ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

The Coastal Division has been like the ACC's version of the National League in the past decade -- never quite filled with enough all-stars to beat the American League.

Heading into this season, it seemed as if the Atlantic Division would again be the stronger of the two, as it historically had been. The Atlantic Division teams had a 32-25 record over their Coastal counterparts, with Virginia Tech being the only team that posted a winning record.

Clemson was supposed to steamroll its way to its first ACC title since 1991. Maryland boasted a senior-laden team and Wake Forest a veteran defense, a veteran quarterback and the 2007 ACC Rookie of the Year. On the other side, expectations were tempered for just about everyone but North Carolina, which was the media darling of the preseason. Miami was rebuilding. Virginia Tech had lost just about everyone from last year's ACC championship team. Virginia had all kinds of issues, on the field and off. And even with David Cutcliffe, Duke was still Duke.

Well, it hasn't exactly turned out that way.

Now it looks like the Coastal Division might be the stronger of the two. So far this season, the Coastal Division is 5-3 against the Atlantic.

It's actually possible that every team in the Coastal Division could wind up going to a bowl game.

Virginia is the team to beat. Duke has won four games for the first time since 2003. Georgia Tech got off to a surprising start under Paul Johnson. Miami is in it. North Carolina is back in the BCS Standings. And even Virginia Tech, down to its third-string quarterback, still has a chance at playing for another ACC title.

And Clemson and Wake Forest, two of the hottest and most hyped teams of the preseason, are still figuring out how to win a football game this week.

Save for Florida State and Maryland, it's looking like this year might belong to the Coastal.