The Miami football team is the defending champions in the ACC Coastal Division. In a ranking of the divisions among Power Five Conferences, ESPN recently ranked the coastal seventh out of nine divisions. The Big XII was rated as one since they don’t have divisions.
It was not much of a surprise to see the Miami football program and their ACC Coastal Division rivals being ranked so low as a conglomerate. Only three of the seven Coastal Division teams had winning records last season. That included Duke having to win its bowl game to finish with a 7-6 record.
In spite of Florida State’s tumble last season the ACC Atlantic was rated as the third-best Power Five Division by ESPN. Six of the seven Coastal Division teams had winning records in 2017. Clemson was the only one that finished with better than an 8-4 record. That included Florida State and Boston College finishing 7-6.
Clemson won the ACC Championship game in 2017, 38-3 over Miami. Despite the blowout loss to the Tigers, the Miami football record of 10-3 in 2017 was the ACC’s second best. Clemson finished a game and a half better at 12-2. The Tigers lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal in the Sugar Bowl.
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Virginia Tech gave the Coastal the ACC’s second and third best teams of 2017. The Hokies finished the season 9-4. Virginia Tech ended the season with a 30-21 loss to Oklahoma State in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando. The Hurricanes won the Camping World Bowl over West Virginia in 2016.
ESPN used their Football Power Index to rate the Power Five Divisions. The FPI according to ESPN “measures each team’s strength and helps predict its performance.” The Division rankings were then determined by the average FPI by each team in the division. Miami’s FPI entering the 2018 season in 16.5.
The ACC Coastal’s average team ranking in the FPI is 7.3. The Atlantic’s is a 10.1 The SEC West is first. Their average team is an incredible 13.3
Miami and Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh to a far lesser extent are the only schools in the Coastal that could be considered football schools. Until the last couple of years, Pittsburgh has been far more successful in the 21st century in basketball than they have in football.
The other Coastal Division teams are traditional ACC Schools. Duke, North Carolina and Virginia were founding members of the ACC in 1953. Georgia Tech became the first new program to join the conference after its founding. The Yellow Jackets began competing in the ACC during the 1979 football season.
ESPN’s summary of the Coastal Division is below.
"Teams: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia TechAverage FPI: 7.3“It’s not surprising to see the ACC Coastal this far down the list as it was top-heavy last season with Miami and Virginia Tech leading the way. The Hurricanes have shown progression under Mark Richt and finished at 10-2 overall, while Virginia Tech has taken off under new coach Justin Fuente.”"
"“Both teams should be able to replicate the 2017 season, or at least come close to it, in 2018. Miami seemingly has the roster and experience now to push forward and potentially make a bigger splash than it did in 2017. If Richt and his staff can keep things progressing forward, the Hurricanes should be in good shape.Outside of those two teams, however, it doesn’t look promising. Miami and Virginia Tech were the only two teams in the division to finish with more than seven wins and the prospects don’t look great for the bottom half of the division.”"
The ACC Coastal appears stronger at the top, but not as competitive throughout as the ACC Atlantic. Miami is eighth in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll and Ninth in the ESPN Poll. Both were released earlier this month. The AP College Football Writers Poll will be released August 21.
Virginia Tech is 15th in the ESPN Poll and 17th in the Coaches Poll. The Hokies finished 2017 as the nation’s 24th ranked team. The optimism surrounding Virginia Tech this year is returning quarterback Josh Jackson. Virginia Tech does have issues. They return only four starters on defense.
The Atlantic Division is paced by Clemson who is ranked second by the Coaches and ESPN. Alabama and Clemson will be the nation’s top-ranked teams entering every season until someone else proves worthy of being ranked ahead of either or both the Crimson Tide and Tigers.
Florida State is 18th and 19th in the ESPN and Coaches Polls. Boston College helps the depth of competition in the Atlantic. The Eagles received votes in both polls. Louisville and North Carolina State add to the Atlantic depth. The Cardinals and Wolfpack both received votes in the Coaches Poll.