Living up to the hype?

CLEMSON — For a while, the ACC's coaches dismissed the criticism that their conference was lagging behind most others and falling heavily short of heavyweight status.

It's all cyclical, they said. Just wait a while, and the ACC will eventually be spoken in the same breath as the SEC, Big 12 and Pac-10.

Some coaches are still holding tightly to that view, but the apologist ranks are thinning. North Carolina State coach Tom O'Brien said last month that it's time for the conference to start living up to the self-imposed hype.

"The numbers are what they are," O'Brien said. "It's up to us to start winning these games against top opponents. People are going to criticize us, but until we start winning we really don't have a leg to stand on."

Leave it up to a former military man (U.S. Naval Academy, Class of '71) to deliver a truth that some can't handle. Heading into the fifth season of expansion, the ACC is still trying to find its way — and finding that this football thing is harder than folks expected when the decision was made to add Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College.

The numbers O'Brien were referring to are not pretty: 1-9 in BCS bowl games; zero at-large bids to the BCS; and no team in the BCS title game since Florida State's loss to Oklahoma in 2000.

The numbers are unsightly and will take some time to be reversed. But perhaps the ACC's quickest route to respectability is achieving success in non-conference games.

"We need to beat schools in the SEC and schools in the Big Ten and schools in other conferences," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, whose team has gone 7-6 the past two years. "That way, we can claim we are as good as any of them."

Since 2004, the ACC has lost 31 of 40 games against non-conference teams ranked in the Top 25. Last year, it dropped nine of 12.

Among the 2007 defeats:

--Virginia Tech's 48-7 pounding at LSU.

--Miami's 51-13 hammering at Oklahoma.

--Florida State's 45-12 dismantling at Florida.

In addition, North Carolina lost to East Carolina; N.C. State lost to Central Florida; Virginia lost to Wyoming and Wake Forest lost at home to struggling Nebraska.

The ACC took a big hit last year in bowl games, losing six of eight. The victories: Wake Forest over Connecticut in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, and Boston College over Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The most disappointing bowl result? No doubt it was Virginia Tech's 24-21 defeat to Kansas in the BCS-affiliated Orange Bowl.

"We let the Atlantic Coast Conference down last year," said Hokies coach Frank Beamer. "We didn't play the way we needed to play in that type of ballgame, representing this conference."

With Florida State and Miami showing few signs of an immediate return to college football's upper crust, Clemson and Virginia Tech appear to be the ACC's best candidates to begin changing perceptions.

The Hokies have won 28 of 34 conference games since joining in 2004, including ACC titles in 2007 and their inaugural season.

Clemson, whose last ACC title was in 1991, has been the runaway pick to win it this year.

The Tigers will have an opportunity to score one for the ACC in their opener in Atlanta against Alabama on Aug. 30.

"The ACC just has to step up and start winning these games that are played on the big stage," said Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper. "We can talk all we want about how good our league is, and I think the ACC can play with anybody. But none of that matters unless you win."

Reach Larry Williams at lwilliams@postandcourier.com and check out the new Clemson blog at www.charleston.net/blogs/tiger_tracks/>