Which college football team will be the best in the state of North Carolina in 2009?
There are numerous reader comments on the "ECU sets challenge" post that hash, and rehash, that argument.
What will happen in '09? We don't know. What has happened from 2000 to '08? We do know. Those numbers say N.C. State has been the best team in the state of North Carolina ... so far.
State has won the most overall games (60), ACC games (32), bowl games (four) and has edged UNC and Wake Forest (5-4 against each) in their respective series. The Wolfpack has also had the most bowl appearances (six).
(Oh, I hear you, Yosef, App State's got three national titles but your boys are 1-2 against the ACC this decade with a 23-10 loss to N.C. State in '06, which was State's worst team of the decade).
Duke (surprise!) has the worst record of the five Bowl Subdivision programs in the state (and all of Division I-A for that matter) with a 14-90 mark. For the sake of meaningful comparison, Duke, has been taken out of the group-record discussion.
Some numbers, from the nine seasons starting in 2000 through 2008, to chew on:
| Overall | W-L | Pct. |
| N.C. State | 60-51 | .541 |
| Wake | 56-53 | .532 |
| ECU | 50-60 | .455 |
| UNC | 45-63 | .417 |
Notes: State, Wake and ECU have each had four losing seasons this decade. UNC has had five.
| ACC | W-L | Pct. |
| N.C. State | 32-40 | .444 |
| Wake | 29-43 | .403 |
| UNC | 28-44 | .389 |
Notes: Wake Forest won the ACC Championship Game in '06. The ACC only recognizes the regular season (6-2) in their won-loss record. Duke is 4-68.
| Bowls | W-L | Pct. |
| Wake | 3-1 | .750 |
| N.C. State | 4-2 | .667 |
| UNC | 2-2 | .500 |
| ECU | 2-3 | .400 |
Notes: Wake Forest's only bowl loss was to Louisville in the '07 Orange Bowl — the only BCS bowl appearance of the group.
| Head-to-head | State | UNC | Wake | ECU |
| N.C. State | — | 5-4 | 5-4 | 3-1 |
| UNC | 4-5 | — | 3-4 | 2-1 |
| Wake | 4-5 | 4-3 | — | 5-0 |
| ECU | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-5 | — |
Notes: Of the current coaches, Tom O'Brien (State) is 5-1 against the group, Jim Grobe (Wake) is 13-6, Skip Holtz (ECU) is 2-3 and Butch Davis (UNC) is 0-3.
(News & Observer staff photo by Ethan Hyman)
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53 comments:
"We're the red and white of state, and we know we are the best..."
Facts are facts - right now, NC State is the best team in North Carolina. Just a fact. And over the course of the last decade, they have been. I will say this though, it is pretty exciting to have five (and soon six, with Duke) football programs that all have something to brag about from time to time. That is really something different from a basketball state (yes, ECU and App - they play basketball in this state).
Based on how last season ended, and how this season is beginning to look - I predict NC State goes to the ACC Championship. They are the team to beat in the state this year. They'll stub their toe along the way though. They always do. But UNC, Wake and ECU have a lot to prove this year.
I always love how sportswriters stoke up the expectations of Wuffie fans before the season starts. It makes for an awesome spectacle when they melt down in mid-season.
East Carolina will be... Go Pirates!!!!!!!
It really doesn't matter. None of them will be is a BCS bowl.
ECU is but all the ACC schools are afraid to admit it! The Pirates not only play the toughest out of conference schedule they have the right mentality and have one hell of a coach. The school and the athletics are on the way up. GO PIRATES!!!
I still see Giglio is still running his mouth about App....JP you need to get over whatever issue you have with that school.
the decade isn't over, hairpiece... let's see what happens.
Typical NC State garbage. Who the heck brags about being the best football team in North Carolina? Probably the same losers that bragged about beating a 1-AA team a few years ago. NC State fans are ridiculous. They haven't won an ACC championship since electricity was discovered and they've never sniffed a national championship. Predicting they are going to the ACC championship? Please, when will the delusion stop!?!?
North Carolina is in a sad state when it comes to college football. It is like picking who it the best among the worst. The best team in North Carolina is winners of the Toilet Bowl.
There is only 1 team in this state that goes to a "playoff" and within 4 years has won 3 Nat'l Championships.....APPALACHIAN STATE....I guess we'll get respect when we beat ECU with there 34 year old QB at the helm.
Skip Holtz's ECU teams are 2-2 vs. UNC and NC State. It was extremely gracious of Holtz to help NC State squeak back into a bowl game last season after the pack's long hiatous from post-season. That's what friends are for! :) It was really nip-and-go after the Pirates trounced State in Raleigh, costing Amato his job. ---- There was alot of talk of State not wanting to play ECU anymore... wanting to turn tail & hide. Then, the brilliant move by Holtz throwing the wolfies a couple bones and helping them feel competitive --- that talk is gone!!!!! We can count on ECU v. State and massive crowds in both stadiums for decades to come! Go WolfPirates!!!
