Miami is the clear favorite in the ACC preseason football poll, while Virginia and Virginia Tech landed in the middle of the pack and North Carolina, Florida State and Duke all showed up lower than plenty of people probably expected.
The league’s media voters gave Miami 165 of 188 first-place votes, an overwhelming 87.8% share that put the Hurricanes comfortably on top of the 17-team standings. SMU came in second, followed by Louisville, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia, NC State and Virginia Tech to round out the top eight.
The bottom half of the poll carried some of the most eye-catching numbers. Duke checked in 10th as the defending champion without receiving a first-place vote, Florida State landed 11th and North Carolina was all the way down at 15th.
That Duke note stands out for another reason, too: since the poll began in 1976, the Blue Devils are just the second defending champion to get shut out of first-place votes. The only other example was Maryland in 2002, when the Terrapins were still projected to finish third.
There’s also a bit of history attached to the ACC title game angle. This is the first time since the championship game was added in 2005 that neither of the previous season’s participants was picked to finish first. Duke beat top-seeded UVA in overtime last December to claim the league crown, but the Cavaliers were still slotted sixth this time around.
That’s a notable place for Virginia after what happened last season. No ACC team beat its preseason expectations more than UVA, which went on to win a program-record 11 games and gave Tony Elliott Coach of the Year honors.
Florida State’s placement is another sobering one. The Seminoles own 16 conference titles and three national championships, but another low finish would almost certainly spell the end of Mike Norvell’s seven-year run in Tallahassee.
North Carolina and Virginia Tech were both tied with Florida State for 13th last season at 2-6, though the Hokies drew a little more optimism from voters after James Franklin arrived in Blacksburg. Year 2 of Bill Belichick in Chapel Hill, by contrast, was viewed as a disappointment.
The balloting closed last week, before Monday’s announcement that Michael Lombardi - Belichick’s hand-picked general manager and longtime confidant - had been placed on paid administrative leave.
And if the poll feels like a sharp prediction, recent history says to keep a little perspective. Clemson entered last season with 91.3% of first-place votes and ended up tied for seventh in the ACC at 4-4 and 7-6 overall, its worst season since 2010. Duke and Virginia, the teams that played for the conference title, were picked sixth and 14th in the preseason poll a year ago.
Miami, meanwhile, is no stranger to preseason hype. The Hurricanes were picked to win the Coastal Division six times from 2006 to 2022, though they only fully lived up to that billing in 2017 before falling to Clemson in the ACC championship game.
The ACC will unveil its preseason all-conference team Wednesday afternoon, and that group is expected to include Miami quarterback Darian Mensah, Miami receiver Malachi Toney, Virginia linebacker Kam Robinson and Virginia Tech defensive tackle Kemari Copeland from Kellam High.
Here’s how the full poll shook out: Miami first with 3,159 points, SMU second with 2,794, Louisville third with 2,569, Clemson fourth with 2,520, Georgia Tech fifth with 2,006, Virginia sixth with 1,981, NC State seventh with 1,964, Virginia Tech eighth with 1,962, Pitt ninth with 1,740, Duke 10th with 1,452, Florida State 11th with 1,439, California 12th with 1,392, Wake Forest 13th with 1,103, Syracuse 14th with 878, North Carolina 15th with 831, Boston College 16th with 491 and Stanford 17th with 483.
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Virginia Tech Camp Battle Could Decide Whether The Passing Game Finally Pops
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Both are expected to be on the field and involved heavily, but the bigger question is which one becomes the receiver quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer leans on when the playbook tightens and the game gets real. Greene has the continuity edge, Brown brings a fresh rsum, and Virginia Techs camp reps will help determine whether the Hokies have one clear go-to option or a passing game still searching for its identity. [Read more 🡒]