The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.
Virginia Tech really struggled last season, a year where it seemed very little went as planned. The 7-6 season marked the first time the Hokies did not win 10 or more games since joining the ACC all the way back in 2004.
The Virginia Cavaliers have not made the kind of progress expected since promising coach Mike London took over. After an initial 4-8 season the Cavs jumped to 8-5 but then dropped back to 4-8 last season.
Oakland currently sits in the final AL Wild Card position but things are tightly bunched with three teams all within a three and a half games of the A’s.
2013-14 Preview (ACC) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is always one of the hardests teams to play against because you just don’t see too much of their style. With their ground heavy attack they can just maul you if you are not prepared and they are generally solid enough in the other phases of the game to get the victory.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Syracuse was a pretty darn good program, led by players like Donovan McNabb and coaches like Dick MacPherson they more than held their own in the early days of the Big East.
But when they fell, they fell hard and it was difficult to put the pieces back together again.
The Atlanta Braves have the best record in the Majors and should be pumped to face off with a potential playoff opponent in St. Louis.
The Clemson Tigers should definitely be considered among a handful of teams capable of winning the national championship this final season of the BCS. They have a very good base of talent, a schedule that is challenging enough to put them in the equation and seem to have found the ability not to fall completely apart when you least expect, the way a number of Clemson teams have done in the past.
Florida State might be back. They made it to the Orange Bowl last season and took care of upstart Northern Illinois behind a fast and punishing defense that reminded us of Bobby Bowden’s best teams.
2013-14 Preview (ACC) Maryland Terrapins
The start of the Randy Edsall era at Maryland has been less than stellar. Not sure why but the program got tired of coach Ralph Friedgen even though he won there as much as any previous coach they ever had, probably more, including 9 wins in his last season – a number they have fallen short of the last two season, combined.
NC State is hoping a new coach can get them out of mediocrity and hopefully bridge the gap that is growing between them and those folks in Chapel Hill lately. The guy they chose is Dave Doeren who came to Northern Illinois and didn’t screw up what others had built there.
The Eagles have fallen. From 1999 through 2010 they won at least 7 games every season but they have won just a total of 6 the last two seasons combined.
Barring any non-conference craziness I feel it is safe to say that the Sun Belt will be the least talked about conference in college football this year. They have only 8 teams after having lost some programs to Conference USA (WHY?) and the teams that remain are far from the national spotlight.
The ACC should have a fascinating season in 2013. There are a number of true contenders as you can see below and they have some great matches with their geographical big brother the SEC, which could really shake up the way things look at the top of the polls this season.
Except for a couple of runs the Arizona Diamondbacks couldn’t solve Pittsburgh rookie Gerrit Cole in dropping the first game of their series last night.
The Giants and Marlins combined for a week’s worth of offense in their opener Friday night with the Giants winning 14-10. San Francisco cranked out 19 hits with OF Hunter Pence and 3B Pablo Sandoval going a combined 7 for 10 with 8 RBI.
The Cleveland Indians are in the thick of the American League race thats for sure.