*NC States win over App St in 06 was pre- Armanti Edwards* just a fun fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FQQONgG3Y4
App maybe 1-2 versus the ACC....BECAUSE nobody in the ACC will play them...especially IN STATE
I think this was the YouTube video you meant to link to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RNOiG52388
I know all the reasons why it will never happen, but it would be nice to see an ACC school or even ECU come up to Boone and play App at the Rock.
Come to "the rock" and play appy? There are high schools's with bigger and better stadium's. ECU is going to give appy a whuppin it won't soon forget on sept. 5th. You appy folks better hope edwards gets out of Greenville alive and in good enough shape to play the rest of the season. Go play wolford or whatever glorified high school team you boys play all the time and leave the grown ups alone.
Boy do the App fans really have a complex. They are a very good program for what it is. They could NOT Compete day in and day out in the ACC. Certainly they would be competetive in a few games but they would have ABSOLUTELY no chance of ever winning the ACC. This is really a silly article. In late November we will all know who the best team is. I expect it ma surpise us all.
Yeah, but ASU does it without all the scholarships that the bowl championship division has. I don't think anyone truly believes App is at the same level - because they are not. We are comparing apples to oranges... it just turns out that App is one of the nation's best apples and the other "bowl" schools are horrible oranges.
This is ripe for the picking...
Who brags about winning the state of NC, I believe it started back in the mid-90s with some guy named Mack Brown. If you remember back then, WF was busy winning 2-3 games a year. Duke was in the midst of their Spurrier hangover. NC State was in transition to Mike O'Cain. Not exactly the strongest point in NC ACC history.
Please Pirates, stop talking about how you've taken ACC teams to the woodshed. We're talking about facts here. You are below .500 against NCSU this decade - including losing the past 2. If you want to talk trash about UNC-CH or Duke, go for it. But, leave the Pack out of it until you start competing with your nemesis.
D1 school playing in Boone is ridiculous to even bring up. It's all about the money. I fully believe a State/ASU or UNC/ASU game in Boone would draw +50k, but there's no where to play the game.
Big suprise, Charlotte Observer isn't reporting on ASU again.
Sure, Apps 30,000 seating capacity is small compared to the other NC schools. But your 50,000 is a joke in your Division. Tenn, Michigan, LSU, UF are all laughing at you.
The only good ACC football programs in the last 30 years were brought in from other conferences(FSU, VT, and the U). No one in the SEC or Big 10 takes your program serious.
So the Observer and other NC schools can continue to snob the Mountaineers program. But why would we ever want to move "up" to your conferences and join you as the laughingstock of the BCS.
WAKE FOREST!
I don't remember us "wuffies" melting down mid-season last year. In fact, that's just when we got started. I realize it's hard for people to accept that any other team than their own might be the best, but the fact is, State has the best team in NC right now. And hopefully the trend continues for TOB and the boys! Go Pack!
Ok first of all NC state WAS good in the earlier part of this decade and that was due 100% to Philip Rivers and that is it. Not TA who after deciding to leave early got cut by the atlanta falcons. Chuck Amato, who finds it necessary to wear sunglasses inside a dome, is one of the worst football coaches the ACC has seen for a while. Also there is little tradition and absolutely no national championship in their history....if NC state has a winning season I will be very suprised
TA is playing arena league in fayettename, check it
I am a big ASU fan and we do have a great team and i also think we could beat a lot of teams but to play in the ACC for a year we would maybe win 2 or 3 games people need to realize that they are a lot bigger in the acc and week end and week out it would be a tough task to handle. But in all do respect we do have one of the better programs in north carolina.
PURPLE!!
GOLD!!
The record is clear. Does any ACC team from North Carolina own a conferance championship this decade? How many National Championships? What's their record? What's their home record?
For the record at ASU we have 6 conferance championships, 3 national championships, only one loss in 7 years at the rock. Ok, lets be fair... you can take all 4 ACC teams and add their accomplismnets together. Are you through? Does their total match ASU. NO!
As for being a smaller school. Even with fewer schlorships, would any of big 4 beat Michigan? I almost forgot about that little accomplishment.
Bottom line give ASU the same number of Schlorships, move them into the ACC, and within 2 years the state of North carolina would have an ACC championship team. In 5years, these guys would compete for BCS bowls.
This will never happen unfortunetly. The ACC schools will run from ASU forever. We are forced to play in the "chapionship" series because the big 4, with the support of the Charlotte Observer is a closed club. Too bad for everyone in the state except ASU.
You just keep writing, ever year, about ACC football. Up on the mountain we'll just keep winning champioships. That's the facts jack!
NCSU has a better QB than UNC, ASU, Duke, or Wake have EVER had. Period. NCSU is the best team in the state and they proved it last year. 41-10.
Hylons, instead of naming your conference titles and the number of losses...why don't you name the teams that you have to beat in order to win those things?
If NCSU had lost to Richmond (or ASU for that matter), I'd want the coach fired. Even Chuck beat you 23-10 in NCSU's worst year ever and during a "national title" year for ASU. I'd love to play ASU...sorry, our "big game" on the schedule isn't the Richmond or GA Southern. What a joke. ECU is going to bury you and then you can crawl back under your little league football rock.
