I could sit here and force you to read a bunch of wisecracks about how the ACC has been a bit of a debacle this season. Or I could say this:If Miami wins its next three games, the Hurricanes will represent the Atlantic Coast Conference in a BCS game.
That once-baffling possibility became reality courtesy of Maryland, which upset North Carolina today, 17-15. The Terrapins win further clouded what was an already murky situation in the conference.
In the ACC Atlantic, Maryland is now (temporarily) tied with Florida State for first - the Seminoles play Boston College tonight, then visit the Terps next week. Wake Forest, which had been tied for first, lost at last-place N.C. State this afternoon.
But the big beneficiery of the Maryland victory - other than the Terps themselves - is, without question, Miami.
The 'Canes moved to 4-2 in the conference with a big Thursday night win over Virginia Tech. But their loss earlier to North Carolina meant that Butch Davis and the Tar Heels held the tie-breaker on Miami. Now that UNC is 3-3 in the conference, this is obviously no longer a problem.
Behind Miami in the standings now - in addition to North Carolina - is Georgia Tech (4-3 in the ACC). Miami visits the Yellow Jackets next week, then heads to N.C. State in its finale. Win both of those, and Miami advances to the ACC title game.
Whether Miami's Coastal Division control says more about the 'Canes or the ACC's overall mediocrity, I'm not sure. I'm willing to say ... it's a little bit of both.
Remember, this is a Miami team that finished 5-7 last year and 7-6 the season before. The Hurricanes then started the 2008 season just 2-3 with back-to-back home losses. They looked on their way to another non-bowl finish.
But credit where credit is due. Since losing to Florida State on Oct. 4, Miami has won five straight games. It hasn't always been pretty, what with four of those victories coming by seven points or less, but at other times it's been brilliant. As in Thursday night when the Hurricanes came out of halftime and just dismantled Virginia Tech for the entire third quarter en route to that victory.
Things are a mess in the ACC right now. Something tells me Miami is not complaining.
