ACC bowl guesses

Always hard to get a precise read on reality during the dog-and-pony show that precedes bowl selections.

The bowl reps usually talk about how much they love a lot of different teams, and often they're deliberately vague so as not to tip their hands as to their plans.

For this reason, I was initially dismissive of the chances of Clemson and Auburn playing in the Chick-fil-A Bowl because I assumed the folks who run the bowl would not be interested in 1) a rematch of this year's game, and 2) a preview of next year's opener in the same building.

But the more calls you make on it, the more you realize there are some legs to it. The Chick-fil-A isn't as averse to the matchup as you might think, simply because there aren't many other options available.

Auburn seems locked in largely because Florida would be such a bad draw. Word is that, last week when the Gator Bowl zeroed in on the Gators for its game, Florida fans purchased less than 20 tickets.

(Boom.)

There's a bit of an aversion to Florida State because the Seminoles went to Atlanta last year. This is just my gut, but I'd speculate that the Chick-fil-A would view Florida State much more seriously if Clemson goes to Charlotte and gets blown out for a third consecutive game.

Here are my guesses for the bowl pecking order if Clemson loses to Virginia Tech and the Hokies go to the Orange:

Chick-fil-A: Clemson vs. Auburn
Champs Sports: Florida State vs. Notre Dame
Music City: Virginia vs. Mississippi State
Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Utah
Belk: N.C. State vs. Louisville
Independence: Wake Forest vs. Wyoming
Military: North Carolina vs. Air Force

LW