ACC Football: Clemson, Miami get nod from media as preseason conference faves

Clemson and N.C. State are the preseason ACC Football favorites. And I wasn’t the only person to vote for Virginia as the 2022 ACC champ.

Yeah, I’m surprised, too, but there were actually two other idiots who voted for UVA.

This from a press release today from the ACC, which will let us know tomorrow how our voting for the various All-ACC teams shakes out.

But first, to how the season is expected to go.

Clemson edged N.C. State in the balloting for the Atlantic Division title, getting 111 of the 164 first-place votes to the Pack’s 44.

OK, that’s not exactly edged, but it’s as close as you could expect in what has been, for years, a one-team conference.

Miami, meanwhile, got the voters’ nod in the Coastal, which is not at all a surprise, because the ACC media just loves The U this time of year, you know, before any games are played.

To wit, the ‘Canes are the preseason Coastal Division champion now for the sixth time since joining the league in 2004, and the first time since 2018.

Ahem, Miami has won one Coastal title, in 2017.

The love from the ink-stained wretches this year is based on the ‘Canes winning five of their final six games last year to finish 7-5, which was so impressive to the administration that the decision was made to dump coach Manny Diaz in favor of throwing $8 million a year at Mario Cristobal and his 62-60 career head coaching record to lure him from Oregon to become the latest savior.

Defending Coastal champ Pitt was picked to finish second, despite losing quarterback Kenny Pickett, All-America wide receiver Jordan Addison and offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.

North Carolina, which recruits well and then doesn’t win, was picked third, with Virginia at fourth and Virginia Tech fifth.

This season is the last with divisional play, which would give us, if the voters are right, and they’re not, a Clemson-Miami matchup in Charlotte.

Clemson was tabbed on 103 ballots to win the conference title. N.C. State was second with 38 votes, so, not a lot of love for the Coastal there.

Miami was a distant third with eight votes.

Virginia got the aforementioned three. One was me; neither of the others were my colleagues Jerry Ratcliffe or Scott German, according to their tellings to me.

ACC Preseason Poll

Overall champion

• Clemson – 103
• NC State – 38
• Miami – 8
• Wake Forest – 4
• Pitt – 3
• Virginia – 3
• Florida State – 2
• North Carolina – 2
• Boston College – 1

Atlantic Division

(First-place votes in parenthesis)

1. Clemson (111) – 1,080
2. NC State (44) – 959
3. Wake Forest (6) – 783
4. Louisville – 591
5. Florida State (2) – 509
6. Boston College (1) – 469
7. Syracuse – 201

Coastal Division

(First-place votes in parenthesis)

1. Miami (98) – 1,036
2. Pitt (38) – 911
3. North Carolina (18) – 823
4. Virginia (6) – 667
5. Virginia Tech (3) – 592
6. Georgia Tech (1) – 343
7. Duke – 220