Jackets vs. Dawgs tops among battles between ACC, SEC

CLEMSON -- Basketball has the official ACC-Big Ten challenge, and football has an unofficial ACC-SEC challenge during rivalry week.

This weekend, Clemson travels to South Carolina, Florida State goes to Florida, and Georgia Tech hosts Georgia.

Of the three interconference meetings, perhaps the matchup holding most consequence is the Yellow Jackets against the Bulldogs.

Mark Richt's group is coming off a disappointing loss to Kentucky, and Paul Johnson -- though he says he's happy at Georgia Tech -- has another showcase to prove his triple-option can win anywhere, including in the SEC.

Thumbs up

David Cutcliffe

While Duke can't become bowl eligible, they can finish at 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. The Blue Devils haven't finished .500 or better since 1994. After becoming the first Ole Miss coach to begin his career with five straight seasons of at least seven wins -- before being fired -- Cutcliffe is again proving he can coach.

Florida State

With last week's three-point win over lowly Maryland, the Seminoles became bowl eligible. ESPN projects the Seminoles to land in the Emerald Bowl. Besides bowl funds and television exposure, it's also important for the extra practices. And the extra time can do nothing but help develop quarterback E.J. Manuel.

Clemson

The Tigers wrapped up their first division title Saturday, and are a win away from ending an 18-year conference championship drought. Dabo Swinney = ACC Coach of the Year?

Three down

Spiller's Heisman candidacy

Spiller has two nationally-televised showcase games left: South Carolina on Saturday and the ACC title game. He dropped from No. 3 to No. 4 in ESPN and Sports Illustrated's Heisman watches after failing to reach 100 yards from scrimmage against Virginia.

ACC title game's kickoff time

The ACC was hoping to attract more viewers with a 8 p.m. kickoff on Dec. 5 in Tampa. That seems unlikely as the game will be going up against the Big 12 championship featuring Colt McCoy and Texas hoping to secure a berth into the national title game against Nebraska, which has perhaps the nation's top defensive player in Ndamukong Suh.

Bowling

A year after sending a record 10 teams to bowls, only seven ACC schools are bowl eligible, leaving the conference two teams short of filling its nine affiliated postseason games.

By the numbers

0.64 -- Virginia Tech's Cody Grimm forced an NCAA-record three fumbles last Saturday against N.C. State. Grimm leads the nation in forced fumbles with seven in 11 games for a .64 ffpg average.

25 -- Years since Doug Flutie's "Hail Mary" pass gave Boston College an improbable win against Miami in 1984.

2,066 -- C.J. Spiller's all-purpose yards for the season, breaking the 10-year old mark held by former Virginia back Thomas Jones (2,054).

Quote of the week

"I'm a man! I'm 40!" Dabo Swinney turned 40 Friday and jokingly referenced Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's famous blowup following Clemson's win Saturday.

Swinney was born Nov. 20, 1969, in the same Birmingham, Ala., hospital as Bobby Bowden (Nov. 8, 1929) nearly 40 years later.

Trav's take

--Assuming the demise of Al Groh has not been greatly exaggerated, who should replace him at Virginia? While successful non-BCS coaches like Boise State's Chris Peterson will be popular picks -- and pricey -- might we recommend a cheaper in-state option: Liberty's Danny Rocco. Taking over a 1-10 Liberty team in 2005, Rocco has led the Flames to at least nine wins in the last three seasons, becoming a model FCS program. And a couple former FCS coaches have done well for themselves in the FBS: See Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Georgia Tech's Johnson.

--Clemson has a sense of accomplishment after winning its first division title, but closing the season with back-to-back losses to South Carolina and Georgia Tech would potentially drop the Tigers from the Chick-fil-A Bowl and sour their regular season gains.

--Speaking of the Chick-fil-A, has anyone noticed the ACC's runner-up prize is the SEC's No. 5 bowl? Not only does the SEC have a major advantage in TV deals, but bowl payouts are also much higher. The SEC's No. 2 bowl, the Capital One Bowl, pays out $1 million more than the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

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