GREENSBORO, GA. - The ACC's annual football media kickoff event began Saturday night with the players from the league's Coastal and Atlantic divisions competing in a putting tournament at one of the golf practice areas on the Reynolds Plantation resort.

And guess what? The players representing the six Coastal schools -- Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech -- won!

Had it been a game of flag football, the final score probably would have reflected an easy win by the Atlantic guys from Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State and Wake Forest.

If the still-young era of divisional play in ACC football has established much at all, it's that the Atlantic is the more difficult. That's not a slight to Virginia Tech, which has gone 27-5 in league regular-season play since moving over from the Big East in 2004.

The Hokies needed no time to unseat Florida State as the ACC's most prominent team in the national polls, and there's no compelling reason to think Frank Beamer's program will slide much, if at all, in the near future.

"Their defense gives them an edge over almost everybody they play, no matter which division or which conference you're talking about," Miami offensive lineman Jason Fox said.

But it's also true that the Hokies caught a break when league officials hammered out a format that placed them in the same division with Duke, North Carolina and, of late, the once-powerful Hurricanes.

"It'll all even out over time," Georgia Tech offensive lineman Andrew Gardner said. "Our division hasn't been as good top to bottom as the other one, but that'll change. I still think Virginia Tech has earned everything the hard way, though. I don't think there's a player in the league who would say they've backed into their success.''

Probably not. But in the three previous seasons of divisional play, Duke has not defeated anyone in the ACC, and Carolina has averaged three league wins per season. Miami went 2-6 last season and 3-5 in 2006 after opening with a 6-2 mark in 2005. Virginia, the Hokies' primary rival, went 3-5 in '05 and 4-4 in '06 before spiking to 6-2 last season.

"You never run across easy games in our division, that's for sure," Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry said. "There isn't a team in our division that doesn't scare me to death."

Wake, as much as anything else, has contributed to the divisional disconnect. When the league went to 11 teams in 2004 -- adding Miami and Virginia Tech -- the Deacons were still the same inviting scheduling slot they essentially had been since 1953. Jim Grobe's team went 5-7 and 3-5 in 2003 and then 4-7 and 1-7 (losing to Miami, 52-7) in 2004.

The backstory thinking was easy to figure out. Put Duke in one division, Wake in the other, and there'll never be a shortage of doormats or automatic wins.

That all changed in 2006, when the Deacons turned downright unruly and started beating almost everyone they played.

"I don't think anyone really saw that coming," Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford said. "That beating they gave us in 2006 [at Tallahassee, 30-0] is something I don't think I'll ever forget."

The Deacs didn't stop there, even though they did lose a week later to Virginia Tech. They closed with a two-touchdown win over Maryland and then a win over Georgia Tech in the ACC championship game.

It wasn't until the Hokies got past Boston College last season that a Coastal team represented the ACC in the Bowl Championship Series.

"And that still bothers me," BC tight end Ryan Purvis said. "We had no business losing that game, and we know it."

Entering '08, players in both divisions believe the worm is turning. Carolina, in its second season under Butch Davis, and Duke, just starting under David Cutcliffe, are popular picks to make quick improvements. Miami, logically, can't sink any deeper. Georgia Tech, with the hiring of Paul Johnson with his triple-option offense, is thinking counter-culture. And Virginia, after all, did win nine times last season. Clemson is likely to be the preseason ACC pick, over Virginia Tech, when poll results are announced today.

"Our thinking is keep our place and, if anything, just get tougher," Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon said. "But I look at Carolina and I look at Duke, and I know we're going to be in tougher tests. We just have to take it upon ourselves to get ready for what's on the way."