Bowl results show that ACC needs separation from BCS

The Bowl Championship Series has an approval rating slightly higher than Congress, bronchitis or Kim Jong Il.

For years, the powers behind the BCS interpreted this as a sign of relative victory, like a 7-3 squeaker in the Military-Industrial Complex Bowl. Just recently the BCS cartel — namely, six major conferences and Notre Dame — took a broader accounting of the boos, the splattered tomatoes and the presidential scowl.

They measured the public rejection and contemplated an option that could get the green light soon: reducing BCS involvement to setting up a single game — No. 1 vs. No. 2 — and leaving the other bowls alone.

The matchmaker's retreat to single-match status would mock all the ludicrous expansion moves — such as Boise State to the Big East, for instance. There's another reason to retreat: The ACC needs a divorce. The ACC-BCS marriage seems like a Kardashian thing in super-slow motion, and it gets worse every anniversary.

The ACC disaster begins with the 2-13 record in BCS games, which trails the Big East (7-7) and every league right up to the SEC kings (15-6). Those two wins deserve recognition: Florida State over Virginia Tech of the Big East for the 1999 championship, Virginia Tech of the ACC over Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl after the 2009 season.

There's hardly enough space, or patience, to recite the 13 defeats other than Michigan against Virginia Tech 23-20 in the Sugar Bowl and West Virginia against Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl. The ACC concluded this bowl season with a 2-6 record — 11th among 12 competing conferences, way below the Big 12 (6-1) and even the Big East (3-1), superior only to the Western Athletic (0-3).

Coach Tom O'Brien pleaded the obvious case after N.C. State beat Louisville in Charlotte: The ACC needs to win these games. Coach Frank Beamer has echoed the same logic, but maybe that was the old Beamer talking, the fellow associated with a style ("Beamer Ball") that merges prudent strategy with kick-blocking trickery.

The new Beamer showed up in New Orleans, proud that the Hokies' reputation secured the unexpected bid and handed the ACC its first extra BCS check, but the new Beamer forgot his roots.

He left a field goal on the field right before halftime, failing to convert a first down on fourth and 1 at the 4 against a beefy Michigan line. Midway through the fourth quarter of a tie game, facing the same situation at midfield, Beamer called a timeout. He told backup punter Danny Coale to run if he saw daylight and punt if he didn't.

Michigan paid attention. Coale thought he saw daylight and chugged to his right. The daylight turned into a bunch of huffing Michigan blobs, who smothered Coale and triggered a field-goal drive.

Tech matched that score and forced overtime, but Coale's phenomenal touchdown catch was wiped out by replay judges from the Pac-12 although the visual evidence seemed to fall short of the "indisputable" test for controlling the ball. The Hokies' third-string kicker, Justin Myer, then missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt after making four straight. The Wolverines' kicker didn't miss, ending a game in which Tech outgained Michigan 377-184 but sold itself short.

"I'm about half sick right now," Beamer said.

Clemson got sick when West Virginia stole tailback Andre Ellington's loaf of bread at the 1 and hauled it 99 yards for a momentum-turning TD. The cascading onslaught — 587 total yards, 49 points in a half and 70 overall, breaking Baylor's week-old bowl record by three — reminded folks that Clemson allowed 45 points at Maryland, 37 at N.C. State and 34 at South Carolina.

Coach Dabo Swinney was disappointed in how the Tigers represented the ACC.

"I thought Virginia Tech played much better than we did," Swinney said. "They didn't play well enough to win, but some of the other teams, I think, have been competitive. But it all comes down to winning. We have not had a good year this year, and we certainly didn't do our part."

Instead, the Tigers did their part to uphold ACC stereotypes and feed instant-replay suspicions that the ACC indisputably ranks last among the BCS brothers.