Who will win the ACC football championship? The league’s preseason poll is out
Reigning league champion Florida State is the preseason pick to win the ACC football championship this season as the league features 17 teams for the first time.
The Seminoles, after going unbeaten in league play last season, outpaced Clemson in balloting of media members who attended the ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte last week.
The ACC released the poll results on Wednesday, showing Florida State with 2,708 poll points and 81 first-place votes. Clemson drew 55 first-place votes and had 2,657 points overall.
Last season, Florida State beat Louisville, 16-6, in the ACC championship game at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. This was after those teams finished first and second in the league’s regular-season standings.
Miami and N.C. State were next in this summer’s preseason poll, followed by fifth-place Louisville.
Miami received 17 first-place votes while the Wolfpack had eight.
Other teams receiving first-place votes were Virginia Tech (5) and league newcomer California (2) with Georgia Tech and Boston College each receiving a single first-place vote.
North Carolina is picked to finish in eighth place, with Duke at No. 11 and Wake Forest 15th.
SMU, which is joining the ACC this season along with Cal and Stanford, is picked to finish in seventh place. The Mustangs won the American Athletic Conference championship last season.
Stanford is picked to finish last in the 17-team league while Cal, despite those two first-place votes, is 10th in the preseason poll.
ACC preseason poll
| Rank | Team (first place) | Points |
| 1 | Florida State (81) | 2,708 |
| 2 | Clemson (55) | 2,657 |
| 3 | Miami (17) | 2,344 |
| 4 | NC State (8) | 2,318 |
| 5 | Louisville | 1,984 |
| 6 | Virginia Tech (5) | 1,968 |
| 7 | SMU | 1,798 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 1,712 |
| 9 | Georgia Tech (1) | 1,539 |
| 10 | Cal (2) | 1,095 |
| 11 | Duke | 1,056 |
| 12 | Syracuse | 1,035 |
| 13 | Pitt | 1,016 |
| 14 | Boston College (1) | 890 |
| 15 | Wake Forest | 784 |
| 16 | Virginia | 629 |
| 17 | Stanford | 477 |