The opener against Southern California will put the Cavaliers in the spotlight and probably in the headlights. A trip to Connecticut and a home game against East Carolina certainly do not compute to gimme victories.

EASIEST NON-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: MARYLAND

The Terrapins will face Delaware, California and Eastern Michigan in College Park, and only Middle Tennessee on the road. With any sort of reasonable execution, 4-0 outside the league should be there for the taking.

TOUGHEST IN-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: DUKE

Not only do the Blue Devils have to face both Clemson and Virginia Tech, they have to do it late in the season, back-to-back and on the road. David Cutcliffe cut his teeth on merciless SEC schedules, but consecutive trips to Clemson, S.C., and Blacksburg, Va., hardly equate to a warm welcome.

EASIEST IN-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: MIAMI

Randy Shannon's second team dodges Clemson and will get a 10-day rest before facing Virginia Tech in Miami on Thursday night. The Hurricanes' only road game in conference before November will be at Duke.

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT CONFERENCE GAMES

1. CLEMSON AT WAKE FOREST, OCT. 9: The Thursday night ESPN game in Winston-Salem will mark Clemson's first true road trip of the season and should go far in determining the Atlantic Division champion.

2. VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI, NOV. 13: Another Thursday night ESPN game, one that will demand the Hokies' undivided attention. Miami has slipped far and fast, but the home crowd should be itching for a statement game in the Coastal Division.

3. WAKE FOREST AT FLORIDA STATE, SEPT. 20: After two straight losses in the series, the Seminoles and their fans have had about enough of this Deacon nonsense. Question is, can they do anything about it?

4. N.C. STATE AT NORTH CAROLINA, NOV. 22: Odds are, there will not be any championship implications on the line, but one or both teams could go in with late-season bowl aspirations.

5. GEORGIA TECH AT BOSTON COLLEGE, SEPT. 6: It's one of the earliest conference games on the collective schedule and should provide the first true glimpse of the Eagles in the post-Matt Ryan era.

FIVE TOUGH TICKETS:

1. CLEMSON VS. ALABAMA, AUG. 30, ATLANTA: Half the South will be there. Take out a home equity loan if you're looking for four.

2. NOTRE DAME AT UNC, OCT. 11: So what if the Irish aren't what they used to be? No one will be talking basketball that day. Well, almost no one.

3. VIRGINIA TECH VS. ECU, AUG. 30, CHARLOTTE: The Meineke Car Care Bowl should be so lucky.

4. N.C. STATE AT SOUTH CAROLINA, AUG. 28: It falls on what is almost certain to be a humid, miserable Thursday night, but thousands of Wolfpack fans will still want to score a seat.

5. ECU AT N.C. STATE, SEPT. 20: With all the seats long gone, the television audience should be huge. Assuming, of course, there is TV coverage.

TAMPA TIME: CLEMSON VS. VIRGINIA TECH

And what do we have here? Why, it's the Dr Pepper ACC championship game, Saturday, Dec. 6 on ABC from Tampa, Fla.

Final score -- Tigers 30, Hokies 27. In double overtime.

EARLY LEAGUE PICK

Atlantic

1. Clemson

2. Florida State

3. Wake Forest

4. Maryland

5. N.C. State

6. Boston College

Coastal

1. Virginia Tech

2. Miami

3. Virginia

4. North Carolina

5. Georgia Tech

6. Duke

Top 4 overall

1. Clemson

2. Virginia Tech

3. Florida State

4. Wake Forest