Defining tough

The Worldwide Leader has joined the ACC blogosphere and Heather Dinich made quite a splash with her rankings of the toughest places to play football in the ACC.

N.C. State fans are less than thrilled with Dinich, who more than capably covered Maryland football for the Baltimore Sun and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times before joining ESPN, because she put Carter-Finley Stadium 11th on her list.

Wolfpackers, and other ACC fans, also took umbrage with her decision to put UNC's Kenan Stadium at No. 4.

Dinich's list is Dinich's list. Why that would offend anyone — or worse, turn it into a referendum on gender and sportswriting — is beyond my grasp.

Dinich based her rankings on empirical data. These numbers, the post-expansion home conference records, actually lend support her ranking for the Wolfpack.

Now, this is a small sample size but results should actually be considered. What the final scores don't measure is fan passion or stadium capacity percentage, which would both move the Wolfpack up higher in the rankings.

Actually, N.C. State deserves bonus points for providing the necessary financial means to upgrade Carter-Finley Stadium while having to endure a losing product.

In one sense, State already has been given its reward for fandom. Tom O'Brien was so impressed with atmosphere at Carter-Finley on his visit in 2006 with Boston College — one of the six post-expansion wins for the Wolfpack — that he left the Eagles for Raleigh.

Here's another list to discuss, or please, add your own. Note: I've been to every ACC stadium except Miami, which is actually moving to Joe Robbie Stadium.

1. Virginia Tech: The noise from the stands on the visiting sidelines alone makes this No. 1. Their fans are also top-notch.

2. Clemson: Forget the Rock or the hill, 80,000 is a lot of noise. And the structure is imposing.

3. Florida State: Another mammoth setting (82,300), and it's always hot.

4. N.C. State: That it's actually enclosed A) makes it look like a real stadium and B) makes it sound louder than 57,000.

5. Virginia: Personally, I don't get the connection between the New Year's Eve song and football, but all the UVa fans do and that's what matters. It's hard to argue with their impressive post-expansion record at Scott Stadium.

6. Maryland: The nebulous play-clock location alone makes it a tough place to play.

7. UNC: Not always full, but the Heels had a nice run at 6 p.m. starts under John Bunting.

8. Wake Forest: Small (31,500) and not always filled with Wake fans.

9. Georgia Tech: Cool setting in downtown Atlanta but intermediate-sized fan base doesn't make it stand out.

10. Miami: No one won at the OB from 1985 to 1994, an NCAA record 58 games. But that was when girls were girls, men were men and Miami was Miami. Dolphin Stadium is an NFL stadium but will it feel like home for The U?

11. Boston College: Alumni Stadium isn't that bad but Matt Ryan was really good. Hence the 10-2 record. The Eagles will always rank far behind the Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots and Bruins in Boston.

12. Duke: Really? Does this need to be explained?

Year-by-year home ACC records since expansion:

Boston College (10-2)

• 05    3-1
• 06    4-0
• 07    3-1

Clemson (10-6)

• 04    3-1
• 05    2-2
• 06    3-1
• 07    2-2

Duke (1-15)

• 04    1-3
• 05    0-4
• 06    0-4
• 07    0-4

Florida State (11-5)

• 04    4-0
• 05    3-1
• 06    1-3
• 07    3-1

Georgia Tech (10-6)

• 04    1-3
• 05    3-1
• 06    4-0
• 07    2-2

Maryland (8-8)

• 04    2-2
• 05    1-3
• 06    3-1
• 07    2-2

Miami (8-8)

• 04    2-2
• 05    3-1
• 06    2-2
• 07    1-3

UNC (10-6)

• 04    3-1
• 05    3-1
• 06    1-3
• 07    3-1

N.C. State (6-10)

• 04    1-3
• 05    1-3
• 06    2-2
• 07    2-2

Virginia (12-4)

• 04    3-1
• 05    3-1
• 06    3-1
• 07    3-1

Virginia Tech (12-4)

• 04    3-1
• 05    3-1
• 06    3-1
• 07    3-1

Wake Forest (9-7)

• 04    1-3
• 05    2-2
• 06    2-2
• 07    4-0