Preseason Forecast: Clemson Favored to Continue ACC Title Run

Tigers again place atop media poll; North Carolina favored in Coastal Division

ACC RELEASE

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Clemson is an overwhelming preseason favorite to claim its seventh consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference football title, according to a preseason poll of 147 media voters.

The Tigers, who posted a 10-2 record last season while earning a postseason playoff berth for the sixth consecutive year, were also chosen as likely Atlantic Division winners. North Carolina was picked to finish atop the Coastal Division following an eight-win 2020 season that culminated with the program’s first-ever berth in the Orange Bowl.

Clemson was named the likely 2021 ACC champion on 125 ballots. North Carolina picked up 16 votes, followed by Miami with three and Georgia Tech, NC State and Virginia with one each.

In the Atlantic Division preseason voting, Clemson led the way with 146 first-place votes and 1,028 total points. NC State, which was tabbed as the likely second-place finisher, picked up the remaining first-place vote while accumulating 804 points.

Boston College (638 points) was picked for a third-place Atlantic Division finish, followed by Florida State (510), Wake Forest (472), Louisville (462) and Syracuse (202).

In the Coastal Division forecast, North Carolina received 109 first-place votes and amassed 979 total points. Miami (28 first-place votes) was next with 881 points, followed by Virginia Tech (three-first place votes, 582 points) and Pitt (one first-place vote, 576 points).

Virginia (two first-place votes, 540 points), Georgia Tech (four first-place votes, 340 points) and Duke (218 points) closed out the voting.

Clemson was selected as the likely ACC champion in the media preseason poll for the fourth consecutive season and the seventh time in the last nine years.

North Carolina was projected as the preseason Coastal Division champion for the second time and the first time since 2016. The Tar Heels’ lone Coastal Division championship came in 2015. Each of the Coastal’s seven teams won the division from 2013 through 2019. Due to the 2020 pandemic, the ACC played with a non-divisional format last season.

The Atlantic and Coastal Division winners will meet in the 2021 ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 4, at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.

ACC Preseason Poll

(147 total votes)

Overall Champion

Clemson - 125

North Carolina - 16

Miami - 3

Virginia - 1

Georgia Tech - 1

NC State - 1

Atlantic Division

(First-place votes in parenthesis)

Clemson – 1,028 (146)

NC State - 804 (1)

Boston College - 638

Florida State - 510

Wake Forest - 472

Louisville - 462

Syracuse - 202

Coastal Division

(First-place votes in parenthesis)

North Carolina - 979 (109)

Miami - 881 (28)

Virginia Tech - 582 (3)

Pitt - 576 (1)

Virginia - 540 (2)

Georgia Tech - 340 (4)

Duke - 218