ABC Sports analyst Bob Griese predicts Virginia Tech will be one of the top three college football teams in the nation this season.

The only hitch is that Griese has the Hokies' Sept. 8 foe, LSU, in his top three as well. But Griese doesn't see that as a big problem.

"They'll be a contender to win the national championship even if they go down to Baton Rouge and lose," Griese said this week at the ACC's college football media gathering in Pinehurst, N.C.

The Hokies won't be favored to win at LSU, a team some expect to go unbeaten during the regular season.

"Virginia Tech went down to Texas A&M [in 2002] ... and they beat them down there [at] a tough place to go in and play. But LSU is awfully good," said Griese, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Griese also has Southern California in his top three; he said he hasn't ranked the trio in order yet.

Griese, who will team each week with Brad Nessler and Paul Maguire on ABC's top Saturday afternoon game, expects the Hokies to win the ACC crown because of their experience.

"The defense is going to be good, the running game is going to be good and the quarterback is a returning starter," Griese said. "They've got a lot of fifth-year seniors (14) on that team. ... They're a very physical team."

The former Miami Dolphins quarterback also likes the Hokies because of their stable coaching staff. One-third of the league's teams -- Miami, Boston College, North Carolina and N.C. State -- have new head coaches, while Florida State's Bobby Bowden has shaken up his staff.

Griese said defending ACC champ Wake Forest will surprise fans again with another good season, although he said it will be tough for the Demon Deacons to win as many games as they did during last year's magical 11-3 campaign.

Griese picks FSU, not Wake, to win the Atlantic Division. He likes the staff changes Bowden has made, including the hiring of former LSU assistant Jimbo Fisher as offensive coordinator.

Florida State and Miami are both looking to rebound from disappointing 7-6 seasons.

"The key there for both of them is the quarterback play," said Griese, who lives in Jupiter, Fla. "If they straighten out their quarterback play ... [Miami] could be right back up in the fight; the same with Florida State.

"A good quarterback can bail you out of a lot of difficult situations. If you don't have good quarterback play and they don't win the games at the end, they make a mistake, turn the ball over to stop a drive -- you don't have to necessarily win the game, but just don't lose the game."

Kyle Wright or Kirby Freeman will start at quarterback for Miami. Drew Weatherford or Xavier Lee will start for FSU.

As for Virginia, Griese has a favorable opinion of embattled coach Al Groh.

"It all gets down to recruiting. Good coaches can't win without good players," Griese said. "I think he's doing a good job and I think he'll turn that situation around."

Comcast drops ESPNU

ACC football and basketball games will air on ESPNU again this year, but Comcast customers won't be able to watch them.

When Comcast took over Adelphia Communications last summer, it kept Adelphia's channel lineup. That meant Adelphia-turned-Comcast digital cable customers in this area could still watch ESPNU.

In the past few months, Comcast has been making changes to the lineup it inherited, adding various channels and sports packages. But it also dropped ESPNU in May.

Comcast customers nationally don't get ESPNU, so now the former Adelphia customers are also out of luck. Comcast serves nine counties and four cities in this area.

ESPNU vice president and general manager Burke Magnus said a deal between ESPNU and Comcast is not imminent, but he is hopeful.

"We're having good, positive discussions with them," he said. "We're really focused on trying to do a deal with Comcast right now."

Magnus is also hopeful of striking a deal with Suddenlink, which serves four counties and two cities in this area.

New D.C. outlet for Tech

Virginia Tech's radio network has a new affiliate in the Washington, D.C., market -- WXTR-AM, the flagship station of the Washington Redskins' radio network.

Tech had been on all-sports station WTEM-AM. WTEM carried all but two Hokies football games last fall but wasn't able to carry all the basketball games because it also broadcasts Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, Georgetown and Virginia games.

WTEM does have two sister stations it can use when there are multiple games at one time, but it still didn't always find room for Tech basketball.

So the Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network turned to all-sports WXTR.