It\u2019s time for conference previews \u2013 starting with the ACC.<\/p>\n
While the ACC isn\u2019t the superpower in football that it is for basketball, it has plenty of solid teams.<\/p>\n
With several squads losing key seniors over the offseason, is the door open for a new ACC king?<\/h3>\n
For the second straight season, Florida State <\/strong>is the favorite with odds of +175. <\/strong>Wha? The Seminoles still the favorite despite losing starting quarterback Christian Ponder to the NFL? Not to mention Rodney Hudson, a stalwart o their O-line? The whole season depends on junior quarterback E.J. Manuel, whom Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles seem to have confidence in. If Manuel can show more consistency than he has over his 199 career pass attempts and Nigel Bradham and Brandon Jenkins can continue their ferocious play on \u201cD,\u201d maybe Florida can return to the ACC title game.<\/p>\n Joining the Seminoles with odds of +175 <\/strong>are the Virginia Tech Hokies, <\/strong>who beat Florida State to win the conference title last season. Their offense is a bit of wildcard this season. Sure, Tyrod Taylor wasn\u2019t an elite talent at quarterback, but he was versatile, a good leader and reliably above-average. Is Logan Thomas ready to be the man?<\/p>\n At least Virginia Tech\u2019s entire offensive line returns for 2011. It also helps that they have last season\u2019s national interceptions leader, Jayon Hosley, back on \u201cD.\u201d<\/p>\n The Miami Hurricanes <\/strong>are close behind with odds of +400. <\/strong>Could they be a bit undervalued? After he battled injuries and at times looked worse than backup Stephen Morris, Jacory Harris turned off many scouts and handicappers who were high on the \u2019Canes last season. But Miami could do a lot worse than Morris or Harris under center.<\/p>\n Also, their running game looks like it could be elite in 2011. And let\u2019s not forget this was an elite defensive team a year ago.<\/p>\n Rounding out the top contenders is North Carolina <\/strong>at +650. <\/strong>The Tar Heels\u2019 defense looks downright awesome up front. Tydreke Powell, Quinton Coples and Donte Paige-Moss look like they could be NFL stars. But UNC\u2019s offense is a total question mark with T.J. Yates graduating.<\/p>\n Bryn Renner just hasn\u2019t had a chance to show us what he can do yet.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a big gap between the top four and Maryland (+1500) <\/strong>according to the oddsmakers. But is it justified? The Terrapins are one of the only contending teams in the ACC to return their starting quarterback. Danny O\u2019Brien was excellent in 2010, throwing 22 touchdown passes in 10 starts.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll have to find some new targets with Torrey Smith and Adrian Cannon gone and Maryland\u2019s defense is unstable with four starters gone, but I see the Terps as a viable sleeper team. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Clemson <\/strong>joins Maryland with odds of +1500. <\/strong>I like Andre Ellington in the backfield but, to me, Clemson\u2019s arrow is pointing down. The Kyle Parker experiment is over, as the quarterback is focusing on his baseball career now. That leaves the unproven Tajh Boyd in his place.<\/p>\n The Tigers just don\u2019t know what they have with him yet. More importantly, the defense is gutted. It loses a pile of key starters, most notably Da\u2019Quan Bowers, who is irreplaceable in one offseason.<\/p>\n Russell Wilson\u2019s departure has knocked N.C. State\u2019s odds down a couple pegs, meaning Boston College (+2000) <\/strong>rounds out the list of legit ACC contenders. Is the glass half empty or half full?<\/p>\n Chase Rettig had nine starts at quarterback as a freshman and pretty much all the Eagles\u2019 offensive skill players return, including stud running back Montel Harris, but Boston College\u2019s outstanding run defense loses three starters from the front seven.<\/p>\n The ACC is a tough conference to handicap. To me, it has zero elite teams and a pile of second-tier teams, all of which can contend. I\u2019m feeling a little crazy with my pick for 2011. I\u2019m a believer in the \u201cquarterback is the most important position\u201d theory.<\/p>\n And, after all the offseason departures, I legitimately think Maryland has the best option in Danny O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n It\u2019s insane, but I think the Terps will be the shocking ACC champion this year.<\/p>\n Pick: Maryland +1500<\/strong><\/p>\n CappersPicks.com brings you the only college football handicapping<\/a> guide you\u2019ll need. Use the College football previews<\/a> for the 2011 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping at our top sportsbooks online this season.<\/p>\n Looking for Atlanta Coast Conference football betting odds? Use the College football previews for the 2011 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping, right here at Cappers Picks handicapping online…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":23493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[28750,50094,14016,14020,50096,16037,11232,1565,3007,50095,15290],"class_list":["post-39843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-28750","tag-2011-acc-conference-picks","tag-acc-football","tag-acc-football-picks","tag-acc-gambling","tag-acc-odds","tag-atlantic-coast-conference","tag-college-football-handicapping","tag-college-football-previews","tag-conference-futures","tag-ncaa-football-futures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39843"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52614,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39843\/revisions\/52614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/ACC-e1298485932867.jpg\" "\\"ACC\\"")
THE FREE 2011 ACC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PICK<\/h3>\n
CHECK OUT OUR BEST 2010 COLLEGE FOOTBALL CAPPERS – CLICK HERE!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"