ACC Roundtable: Halloween Edition

It's ACC Roundtable time again. This week, Joe Ovies of the soon-to-be 620 The Buzz (formerly of the soon-to-be-dead 850 The Buzz) is hosting. Following are his questions and my answers.

Enjoy:

1. Now that we're in the home-stretch of college football, we have enough material to begin campaigns for ACC coach of the year and player of the year. Who ya got and why?
I've gotta go with Frank Spaziani for coach of the year at this point. Damn if I didn't just assume along with everyone else that -- in the wake of the Jagodzinski nonsense and lacking a quarterback of any real note -- Boston College surely would've fallen flat on their face and stunk it up. But man, like the original Terminator (early 80s Arnold 1.0), BC just keeps on coming, no matter how many times you try and smash it in a hydraulic press. They currently lead the Atlantic Division, and while they've got a tough stretch ahead, they continue to find ways to win. I think you have to credit Spaziani with keeping the momentum going in Boston.

As to player of the year? It changes every week, depending upon whom State played.

2. Would your 2009 ACC coach of the year stand a chance in the SEC battlefields of recruiting and gameday management against the likes of Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Lane Kiffin?
Um, no. But there I go again…doubting BC. The mere fact that I don’t think Spaz could do it probably means he would excel at it and laugh in my face, taunting me with his mustache.

3. Getting away from the breathless week-to-week win/loss reactions such as "OMGZ!1!JUAN! WE WON, BCS NEXT!" or "WTF, WE'RE DA SUX. FIRE COACH!", where is your head coach in 5 years. If no longer with your school, how does the exit go down?
Tom O’Brien will be here in five years, barring a total collapse. He’ll retire at some point after the five year mark, but whether that’s on good terms with the fans or not is up for debate at the moment. I think he very much can right this ship, but I think hiring an old friend in Mike Archer who plays a defense that just does not get the job done could be his downfall if he’s unwilling to make a change at some point, if needed.

4. Coffee is for closers only. Which means plenty of ACC teams are walking around with empty cups after failing to finish off opponents or lock up divisions. As the worst offender, who gets the steak knives?
I thought third place was “you’re fired.” A set of steak knives looks pretty good by comparison. I think the two programs without a conference win at the halfway point – State and Carolina – are the two most egregious underperformers at this point. Both were darkhorse candidates to win their divisions, but after State’s waxing at the hands of Duke and BC and Carolina’s epic collapse against FSU, both teams look about a 1,000 miles from where they could’ve been this season.

Florida State was in the mix, but they "closed" against BYU and Carolina, so they avoid this dubious distinction.

5. Bob Griese wants to take you and Juan Pablo Montoya out for tacos. Where's the best joint in town?
I’m so unplugged from my college days at this point…is Baja Burrito still open at Mission Valley? I have fond memories of those big, sloppy tacos and burritos, long before Moe’s and Chipotle Grill moved in and "big-boxed" the Tex-Mex experience.