This is my favorite time of the year: baseball pennant races and the playoffs, and the beginning of my favorite sport—college football. The season will get under way on Thursday night with Wake Forest taking on Baylor. It seems like the perfect time to take a look at some of the big boys in college football. Let’s begin with the ACC Coastal Division.

Last year the Coastal division of the ACC was won by Virginia Tech. They finished 7-1 in the conference and went on to defeat Boston College in the ACC Championship Game. Virginia Tech will once again be the favorites to win the Coastal division and many are picking them to win the ACC once again.

Here is my predicted order of finish with the team’s record last year.

1. Virginia Tech (7-1, 11-2): The Hokies lost a lot of guys to the NFL last year, 8 drafted and 5 others signed free agent contracts. They were hit hardest at defense and wide receiver. The top 4 receivers from last year are all gone, which will make things tough for what looks like will be a two quarterback system once again. The defense is young but extremely talented, and there is a whole stable full of young running backs waiting to prove themselves. The Hokies look to be one season away from contending for a national title, but have enough to win the ACC in 2008.

2. North Carolina (3-5, 4-8): Butch Davis, now in his second year, has added some good young talent to the UNC roster, and he will have them playing better. With T.J. Yates and Hakeem Nicks passing and catching behind an offensive line with a year under their collective belts, the UNC offense will be much improved, as will the defense. The Coastal division is a bit week this year, allowing Carolina a good shot at finishing 2^nd, but they don’t have the depth and overall talent level to contend with the Hokies.

3. Georgia Tech (4-4, 7-5): Many are predicting that Paul Johnson’s system will fail at Georgia Tech. I don’t think it will. I think it can still work in major college football, though I don’t think it will ever bring a national title to the Yellow Jackets. There is some good talent on the G.Tech team (Jonathan Dwyer is an excellent back) and they should finish around .500. They could easily beat out UNC for the 2^nd spot in the Coastal, but they will not push the Hokies.

4. Miami (2-6, 5-7): The Miami program is in shambles, but there is still some talent on this team. With player suspensions recently handed down, the season has started off badly before it has even started. Miami should improve on their 2-6 conference record from last season, but will be hard pressed to reach the .500 mark.

5. Virginia (6-2, 9-3): Virginia will be the most disappointing team in the league after their excellent 2007 season. They have simply lost too many guys on a team that didn’t have very good depth to begin with. The losses of Long to the NFL, their quarterback to academic issues, a rebuilt offensive line, and you have the makings for a long season in Charlottesville.

6. Duke (0-8, 1-11): Poor Duke. There really isn’t much to say other than there is optimism that new coach David Cutcliffe can get a couple of victories this season. I do think they will beat an ACC team this year and have a couple of out of conference wins. They will not be the worst team in the nation, but they will be the worse team in the ACC.