Are You Ready...?
Posted August 1, 2005, 5:09 PM ET

Thank goodness it is August...football must be right around the corner.

Last week I finally got a taste of the upcoming season with the respective media days taking place for both the ACC and the SEC. There were certainly interesting storylines for both conferences:

The ACC is going to tinker with the stupid instant replay...the addition of Boston College...the new ACC Championship game in Jacksonville...Bobby Bowden and the 'Noles crazy offseason...that was just a few of the topics of interest.

The SEC was loaded with great storylines...Phil Fulmer walks again on Alabama soil...Steve Spurrier is back...new coaches at prestigious programs like Florida and LSU...Tommy Tuberville says his Auburn Tigers are loaded...you get the picture.

On my radio show this week, while we were discussing the highs and lows of both the upcoming ACC and the SEC football seasons, fans from all schools were giving their opinions. It seemed like everybody was bored to death with the July sporting events...it was time to get to the football season.

During the conversations on air, the debate of the ACC versus the SEC was again a hot topic. It seemed no matter where you stood on the issue, fans knew that their favorite team and conference was better than their Southern Fried Football brethren.

After hearing the fans go back and forth, I decided to look at the past 5 years...head-to-head between the ACC and the SEC. Here it goes, just to set the record straight:

This decade (from 2000 to the present), the SEC is 19-16 against the ACC. The SEC is 5-4 against the ACC in bowl games.

Many ACC fans could have sworn that the league had a winning record against the SEC...so from an ACC perspective here is the breakdown:

Clemson	5-3	...4-1 against South Carolina
FSU	3-3	...3-2 against Florida
Ga Tech	4-5	...1-4 against Georgia
UNC	1-0
Miami	1-0
Maryland	1-1
Virginia	1-2
Va Tech	0-1
WFU	0-1
Duke	0-3
NC State	(Did not play an SEC team)
BC	(New member of the ACC)

Play with the numbers to suit your argument. Take away Duke's 0-3 record, it is a dead heat between the leagues...but the last I checked, Duke is a member of the ACC...just as Vanderbilt is a member of the SEC.

The ACC has won the last four Peach Bowl matchups. The Peach Bowl matches an ACC team against an SEC team every year in Atlanta.

The SEC has had success beating up on the ACC's elite in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl in the past few years...Auburn beat Va. Tech last year in Nawlins...Florida destroyed Maryland in the Orange Bowl and Georgia beat FSU in New Orleans a few years ago, too.

This year there are 5 regular season matchups between the ACC and the SEC:

The traditional matchups between Clemson-South Carolina...Georgia and Ga. Tech...Florida and FSU. The season openers include Georgia Tech at Auburn and Vanderbilt at Wake Forest.

Let the season...and the debate begin!