2010 Week 1 in the ACC

I list the games, I give the picks. Pretty damn simple. Shall we proceed?

Presbyterian at Wake Forest
No line

The Deacs probably won’t be near the top of the ACC Atlantic this year, but the Blue Hose don't stand a chance. Pick: Wake Forest

Florida A&M at Miami
No line

The 2009 season featured this same matchup, and the Hurricanes won by 32. Expect a similar result in 2010. Pick: Miami

Weber State at Boston College
No line

Pick coming on Friday – just like old times

Samford at Florida State
No line

The last time the Bulldogs played an FBS team was 2008, when they lost at Mississippi by 24. They haven’t beaten an FBS team in God knows how long, if ever, and the outlook’s not good here. Jimbo wins his first game big. Pick: Florida State

South Carolina State at Georgia Tech
No line

South Carolina State was undefeated in the MEAC last year, but Georgia Tech played in the Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs got bombed by the only FBS team they faced in 2009 and they’ll probably meet a similar fate here. Pick: Georgia Tech

North Texas at Clemson
Line: Clemson by 24

The Mean Green were a very bad team last year. To quote BC coach Frank Spaziani from his last visit to Death Valley, “this could get ugly.” Pick: Clemson

Western Carolina at North Carolina State
No line

With TOB, just about any game is a candidate for the big “WTF loss.” That said, it won’t be this one (nor should it even be close). Pick: NC State

Richmond at Virginia
No line

For an FCS team, Richmond is pretty good. For an FBS team, Virginia is pretty bad. The Spiders managed to beat Duke last year, and this Wahoo team is no better than they were relatively speaking. Neither team is quite the same as last year, however. This game is screaming ‘upset alert’ at me, but I’m going to go with the home team to get Mike London his first UVA win against his old team. I would not be at all surprised, however, to see Richmond pull it off. Pick: Virginia

Elon at Duke
No line

The Phoenix clean up at the FCS level, but at the FBS level, not so much. Duke probably isn’t going to be any good this year but stuffing this one in the win column shouldn’t take a giant effort. Pick: Duke

Louisiana State vs. North Carolina
Line: LSU by 4.5 (on average)

About as even a matchup as I can see on the list. Both of these teams are looking quite good coming into the season, and this one will be played on neutral ground. Very tough one to pick, but I’ll be a conference homer (for a change) and give a tiny edge to the ACC school. Pick: North Carolina

Navy vs. Maryland
Line: Navy by 6.5

Another neutral-site game, but this one is between two teams from the same state. Ralph Friedgen is on the hot seat and will be looking to start off strong, but the Middies are looking like a solid team in 2010. I don’t like the Terps in this one much at all – I’m not saying they’ll get blown out; they’re just clearly the underdogs in my opinion. Pick: Navy

Boise State vs. Virginia Tech
Line: Boise State by 2

Yet another neutral-site game, but this one features two top-ten teams. Both are legitimately good, and I expect a back-and-forth battle all the way to the finish. I’m going to have to go conference homer again, though the actual result could easily swing the other way. Pick: Virginia Tech