It was a rough week for the ACC's divisional champions. Clemson and Georgia Tech were beaten by two middle of the pack SEC teams, which takes a lot of the air out of next Saturday's ACC Championship Game.

Clemson was defeated by South Carolina and Georgia Tech fell to Georgia, two teams who finished 7-5 overall and combined to go just 7-9 in SEC play. There is a possibility that the Hokies could find themselves facing one of those two teams in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Clemson lost for the first time since October 3, falling to in-state rival South Carolina 34-17 on Saturday in Columbia. The Gamecocks dominated the game, outgaining Clemson 388 to 260 and limiting star tailback C.J. Spiller to just 18 yards on the ground.

Spiller returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, but South Carolina steadily took control throughout the first half. SC finished with 223 rushing yards and controlled the ball for over 36 minutes. Despite their struggles in the SEC this year, the Gamecocks took on the best team from the ACC's Atlantic Division and whipped them soundly at the line of scrimmage.

The Tigers have to regroup before facing Georgia Tech in Saturday's ACC Championship Game. They lost to the Yellow Jackets 30-27 in their first meeting, and the second meeting figures to be just as entertaining. Kickoff is scheduled for 8pm on ESPN.

Boston College beat Maryland 19-17 on Saturday. Overall, this has to be considered a very good season for the Eagles. They came into 2009 with a new head coach in Frank Spaziani, new offensive and defensive coordinators, as well as a group of quarterbacks who had never taken a college snap. 8-4 is probably a best-case scenario under those conditions, and that's what the Eagles got.

True freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie had his good moments and bad moments, but his future looks solid. The 25-year old passed for over 1,800 yards, throwing 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

However, it was true sophomore tailback Montel Harris that made this a successful season for the BC offense. Harris finished second in the ACC in rushing, averaging 119.9 yards per game.

The Emerald Bowl in San Francisco or the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte seem like good bets for bowl destinations at this time.

Florida State is the third and final bowl eligible team in the ACC Atlantic, barely making it in with a 6-6 record. The Seminoles were pounded by #1 Florida 37-10 in The Swamp. Following the game, Bobby Bowden said he had some "soul searching to do" with regards to his status for 2010.

Bowden wants to coach one more year, but should he? Mickey Andrews is retiring as defensive coordinator. If Bowden returns, who will hire the new defensive coordinator? Bowden himself, who will only be there for one more year most likely, or coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher? This is a perfect example of a division of authority on a coaching staff, and it's why most schools haven't adopted the coach-in-waiting idea.

Like Boston College, Florida State could end up in the Emerald Bowl or the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Wake Forest broke a five-game losing streak, knocking off Duke 45-34 in Durham. The Demon Deacons aren't going to a bowl this year. They had perhaps the worst luck of any ACC team this year. Five of their seven losses came by a combined 13 points.

Wake lost to Baylor (24-21), Boston College (27-24 in OT), Navy (13-10), Miami (28-27) and Georgia Tech (30-27 in OT) in very tight football games. The Deacs didn't quite have the talent to knock off those teams, after losing four defensive players in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Riley Skinner finished his career after taking Wake to a bowl game for three consecutive seasons in his first three years. He finished in style, throwing a school-record five touchdown passes against the Blue Devils.

NC State had only won one football game since September until Saturday, when they upset in-state rival North Carolina 28-27 in Raleigh. It was the third straight win for the Wolfpack against the hated Tar Heels, and they get to end a disappointing, injury-plagued season on a positive note.

NC State was outgained 481 to 335, but they were +2 in turnover margin, which turned out to be the difference in the game. Russell Wilson was 20-of-27 for 259 yards, with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. Owen Spencer and Jarvis Williams combined for 11 catches for 180 yards and four touchdowns.

The Wolfpack will not be going bowling this year, but they return most of their team intact for 2010. If they can manage to stay healthy, expect good things from Tom O'Brien's squad.

Maryland's nightmare 2009 season came to an end on Saturday with a 19-17 home loss to Boston College. Ralph Friedgen's future in College Park is very much in doubt, but as of the time of this writing no decision has been announced with regards to his future.

The Terps suffered from a major lack of talent on both sides of the ball this year. Friedgen is a good X's and O's coach, but the talent level at Maryland has slowly slipped as the decade has progressed. The Terps have had several stars such as Vernon Davis and Shawn Merriman, but they have never had a lot of depth.