When State does anything at their level come back and talk junk. ASU beats their level of competition and even jumps up and bites the big boys every once in a while.
State can't even play in it's own sandbox and win on a national level. App wins at their level own on the national stage. You guys are talking about the state of North Carolina. The fact that App even comes into the discussion shows how poor our Bowl Championship schools are in NC.
kiss our APPS.
Can't wait for the 5 star recruits and million dollar man come to Raleigh Nov. 28th. Will see how much smack you boys are talking then.
I love how ASU makes up traditions. Calling it's stadium "The Rock." You guys are just making up crap as you go along. I think that wimpy play-by-play annnouncer David Jackson made it up in his head about 4 yrs ago. I just laugh out loud everytime i hear that.
app has played 6 d1 teams in the last 6 years and lost all but 1 game. that right there shows you how well they would stack up against the acc. ive been to boone, its a sad place to watch a football game unless theyre playing wofford. thats asu football at its best
asu is as good a team as you will find anywhere in boone, nc
watuga high school included
LMFAO
the worst NC State team this decade beat one of the best ASU teams back in 2006. yeah, you boys are ready for the ACC, just like skip holtz is ready to coach a real program next season.
Hard to argue with NCSU being labeled best in the state so far this decade. If Wilson can stay healthy at QB, I think they are a dark horse to win the ACC.
As an ECU fan, however, I will say this. Most BCS conference teams schedule non BCS teams expecting an easy win. I doubt any team looks at ECU that way. The Pirates have a history of knocking off more well known teams. ECU plays West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and UNC as our non-conf games this year. At least one of those teams will lose to the Pirates.
You App fans are becoming annoying. I mean, it's great that you can win the JuCo championship or whatever it is every year and you did pull off one of the biggest upsets ever against a team that took you too lightly, but look at what happened last year when you got your chance on the National State... LSU CRUSHED you!
But bragging about all your championships is kinda like being the tallest midget!
This article is about the best team in the state right now! Congrats to App, you have done well in your conference but that doesn't make you better than NCSU, UNC, Duke or Wake... Right now, Tom O'Brien has the best thing going in this state. If App played State this season, they wouldn't stand a chance... BE REAL MOUNTIES!!!
ECU, UNC, and State can argue all they want about being the better than each other this decade. But they are arguing for 3rd place.
Wake has actually been to a meaningful bowl game (if any bowl game is meaningful) and App St has won 4 conference championships, been to 8 playoffs, and won three championships this decade.
State fans, 2006 was without Edwards. So go ahead and talk about winning that game. If you do, you can shut up about all those games without Wilson that you lost last year.
Also, Edwards has only lost 3 games as a starter in three years and has won bigger games than Wilson will ever play in. He is 9-1 in post season play and 1-0 in games attended by over 100K people. He is far and away the best QB in the state.
The word "best" shouldn't be used in an article when the "best" is 60-51. It makes me embarrassed to be from the state.
I just wanted to state that Stephen is an idiot. For the record.
State and UNC have no meaningful accomplishments this decade in football. So Rivers took you to the Gator Bowl and Peppers took you to the Peach Bowl. Now you can sit back on Sunday's and watch the Chargers and Panthers and talk about the glory days.
Wake, ECU, and App are the only schools who have actually accomplished anything in the past 9 years.
Every single team on here has these special fans and we all know it. I attended App and love the school. I know we couldn't compete in the ACC. However it sure would be fun as hell to watch. My only wish for you guys is that you get the chance to play in a postseason the way it was meant to be. Until then enjoy winning those mythical state championships and getting some great deals from the papajohns.com bowl or the Meinke car care bowl. Free Oil Changes for everyone.
State will play 6 games against North and South Carolina teams this year. If they win all of them, they can say they are the BEST! Period! Case closed!
Steve you are flat out wrong. If ECU beats App and UNC and pulls out wins at WVU and home with Virginia Tech you have no ground to say that. Point blank end of story. WVU and VT are better than the teams you willbe facing in NC.
Again. If you win all of the games against your North Carolina opponents but, lose most of the rest, that's not impressive.
SOUTH Carolina Gamecocks will do again what they did last year and that is Stomp the Wolfpacks ass and set them up for another losing record. They looked ridiculous in their undeserved bowl game loss to who? TOM OBRIAN has a wow-86 and 59won lost record! What a genius and he is so charaismatic and handsome too. And so young. Has NC STATE ever figured prominently in a national championship run? Hell no. The woldpack has one bragging thing going with some who gives a fart domination for a few years in the state of north carolina while Wake goes on to play in the orange bowl and wins the friggin ACC. UNC owns them with a 60 something win and only 30 something losses to these redneck assholes who are a bunch of dairy farmers at MOO U!
wow. "moo U"? i didnt realize holes fans were so defensive, and so sad. the best is to hear the repeated reply of "well...um..who cares about football anyways! wait til basketball season!" as they strap on a notre dame t-shirt or other bandwagon school's colors to go watch football in the closet with their fellow fair-weather, fairy heels-fan friends.
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