ESPN College Football

When the dominoes didn't fall the right way, freezing Boston College in the Big East for another year and blocking the ACC's quest to hold a league football championship game at the end of the 2004 season, a great opportunity was lost.

What better way to showcase the upgraded version of a league that so often had to defend its place in the college football hierarchy than a championship game?

Though it didn't happen the way the league office wanted, the schedule worked out rather well for the ACC, anyway.

Florida State (winner of 11-of-12 ACC titles since joining the league in 1992) met newcomer Miami in the ACC opener on Sept. 10 at the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes won that game in overtime, signaling a change at the top, then went on to meet fellow newcomer Virginia Tech at the Orange Bowl on Saturday for the closest thing to a championship game the ACC has ever known.

In between, the league's image improved with the addition of the Hokies and Hurricanes, the emergence of Virginia as a capable challenger and a league race that, for once, didn't belong to the Seminoles throughout.

Florida State's demise can be traced not to the loss at the Orange Bowl, but an Oct. 30 setback at Maryland. That same day, Miami stumbled at North Carolina, and Virginia Tech moved into a tie for first place before winning the title outright in the regular-season finale on a day when the Hokies and Hurricanes were the only league teams still playing.

The league race didn't go exactly as planned (Clemson and North Carolina State suffered on offense and couldn't join the chase) and the ACC remains the only major conference not to get two teams into a BCS bowl in the same season. But four teams (Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State and Virginia) are among the final Top 25 and, assuming Clemson, NC State, Maryland and Georgia Tech improve, the ACC should be a wildly competitive league next year when divisional play begins.

Most Valuable Player
Virginia Tech's Bryan Randall
If Marcus Vick was the sheen, Bryan Randall was the primer coat in Virginia Tech's old Big East quarterback rotation. When Vick went down (to the county jail and the indefinitely suspended list) last summer, the Hokies' first-year hopes in the ACC were left in the hands of the boring guy -- the one who yelled hike and got out of the way. But a funny thing happened to Randall -- he became the symbol and the leader of Virginia Tech's slow and steady march to an undisputed ACC title.

In a showdown with Miami's Brock Berlin on Saturday at the Orange Bowl, the difference between the two -- and the difference between the teams -- came down to two throws. Berlin got picked on a first-half pass into the endzone, and Randall's perfectly thrown strike to freshman Eddie Royal went for a 39-yard game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Over his last six games (all victories), Randall threw 14 touchdown passes (he had 19 total in 12 games) and one interception.

Coach of the Year
Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer
The last few years haven't been easy on Beamer, who watched his team suffer late-season collapses the past three years in the Big East, had to apologize and explain himself after an uncharacteristic loss of self-control in which he slapped the side of player's helmet on national television last season, and had to suspend several players, including Marcus Vick, after an off-campus party involving two underage girls, alcohol and sex. The first year in the ACC wasn't supposed to be much easier when Beamer arrived at Bobby Bowden's conference missing 13 starters from a year ago.

But Beamer's consistent approach, a huge contribution from senior quarterback Bryan Randall, and a better-than-expected defense hoisted the league championship trophy to Blacksburg. That it happened with a season-ending victory over Miami at the Orange Bowl made it that much sweeter for Beamer and the Sugar Bowl-bound Hokies.

Newcomer of the Year
Virginia Tech's Eddie Royal
Georgia Tech freshman Calvin Johnson (46 receptions, 776 yards, 6 TDs) is worthy. But Royal's contributions had a greater impact. The freshman from Herndon, Va., moved into the starting lineup in Week 2 and was Tech's most consistent receiver. He played the lead role in the game-winning drive for the ACC title at Miami, returning a punt 18 yards to set it up, and sprinting into the endzone with a 39-yard touchdown reception to end it. Royal finished with a team-leading 27 receptions for 477 yards and four touchdowns.

Biggest Surprise
Virginia Tech
Who else did you expect? When Vick was suspended it looked like the final touch in a preseason demolition of Virginia Tech's hopes of making an impact as an ACC newcomer. League championship? That was out of the question. But after a 2-2 start, the Hokies just kept coming, all the way to a surprisingly dominating performance at Miami.

The kicker is the fact that Virginia Tech wasn't in the ACC's plans for expansion (Syracuse was supposed to be the third team) until politics forced the league's hand and made the Hokies the equivalent of the party's uninvited guest.

Biggest Disappointment
Florida State
More to the point (or lack thereof), Florida State's offense. The Seminoles began the year with nine starters back on offense, including speedy playmakers such as tailbacks Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker, and receiver Craphonso Thorpe, and rock solid tackles Alex Barron and Ray Willis. But they stagnated, four-year starting quarterback Chris Rix found the bench and once-unstoppable FSU failed to score a first-half touchdown in six of 11 games. The 24.7 points FSU averaged is the lowest output for the 'Noles since 1981 and led to an 8-3 finish -- well below the national title expectations brewing in Tallahassee back in August.

All-ACC Team
Offense
QB -- Bryan Randall, Virginia Tech
RB -- Alvin Pearman, Virginia
RB -- Chad Scott, North Carolina
WR -- Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
WR -- Chauncey Stovall, Florida State
TE -- Heath Miller, Virginia
OL -- Alex Barron, Florida State
OL -- Elton Brown, Virginia
OL -- Jason Brown, North Carolina
OL -- Kyle Ralph, North Carolina
OL -- D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia

Defense
DT -- Jonathan Lewis, Virginia Tech
DT -- Travis Johnson, Florida State
DT -- Darryl Tapp, Virginia Tech
DT -- Mario Williams, NC State
LB -- D'Qwell Jackson, Maryland
LB -- Ahmad Brooks, Virginia
LB -- A.J. Nicholson, Florida State
DB -- Antrel Rolle, Miami
DB -- Jimmy Williams, Virginia Tech
DB -- Pat Watkins, Florida State
DB -- Eric King, Wake Forest

Special Teams
K -- Travis Bell, Georgia Tech
P -- Ryan Plackemeier, Wake Forest
KR -- Devin Hester, Miami.