A great season for Georgia Tech ended on a sour note on Saturday night, as the Yellow Jackets lost at home to in-state rival Georgia 30-24. This was another bad moment for the ACC, with a middle of the pack SEC team beating the ACC's best.

Georgia Tech's defense allowed 415 yards of total offense, and the Yellow Jacket offense was thoroughly dominated in the first half. Georgia led 17-3 at halftime, but Georgia Tech tried to make a run in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets advanced the ball to the Georgia Tech 46 with just under two minutes left. However, they elected to go away from their bread and butter and throw four consecutive passes, all of which fell incomplete, including a drop on fourth down by Demaryius Thomas.

Georgia Tech will look to finish their season strong and make a BCS bowl by winning the ACC this weekend. They play Clemson at 8pm on ESPN.

The Hokies closed their season in strong fashion, whipping in-state rival UVA 42-13 in Charlottesville on Saturday. Tech has now won four straight games, with three of them coming by 27 points of more.

Ryan Williams ran for 183 yards and four touchdowns. It was his second consecutive game with four touchdowns or more. He now had 20 touchdowns on the season, which breaks the previous record held by NC State's T.A. McLendon. Williams finished the regular season with 1,538 yards. A 110 yard performance in the bowl game will break the single season school rushing record set by Kevin Jones in 2003.

Danny Coale also had a big game, repeatedly beating star UVA cornerback Ras-I Dowling. Coale had six catches for a career-high 135 yards. Tyrod Taylor threw for 185 yards, so it's easy to see exactly how much Coale meant to the Tech passing game.

Right now Virginia Tech is being projected in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta or the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. However, they still have an outside shot of landing an at-large berth in a BCS Bowl. We will cover those chances in an article later this week.

Miami closed the season strong, blowing out South Florida 31-10 on the road on Saturday. The Canes weren't quite the ACC title contenders everyone thought they were after the first two games of the season, but they had a very good year, and they return the bulk of their team for 2010.

Jacory Harris passed for 161 yards and two touchdowns, while Damien Berry ran for 114 and Graig Cooper added 83. The tough Miami defense limited the South Florida offense to just 220 total yards. This was a dominating performance by the Hurricanes in every phase of the game.

As of now, Miami looks poised to go to either the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando or the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Both would be good rewards for a very good season.

North Carolina and NC State were two teams going in opposite directions. The Tar Heels had run off five straight wins and looked like one of the best teams in the ACC, while NC State had just one win since the month of September, and that came over last place Maryland. However, you can throw the records out in rivalry games, as the Wolfpack beat UNC 28-27 behind a second half comeback.

Turnovers were the difference. The Tar Heels outgained the Wolfpack 481 to 335, but UNC had two turnovers while NC State had none. UNC looked like the better team, but they lost the game on the scoreboard, and that's all that matters.

North Carolina will still get a nice bowl game. Right now they look like they are headed to the Music City Bowl, and a matchup with border rival South Carolina is very possible.

Duke came up short in their quest to finish at .500, and they did not qualify for a bowl. Their latest loss came 45-34 at the hands of Wake Forest, and the Blue Devils will be sitting at home for the holidays yet again. Their last bowl appearance came in 1994.

However, that doesn't take anything away from what David Cutcliffe has accomplished in just two years at the helm at Duke. The Blue Devils have won a total of nine football games over the past two years. Considering they won just 10 games from 2002 through 2007, it's easy to see the progress the program has made in such a short time.

Virginia was pasted 42-13 at home by Virginia Tech on Saturday, and it didn't take Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage long to make a move. Al Groh was fired early Sunday afternoon, ending a 9-year tenure that started very strong, but fizzled out towards the end. This is the third time in four years that the Hoos have failed to qualify for a bowl, and the writing was on the wall for Groh.

So who will be Virginia's next head coach? A popular choice would be Richmond head coach Mike London, who won the 1-AA National Championship last year. He is a former assistant at UVA, and he has good in-state recruiting ties, which is something UVA lacks right now.

Another choice could be Temple coach Al Golden. In just his second year at Temple, Golden has the Owls at 9-3, and they won nine consecutive games from September 26 through November 21. Temple will be going bowling for the first time since 1979, and this is their first winning record since 1990. Golden is also a former Al Groh assistant.

This will be a hire that Tech fans will be keeping their eyes on, as it will impact in-state recruiting.