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Although Miami finally is showing signs of becoming the productive football business partner the ACC anticipated upon expansion, this weekend still could be costly on the image front for the already humbled league.
Here's how:
Nebraska at Virginia Tech: Having already lost to an Alabama team expected to finish second or third overall in the Southeastern Conference, the ACC preseason favorite doesn't need to lose at home to a 19th-ranked Huskers outfit generally seen as the third- or fourth-best in the Big 12.
Florida State at Brigham Young: The Seminoles went off as the favorites to win the ACC Atlantic. The No. 7 Cougars, before whipping Oklahoma, were generally seen as a challenger to Utah and TCU in the Mountain West, a Bowl Championship Series outsider.
Virginia at Southern Miss: Should things go really, really south -- and Southern Mississippi is about as far south as it gets -- someone other than Al Groh could be coaching the winless Cavaliers when they next play. That would be Oct. 3 at North Carolina.
Middle Tennessee at Maryland: Before you laugh, the Terps lost by 10 to basically the same team last season.
East Carolina at North Carolina: Almost 35 years have passed since the Pirates last won in Chapel Hill. They might be due. If so, Conference USA teams could go 2-0 against the ACC.
Duke at Kansas: Combine a Blue Devils loss, which is expected, with a Nebraska win, and the ACC goes 0-2 for the weekend and 0-3 for 2009 against the Big 12.
N.C. State, at home for Gardner-Webb, and Wake Forest, which hosts Elon, should add to the ACC's capture count that already includes Stanford, Northeastern, Connecticut, Murray State, Kent State, James Madison (barely) and Jacksonville State twice.
Miami's impressive 2-0 start against Florida State and Georgia Tech aside, an ACC wipeout today would all but end any hope of an important role in the BCS postseason games.
