NC State enters the 2026 season with a modest preseason label from the ACC media, landing seventh in the conference poll released at ACC Kickoff.
The Wolfpack picked up 1,964 points from 188 media voters, but they did not receive a first-place vote. That placed them behind Virginia, which finished sixth with 1,981 points, and just ahead of Virginia Tech, which was right on their heels at 1,962.
At the top, Miami was the clear choice to win the league. The Hurricanes collected 3,159 points and 165 first-place votes, making them the only team to draw more than seven first-place selections.
SMU followed in second with 2,794 points and six first-place votes, while Louisville was third at 2,569 points and Clemson came in fourth with 2,520. Georgia Tech rounded out the top five with 2,006 points.
The rest of the top 10 included Pitt at ninth with 1,740 points and Duke at 10th with 1,452. Florida State was picked 11th, then California, Wake Forest, Syracuse, North Carolina, Boston College and Stanford.
The ACC’s release also noted how tight the middle of the poll was, with just 19 points separating sixth through eighth place. That puts NC State right in the thick of a crowded pack as the league heads into a season that will feature a nine-game conference schedule and end with the 2026 ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 5, at noon ET on ABC.
Pack Power had the Wolfpack finishing fifth, ahead of Georgia Tech and Virginia, but the league’s media saw it differently. NC State gets an early shot to change that conversation, opening on the road against Virginia before hosting Louisville in its first ACC home game a few weeks later.
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The Cardinals quarterback picture changed after Kyler Murrays season-ending foot injury in Week 5, and Brissett stepped in as the steady hand. Now, with head coach Mike LaFleur confirming Brissett as the starter for 2026, the path ahead looks far more secure than it did a year ago. Brissett has also continued to stack up well in the record books, both at NC State and among former Wolfpack quarterbacks in the NFL, and this latest move only adds to a career that keeps finding new ways to matter. [Read more 🡒]
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Evans had sought an extra season of eligibility after a difficult college journey marked by personal hardships, but the path back now appears closed. For NC State, the immediate concern is depth, and the staff will have to sort through younger options and other returners to see who can absorb the snaps Evans was expected to handle. [Read more 🡒]