In the ACC's Homestretch, Everyone Is Neck and Neck

Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen made sure to leave Gossett Team House at a reasonable hour Saturday afternoon for one reason: He needed to get home in time to cozy up in front of a television and watch as many ACC teams as possible.

"I became a fan," he said. "I am rooting for some of those teams to lose to make our job a little easier. I realized they all were playing very well and that the task we have is not going to be easy."

Eight other ACC coaches could express the same sentiment, because three-fourths of the 12-team conference still has a chance to win the league title. Unlike the Southeastern Conference, whose title game matchup already is set, the final three weeks of the ACC's regular season promise to be volatile and meaningful, giving fans of various schools unlikely rooting interests.

"You like it better when it is in your own hands," Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said.

Three weeks after watching Maryland struggle to contain North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson, Terrapins fans should be rooting for Wilson against Wake Forest on Saturday. Nine days after Virginia Tech shut down Maryland running back Da'Rel Scott, Hokies fans should be rooting for the sophomore to thrive against North Carolina on Saturday.

This season's ACC is college football's version of the Rorschach test. Some see the conference as a bunch of formidable but equal teams capable of beating anyone on any day. Others view it as a league strewn with mediocrity, 12 teams capable of losing to almost anyone on any day.

To understand the muddled ACC division races, consider that Boston College, which is 2-3 in league play, controls its own destiny in the Atlantic Division, meaning it will go to the ACC title game if it wins its final three games. The ACC's only other teams that control their own destinies are Maryland and Virginia Tech, two schools that had been counted out at various times this season.

Maryland quarterback Chris Turner said he was rooting for Clemson to beat Florida State on Saturday but added that he did not have a favorite in the Wake Forest-Virginia game.

"Should I have?" Turner asked before being told Wake Forest holds a half-game lead over Maryland. "Well, I guess I was rooting for Virginia. Who won the game? Who knows what's going to happen?"

The standings leave coaches and players alike with more questions than answers. Turner approached a reporter on campus the other day and asked, "Is it really true that nine teams can still win the conference?"

Friedgen pointed to a copy of the league standings in someone's hands and said: "Am I reading that wrong? The ACC has the second-highest winning percentage outside the conference?"

In the ACC, today's favorites usually become tomorrow's afterthoughts. For the time being, Wake Forest has emerged as the new favorite in the Atlantic Division. The Demon Deacons (4-2 in the ACC), whose remaining conference opponents have a combined record of 9-9, would win the division with two wins and one Maryland loss. They hold the tiebreaker over Florida State.