which I think they should, should win against Wyoming. Cause when's the last time Wyoming was good?

Even though when they had Josh Allen, weren't the greatest team in the world either. I'm going to say more because the standard at App State is eight, nine wins. Yes.

I'm going to say more because that is their standard there. Six and six with App is a down year. Let's be honest.

It is. It's a down year. I'm going to say more wins for App State this upcoming year, but man, they got some good ones.

Yeah. You got to follow up UNC with, with ECU like that's. You got to go on the road to Wyoming. Those are things that people don't really take into considerations. Like you have two tough games against in-state rivals or in-state match-ups.

They got to fly cross country. I know. There you go. All right.

But I'm still going to say more for App because again, the standard for them is more. It is. It is. I agree with you.

Okay. Now we are actually moving into bowl games. Yeah. So Wake Forest, they went eight and five, three and five in the ACC. Gasparilla bowl. They ended up winning. Against Missouri 27, 17.

Oh, okay. So eight and five, this Griffiths coming in at quarterback now with Sam Hartman transferring up to wake forest. So they open up the year at home against Elon should be a win. They play at home against Vanderbilt. To me, you got to win that one. They go on the road at old dominion. You should win that one.

All right. Then you got Georgia tech week four. That'd be tough.

Sort of maybe. I mean, this is, this is a Georgia tech team that is also turning over head coach recently as well. Um, to me, they should go three and one through those first four games. In my opinion, they start getting to the, the heart of the ACC. You got Clemson, Virginia tech pit, Florida state, but this is where things get really tough at the last four games of the season. You're at Duke home against NC state at Notre Dame at Syracuse to close out the season.

I'm going to say the same. I'm going to say eight wins for, for wake forest this upcoming season. And now I'm going to, again, I'm also factoring in postseason to this as well. Cause again, that eight and five record is having won the Gasparilla bowl. So again, we're factoring in post-season here as well. I'm going to say the same eight wins again for, for wake forces upcoming. Definitely going to be crucial. I get those first few wins.

Yeah, exactly. Like for example, again, you got to take care of business obviously against an old dominion against Elon. Like those are games you gotta, you gotta beat Georgia tech at home.

I'm sorry. You gotta beat Georgia tech at home. Now, Phil Jurkovic and Pitt and head coach Patton Arduzi coming in to town on October 21st.

That's going to be a little bit of a tougher one. Florida state, a lot of people were projecting them to finish pretty high this season. You get them at home, but also you got to go on the road at Duke and get the Duke team. That was pretty good last season.

And we're going to get Duke here in a little bit, but I would still say eight wins. Yeah. Yeah. I think I still say stay the same. Yeah.

Stay in the same. All right. Next up ECU. Okay. We just talked about them another eight and five. They went four and four in the American and they went and got a big old win in the Birmingham bowl. Yes. 53 to 29 against coastal.

Okay. So Holt Nailers is gone. I feel like he was there for nine years as the quarterback there. A solid career for him. Local kid out there in Greenville had a great season.

This is a tricky one. I think it's a big year for Mike Houston. The question is, okay, much like wake. You have Mitch Griffiths out of following a long time starter and Sam Hartman who's following as a starter behind Holt Nailers. Now I still, I think staying the same eight wins sounds about right for this, for this ECU team, which is not a bad season. That's a good season. Eight wins for ECU is a good season for them. They have some tough ones. Like we mentioned that they got to go to Michigan week one.

That's a tough one. They got to follow up at home against Marshall. They can beat Marshall, but when you're on the road at Michigan, that's the week you got to follow it up.

And then you got on the road at app. Those are your first three games of the season. Yes. That ain't easy.

No, no. If you come out of that, those three games, two and one props. Heck, if you come out of there three and oh, even better.

Yeah. Typically it's tough to get a win on the mountain. So yeah, it's, it's hard to win out there, but again, you also are going on a road to a big 10 school in Michigan.

And again, Marshall, right after that, I think you should be Marshall, but if you can go two and one in those first three games, then you, then you follow up with Gardner Webb. Again, a Gardner Webb team that made the FCS playoffs last season. But again, it's still an FCS school, a one that you should win. Then you get, then you're on the road at Rice.

You should win against Rice. Then you get into the heart of the American schedule. You're at home against Charlotte, a team that we mentioned earlier down here this past year. So that's a tough start because that non-conference schedule is so tough. Again, that September 16th game, that app ECU, that game just sounds so fun in so many different ways.

Again, why don't they play each other every year? But nonetheless, I think eight wins, they stay the same, but it's still a really good season for East Carolina. They're going to have some tough losses in there. I think if they lose the app, it's going to be a close one. Yeah. Eight wins. I think they say the same this upcoming year.

Still a good season. Oh yeah. For Mike Houston and the Pirates. For sure. For ECU. Absolutely.

Okay. Our top three, but no coincidence whatsoever. This is just how the stats worked out. Triangle teams. NC State, 8-5.

Yes. 4-4 in the ACC. Dukes, Mayo Bowl. They lost against Maryland, 16-12. This NC State team is so intriguing to me this year. I am very excited for the State team.

I'm excited for them, but again, it's intriguing. Eight wins last season, a lot of turnover. They had 30 guys or something like that walk on senior day.

It's insane. They lost a lot of good guys on defense as well. Like Drake Thomas was a key piece to the middle of that defense there as a linebacker, but Peyton Wilson is coming back.

They got a couple returners back in the secondary, especially at corner, which might allow them to still be aggressive with their front. Big question is, okay, Robert and I comes in as offensive coordinator. Brendan Armstrong, who had his two best seasons at Virginia in 2020 and 2021 with Robert and I as his offensive coordinator. Now they're paired back up because he's transferring in.

