Mario Cristobal wants college football to put some respect on the ACC's name

Mario Cristobal wants the ACC to get a little more respect.

He credits the conference opponents and weekly grind of ACC play as a major reason why the Miami Hurricanes are in position to win their sixth national title Monday in the CFP Championship Game against Indiana.

"The level of play from a quarterback standpoint and a line of scrimmage standpoint, I think, has proven itself in the postseason," Cristobal said. "And for us, it proved itself against us and made us a better team in terms of making adjustments, increasing our level of physicality...it's been a really, really good year for the conference."

Cristobal continues on and talks about some of the coaching hires, like James Franklin going to Virginia Tech and other top coaches, like Louisville's Jeff Brohm, staying with the Cardinals despite overtures from other schools. 

A rising tide lifts all boats

The truth is, Miami is carrying the ACC on its back and win or lose on Monday night, the Hurricanes are now carrying the flag as the top team in the conference even without winning a conference title. 

The ACC is often the butt of jokes among the Power 4 in college football. Compared to the SEC and Big Ten, the conference looks woefully undermanned and lacking leadership. And compared to the equally-financed and occasionally feisty leadership in the Big XII, the ACC looks submissive.

While I don't doubt Cristobal's belief that the ACC helped Miami get to this point — the Hurricanes didn't steamroll through the conference, and they didn't play for the conference title. But struggles against Louisville, SMU and even a bad first half against Stanford, offered warning signs for Miami that the coaching staff and players were able to fix in the final third of the season.

Getting down and dirty in the trenches

However, Miami has also taught their ACC brethren about what's needed to compete at a championship level. The Hurricanes have invested heavy resources n the trenches. When Clemson was running the conference, they were great on the lines. In FSU's one great year under Mike Norvell, the Seminoles had Jared Verse and Braden Fiske on the defensive line. 

The fact that the Hurricanes have two trench players projected in the top 10 of the NFL Draft and a third, Ahkeem Mesidor, as a possible top-50 pick, is more proof that having elite talent up front is the key to unlocking championship potential.