1. There is no question as to whether the ACC is one of the toughest conferences this year as far as its constituents are concerned.  Currently, 4 teams are bowl eligible while 5 are within one game of reaching eligibility.  Is it mediocrity, or is the ACC on its way to being the powerhouse that expansion was supposed to bring?

It’s not mediocrity, it’s not great, but there are a number of positive signs indicating that the league will get much better before it gets any worse. The parity is..ahem… unparalleled among other conferences. UNC and Duke are caring about a sport other than basketball in November. FSU has rebounded from some slow years. Virginia has largely turned their season around, even with the heartbreaking loss to Miami. PJ has rejuvenated GT. VT is having a fairly solid season considering their QB woes. Maryland is running pretty steady. Miami’s youngsters are living up to high expectations. There’s a huge upside here.

2. With a few notable exceptions, quarterback play in the ACC has been poor across the past couple of seasons, contributing at least in some part to the lack of offensive potency in the conference.  Where does the ACC stand today in terms of quarterback play, and do you think our offenses are improving?

Clemson’s QB play and offensive execution have been poor. Duke, UNC, and GT are some schools just off the top of my head who have seen a large increase in offensive efficiency and QB performance. FSU has had some success with their multiple QBs. UVA has struggled at times after booting Lalich, Crane at BC has had trouble, so the league’s QBs are a mixed bag for sure.

3. There are 5 out-of-conference games left for the ACC – BC/Notre Dame, Wake Forest/Vandy, Clemson/USC, GT/Georgia, and FSU/Florida. We went 3-2 in those games last year, and then 2-5 in bowl play (with the only wins coming over Michigan State and UConn). How do you feel we as a conference will compete against the rest of the NCAA in the final weeks of the season, and are you confident in our bowl play?

I think BC and Wake are wins. The other three are likely losses for our conference. Our bowl play will probably be good across the board, with the notable exception of the BCS tie-in. While the league is highly competitive internally, the top of our league just doesn’t match up with the elite from other conferences who are sure to be matchups in the BCS game.

4. As far as Tech fans are concerned, ACC officiating is absolutely atrocious, both in conference (helmet-to-helmet, lack of holding calls) and out of conference. Are you in agreement? List any specific, obvious grievances, or use this opportunity to verbally assault ACC refs.

This question is pretty lame. Everybody bitches about officiating, every conference’s fans think their officials are the worst, it’s not a new or remotely interesting argument. You (GT blogger) complain about helmet-to-helmet calls when this year that is a point of emphasis for league officials. Of course they’re going to fucking call that. Lack of holding calls? If officials called holding every time there was holding there’d be a flag every single play. It’s called in the most egregious cases, with few notable exceptions. This has been the case for a while on the holding front, eventually you’ll get the gist and quit whining. Clemson seemingly got jobbed on a holding call this year, too. It happens, we’ve moved on. The haranguing of guys who already are shit on by commentators and reporters and have zero venues from which to respond to such criticism without losing their jobs is something we’re not going to engage in. And we never have, nor will we ever, care what GT fans are concerned about. GOOD DAY SIR.

5. Every college football fan has a favorite player not on their team.  Who is that player for you in the ACC?

While NoleCC is a big fan of Riley Skinner’s modeling work, I think Florida State safety Myron Rolle is a guy worthy of our respect and admiration. He’s the kind of student-athlete that has been largely missing from FSU in recent years. Per SI:

Rolle, a preseason All-ACC and All-America candidate, is an astounding anomaly in a sport synonymous with low graduation rates and dumbed-down majors. He’s a 3.75 pre-med student who will finish his undergraduate degree in just two-and-a-half years; a National Leadership Honor Society inductee; the recipient of a $4,000 research grant for his work studying human mesenchymal stem cells and the facilitator of a health and living program at a charter school run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Very, very impressive.