College Football Coverage: The ACC’s Coastal Division Showdown

The marquee games of the college football Week 5 card are the quartet of LSU-Georgia, Oklahoma-Notre Dame, Ole Miss-Alabama and Wisconsin-Ohio State. But underneath the glitter are a lot of games worth at least checking out, especially with more conference games now on the docket.

TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage will be back later this week with a look at the four marquee games. For now, let’s whet our appetites with a look at the most notable games on the undercard, going conference-by-conference. Here are focus will start with the ACC’s key Coastal Division game on Thursday, along with several matchups likely to be important as teams scramble for bowl eligibility.

The Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech game on Thursday night from Atlanta (7:30 PM ET, ESPN) is extremely big. Both are in the Coastal Division, the side of the league where Miami looks like the favorite based on the Hurricanes’ non-conference win over Florida. But Miami is hardly a prohibitive favorite, and the winner of this game sets themselves up as the challenger—especially if it’s Georgia Tech, since the Yellow Jackets are already 2-0 in ACC play with a win over fellow challenger North Carolina last week.

Pitt and Virginia are each 2-1 and meet up in Charlottesville. Both are teams that known the fight for six or seven wins and a bowl game won’t be easy, so both will want this game. Florida State and Clemson, the favorites on the Atlantic side of the conference are each on national TV in the 3:30 PM ET window.

The Seminoles go to Boston College (ABC/ESPN2) for what should be a cakewalk. Clemson hosts Wake Forest. The Deacons haven’t looked good in September, and Clemson has had extra prep time since its scare against N.C. State last Thursday.

On the non-conference docket, Duke’s bowl hopes have already started to take hits, with that ridiculous 58-55 loss they suffered to Pitt last week. Now quarterback Anthony Boone is out, and they host a pretty good Sun Belt team in Troy. The Blue Devils’ season might be over before it really gets started. And North Carolina takes on East Carolina. The Pirates, a favorite in Conference USA, have already given Virginia Tech a tough game.

OTHER COVERAGE OF THE WEEK 5 COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERCARD
SEC: Good Games Beyond The Glitter
Pac-12: An Interesting Saturday Night Trifecta
Big 12: Looking To Quietly Build A Resume
Big Ten: Angling For Bowl Position
Midmajors: Friday Night Out West; Saturday In The MAC