ACC has five teams in preseason coaches poll

Five ACC teams were selected to the preseason USA Today football coaches poll which was announced Friday. This marked the first time since 2004 that the ACC had five teams picked among the preseason poll’s Top 20, the league announced in a news release. The ACC led all conferences with five schools selected in the Top 20, while the SEC had the most total Top 25 picks with six.

Virginia Tech led the way for ACC schools, being tabbed for 6th place on the inaugural 2010 coaches poll, followed by Miami (13th), Georgia Tech (17th), North Carolina (18th) and Florida State (20th). Additionally, Clemson (31st) and Boston College were among schools receiving votes in the poll.

The last time the ACC had five schools in the Top 20 of the preseason coaches poll was in 2004 when Miami (5th), Florida State (6th), Clemson (16th), Virginia (19th) and Maryland (20th) were chosen.

The ACC had five teams selected to the pre-season USA Today coaches Top 25 in 2005, but only three of the teams—Virginia Tech (7th), Miami (8th) and Florida State (12th)--were among the Top 20, with Boston College ranked 22nd and Virginia 23rd.

In all, ACC teams will play 10 schools in 2010 ranked in the pre-season Top 25 including No. 1 Alabama (Duke, Sept. 18), No. 2 Ohio State (Miami, Sept. 11), No. 3 Florida (Florida State (Nov. 27), No. 5 Boise State (Virginia Tech, Sept. 6), No. 8 Oklahoma (Florida State, Sept. 11), No. 15 Pittsburgh (Miami, Sept. 23), No. 16 LSU (North Carolina, Sept. 4), No. 21 Georgia (Georgia Tech, Nov. 27), No. 23 Auburn (Clemson, Sept. 18), and No. 24 West Virginia (Maryland, Sept. 18).

The Conference will also play no fewer than 19 games against teams which were ranked or received votes in the pre-season USA Today coaches poll.

Suite life at Kenan Stadium includes beer, wine

The University of North Carolina is looking to sell luxury seats in the new Kenan Stadium end zone, and the Tar Heels are using a familiar tactic to draw fans.

Beer.

Yep, you’re not allowed to take alcohol into Kenan Stadium – wouldn’t want that on a college campus – but to help sell seats in the new end zone, the school will sell beer and wine to donors who can afford seats that start at $750, according to The News & Observer.

It’s a five-story, $70 million project that will rip down the old fieldhouse in Kenan and fill it with upscale seating.

You can’t help but be a bit sad about the coming changes – the old fieldhouse adds to the quaint and historic feel of Kenan. But you have to admit the additions to Kenan in recent decades have made the stadium even more impressive.

The new addition in the endzone should be first-rate as well. But the fact that the school will allow the sales of alcohol there is, well, amusing. And it’s a reminder of the uneasy, and inconsistent, relationship collegiate sports have with alcohol.

A UNC student who can walk home to Teague dorm would be pilloried for heading into the stadium with a can of Budweiser. But an alum who knocks down beers in a suite and then drives back to Greensboro … well, that’s another matter.

By the way, News14 has a story on the new facility here.