Clemson, Miami picked to repeat in ACC football

Clemson and Miami met in the ACC championship game last season.

The Tigers and Hurricanes are the preseason picks to meet again this season. The Tigers, 12-2 a year ago, are the overwhelming preseason choice to win their fourth straight conference title.

Coach Dabo Swinney’s team, which has won 48 of its past 56 ACC games, was picked on 139 of the 148 ballots cast at the ACC kickoff last week in Charlotte to win its fifth conference title in eight years. Miami, which lost to the Tigers 38-3 last year in Charlotte, received 122 votes to repeat as Coastal Division champions.

N.C. State was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Division and received two votes to win its first ACC title since 1979. Wake Forest was picked to finish sixth in the division.

Duke was picked to finish fourth in the Coastal Division and North Carolina was picked to finish sixth. Each school received one vote to win the division.

The voting results:

Atlantic Division

(First-place division votes in parenthesis)

1. Clemson (145) 1,031 points

2. Florida State (1) 789

3. N.C. State (2) 712

4. Boston College 545

5. Louisville 422

6. Wake Forest 413

7. Syracuse 232

Coastal Division

1. Miami (122) 998 points

2. Virginia Tech (16) 838

3. Georgia Tech (8) 654

4. Duke (1) 607

5. Pittsburgh 420

6. North Carolina (1) 370

7. Virginia 257

Note: 7 points for a first-place vote, 6 for a second-place vote, 5 for a third-place vote etc.

ACC championship votes

Clemson 139

Miami 5

N.C. State 2

Florida State 1

Virginia Tech 1

This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 2:25 PM.