ACC and the Top 5

The ACC's biggest problem in recent years, as everyone knows, has been an inability to produce elite teams.

The Florida State/Miami supremacy thing didn't work out, and the ACC's one supreme being over the last eight years (Virginia Tech) has not held up well in high-profile games against top-shelf teams from other conferences.

When Clemson lost at Georgia Tech four days ago, the then-No. 6 Tigers (AP poll) lost out on a chance to work their way into the Top 5 and give the ACC a rare presence in that category.

Over the last six seasons, including this one, ACC teams have spent a total of 10 weeks in the AP Top 5.

Boston College spent four weeks up there in 2007. Virginia Tech spent one week there in 2007 and two weeks there in 2009. And then Florida State spent three (fraudulent) weeks there this season.

I'd spend some time looking up how that compares with the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12, but you probably don't want to know.

Anyway, ACC teams have spent a total of 89 weeks in the Top 5 since the first year of the BCS in 1998.

Here are the details:

Florida State: 57 weeks (7 in 1998, 17 in 1999, 14 in 2000, 6 in 2002, 4 in 2003, 4 in 2004, 2 in 2005, 3 in 2011)

Virginia Tech: 13 weeks (10 in 2005, 1 in 2007, 2 in 2009)

Miami: 11 weeks (8 in 2004, 3 in 2005)

Clemson: 4 weeks (4 in 2000)

Boston College: 4 weeks (4 in 2007)

The most surprising part of this trend is zero Top 5 representation from Miami over the last six seasons, and just three from Florida State over the same stretch -- and those three were based on nothing but preseason expectations.

Hate to keep piling on the Hurricanes and Seminoles, but jeez ... what abject failures these two programs have been relative to the expectations that fueled the ACC's expansion.

The AP's current poll has Clemson at No. 11, Virginia Tech at No. 12 and Georgia Tech at No. 22. Given the logjam from 1 to 10, it's hard to see the ACC getting much Top 5 representation this year.

LW