Brendan Armstrong is to NC State. But look at the schedule. You start on the year on the road at Connecticut, at UConn. That's a Thursday game, August 31st. You should win that game.

VMI. You have a home game against VMI. You should win that game. You have a home game against Marshall. You should win those games. So it's three right there, but no divisions again in the ACC anymore.

So there's no banking on games or anything like that nowadays. You still have Notre Dame. You had to go on the road at Duke. You're home against Clemson, Miami. You got to go to Wake. You still got to play North Carolina. You got to go to Virginia Tech. The ACC, this is really hard to figure out. You still got to play Louisville, which for a lot of people actually have Louisville as like the third best odds to actually win the ACC this upcoming season. Last time I checked, Malik Cunningham graduated.

He's not there anymore to quarterback. This is a tough one. Again, we're factoring in postseason here. I'm going to say the over-under from Vegas is six and a half. I'm going to say less for NC State. I'm going to say they win seven this season. I think they go seven and five in the regular season, a loser bowl game.

Something along those lines. I think there's going to be a lot of close games. Yeah, just look at their schedule and coin flip these.

Just coin flip some of these. I know they got to go on the road to Wake Forest. How does Mitch Griffiths at quarterback at Wake Forest, how does he develop at this point?

I don't know. That's a lot of question marks in this upcoming season. I'm going to say less, but again, not significant. I'm not saying they're going to go from eight wins to four. I think they go from eight to seven. But that's how I see it.

But hey, I could be totally wrong. But this is, again, just outside looking in, I see them dropping eight to seven. So I'm going to say less. Okay. Well, our next one, Duke, nine and four, five and three in the ACC Military Bowl. They won against UCF 30 to 13. Okay, so Duke schedule is a little bit tougher this upcoming season.

Okay. Didn't have to play Clemson last year. Didn't have to play Florida State.

You got those on the roster this year. And yeah, Notre Dame into the mix, too. But you get here your first four games for head coach Mike Elko, the Duke Blue Devils, that Monday night opener against Clemson. They had Monday Night Football at home at Wallace Wade against Clemson. That's awesome. They get Lafayette, get Northwestern, and you're on the road at UConn, which, by the way, UConn's hosting two ACC schools this year.

Oh, wow. Pulled that off. But Northwestern's in shambles. UConn, you should beat. Lafayette's an FCS school.

This is where things get tricky. Okay, you have NC State. You have Pitt.

Both of those at home. You're at North Carolina. Game you almost won last year on the road. Yeah, you have Florida State. You have Wake Forest at home as well. Again, factoring in postseason into this, they should win at Virginia, in my opinion.

Yeah. I think nine wins is about right. I think they stay the same, which I don't know why this Duke team's flying under the radar. This is a really good team.

They are. They have a lot of good guys coming back, including quarterback Riley Leonard. Nine wins. That's a really good season. Back-to-back nine-win seasons for Mike Elko and Duke.

That's awesome. Nine wins. I think they stay the same.

Yeah, it's hard to beat that, too. But again, this ACC is so hard to predict. It is very hard to predict. One or two injuries and it'll change the whole game.

Absolutely. So last but not least, UNC. They went nine and five, six and two in ACC.

And the Holiday Bowl, they lost by one point against Oregon, 28 to 27. Okay, a lot of pressure on UNC football this year because, like, wait, you have a Heisman Trophy candidate, Drake May, potential top five pick, potentially number one overall pick. Your team should be awesome. Well, it's still hard to ask a young quarterback, college quarterback, to carry your whole team.

Yes, the whole team. Now, by the way, they opened the season against South Carolina in Bank of America Stadium. By the way, a little breaking news for the folks out there, College Game Day is going to be in Charlotte week one for South Carolina and North Carolina.

So that's the thing. I told you College Game Day is going to be at UNC South Carolina in Bank of America Stadium. But here's how they opened their season.

Neutral site in Bank of America Stadium against South Carolina. Technically, they're the road team for that. Then you're home against App, then you're home against Minnesota. That ain't easy.

That ain't easy if you're them. You can go 3-0 in those three games. You definitely can.

You can also go 1-2. Sure. You can easily, you were moments away or a couple plays away from losing to App last season. Yeah. You lost. You could lose to South Carolina.

Well, yeah. You watch a couple like field goals or extra point attempts or any of that stuff totally changes the game. Now, they do have a home game against Campbell. Campbell, really good team, but an FCS school. But they close off the season at home against Duke, then at Clemson, and then at NC State. This is a tough, tough schedule that Mack Brown and UNC has ahead of them. Oh, we know he's not a fan of it.

No, he's definitely not a fan of it at all. They still get Georgia Tech and Virginia, Syracuse, Pitt. Those should all be wins. I'm going to say it's an 8-win season. Okay, so just slightly under.

So slightly less. Again, not saying they're going to go from 9 wins to 6. Sure. Just not. But this is just a tough, tough schedule. Now, I could be wrong and they go 10-2 in the regular season.

Absolutely. I could see that happening, too. But again, this season, it's hard to predict. But I'm going to say, see, I got to factor in postseason and stuff with this, too. Actually, you know, I'll say the same.

9 wins. I'll say the same. I can see the wheels churning.

You're like, oh, I don't know. This season is so hard to predict, but that's also what makes this season fun. It is.

It does. That's what's going to make this season a lot of fun because it is so unpredictable. You don't want shoe-ins. Yeah, it's a lot of unpredictable games. I'm looking forward to this college football season. I've been this excited about college football season in the state of North Carolina in quite a long time. It should be a fun one.