Certainty has been hard to come by both with our team and with the ACC in general this year. However, even before the last game of the regular season is finally played this weekend in Blacksburg, there are a few things we do indeed know will or could happen in this, the most schizophrenic of BCS conferences.
1.) We know that both teams in the ACCC will have three conference losses and no more than nine regular season wins at most.
2.) We know that it's highly unlikely that either team to make it to the ACCC will be ranked in the top 10. If FSU manages what would probably be the upset of the season and beats Florida it probably still won't be enough to move them up 13 spots. Georgia Tech likewise would have difficulty cracking the top 10 even with a convincing win over 13th ranked Georgia. 20th ranked Boston College won't move up much if at all even with a blowout of Maryland.
3.) We know that there's a pretty good possibility that both teams in the ACCC might be unranked. If BC loses to Maryland and FSU gets disassembled by Florida (which I predict will happen) then he Atlantic Division champion will be unranked. Likewise, if we squeak out a close one against 5-6 Virginia (which, again, I predict) it probably won't be enough for us to crack the top 25. Voila! Two unranked teams playing for a BCS conference championship.
4.) Bringing the focus closer to home, we know that despite the evisceration of the receiving corp, linebacking corp, and defensive line from last year, and all the talk about a rebuilding year, the 2008 Hokie squad turned out about like the past several years', with a top notch defense (8th total, 17h scoring) and a dear-god-where-did-I-put-the-whiskey-and-Valium offense (109th total, 89th scoring).
5.) We know that either Frank Beamer is under a lot of stress due to the media focus and criticism of the offense's foibles, or he's turning into that crotchety old man who yells at kids to keep off his lawn.
6.) We also know that despite his aw, shucks charm, Frank Beamer is most certainly an alpha male personality who does not take kindly to differences of opinion from those outside of the football program. I don't necessarily think this is a knock on Frank, but it's certainly been interesting to watch him get increasingly cantankerous as the season has progressed.
7.) We know that Tyrod Taylor is not developing as many (myself included) had anticipated. We can only speculate as to whether this is due to a shortcoming on his own part, a failure on behalf of Mike O'Cain to adequately guide his progression, a failure on the part of the young receiving corp. to "pick up" Tyrod in critical games, or a failure on the part of the offensive line to give him adequate protection to let him develop as a passer in an actual game-time environment.
8.) We know that Darren Evans is a stud, and that if Ryan Williams is as good as advertised we will have one of the best tandem backfields in the nation next year.
9.) We know that while his offense ranks 109th overall, Bryan Stinespring set a Division 1-A record this season for number of hugs received per yard gained.
10.) We know that if we win our third ACC championship in five years, this one will be especially meaningful since at so many points throughout the season it looked impossible, and that it says something about our team that it keeps winning despite having to put up with the Herbert Hoover of offensive coordinators.
