Plenty of questions abound in ACC
Today brings one of the first signs that the sports doldrums of mid-summer are about to end.
The ACC's football kickoff starts just after noon at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro - signalling that preseason practice is just around the corner.
ACC commissioner John Swofford will kick things off with a press conference and then the media will get time with two players from each of the league's 14 full-time football members. Then on Monday, after a golf outing, the media members will get a chance to grill all 14 coaches.
The media will also vote on how they think the conference standings will turn out, with the results to be announced on Monday, and will vote on the preseason all-conference team, with those results to be announced on Wednesday.
(And don't bet the house on the prediction on which teams may win the divisions or who might win the conference championship game. Since the conference went to divisions in 2005, the media has been right on all of those in the same season only twice.)
Plenty of questions will be asked during the interview sessions. Here are some that won't be answered until well after the season begins over the final weekend in August:
Can the Florida State, who went undefeated and won the national championship last year with Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston leading the way, roll to another conference title and qualify for the new four-team national championship playoff?
They return Winston and 14 other starters, including four members of the offensive line and top receiver Rashad Green and tight end Nick O'Leary. But they lost their top running back, two of the top three receivers and five members of the defense.
Can Clemson overcome its losses to retain its role as the Seminoles' strongest challenge in the Atlantic? Tigers coach Dabo Swinney faces a tall task after the departure of quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receivers Sammy Watkins and Martavis Bryant, and starting running back Roderick McDowell.
How will Louisville, minus quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, stack up against the ACC after going 7-1 in the AAC?
Can second-year coach Dave Doeren get N.C. State headed in the right direction after overseeing Wolfpack's first winless season in the conference since the late 50s? Having an upgrade at quarterback in transfer Jacoby Brissett will help.
How will first-year coach Dave Clawson patch enough things together to make Wake Forest respectable in the wake of the Deacons losing main offensive weapons --quarterback Tanner Price and wide receiver Michael Campanaro - plus a number of key members on the defense (led by nose guard Nikita Whitlock) from a team that won four games total and two in the conference?
And can North Carolina continue the momentum from winning six of its last seven last season to post a winning overall record at 7-6 overall and wind up 4-4 in the league? Carolina certainly has enough talent offense to challenge for the Coastal crown. The Tar Heels return plenty of horses, with tight end Eric Ebron the only major loss among skilled position players. The question will again be on defense even though seven starters return.
Those are just some of the questions that need answers beginning today. The fun of fall is about to begin.
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