Preseason poll: Clemson football still projected to win ACC, but gap is closing
Clemson is the preseason favorite to win the 2022 ACC football championship, according to a poll of 164 media members released Tuesday by the conference.
But the voting wasn’t as unanimous as it’s been in years past.
Coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers, who went 10-3 last season, earned a league-high 103 first-place votes in being predicted to win their seventh ACC title in eight seasons.
N.C. State finished second with 38 votes to win the ACC title. Miami was third with eight ACC title votes, and Wake Forest was fourth with four votes.
Clemson was also tabbed the preseason Atlantic Division favorite, earning 111 first-place votes to win a final division title before the ACC moves to a divisionless structure starting in 2023.
N.C. State received 44 first-place votes to win the Atlantic Division, while Wake Forest (last year’s Atlantic Division champion) received six.
In the Coastal Division, Miami was named the preseason favorite with 98 first-place votes. Pittsburgh (the 2021 Coastal champion and ACC champion) finished second with 38 first-place votes. UNC was third with 18.
The 2022 vote marks the fifth consecutive season and eighth time in the last 10 years that Clemson was selected as the preseason ACC champion.
But it also reflects some doubt surrounding Clemson after the team broke a streak of six straight ACC titles and six consecutive College Football Playoff appearances last fall, surrendering the division title to Wake Forest and league title to Pittsburgh.
Clemson’s 62.8% share of this year’s ACC champion votes in the media poll and 67.6% share of Atlantic Division champion votes were its lowest within its current five-year run (2018-present).
The previous low for ACC champion vote shares was in 2021, when Clemson earned 125 of 147 votes (85% share) and ultimately finished second in the Atlantic Division. Last year, Clemson also earned 146 of 147 divisional title preseason votes.
In the 2018, 2019 and 2020 preseason polls (the last of which came during a divisionless season due to the coronavirus pandemic), Clemson netted no fewer than 97.9% of divisional title votes and no fewer than 93.9% of ACC title votes.
In 13 previous seasons as the ACC title favorite, Clemson has won the title nine times (most recently in 2020) and failed to win it four times (most recently in 2021).
The ACC will announce its preseason all-conference team and preseason player of the year on Wednesday.
ACC Preseason Poll Results
164 total votes
Overall Champion
Clemson, 103 votes
NC State, 38 votes
Miami, eight votes
Wake Forest, four votes
Pittsburgh, three votes
Virginia, three votes
Florida State, two votes
UNC, two votes
Boston College, one vote
Atlantic Division (First-place votes in parentheses)
Clemson (111): 1,080 points
NC State (44): 959 points
Wake Forest (6): 783 points
Louisville: 591 points
Florida State (2): 509 points
Boston College (1): 469 points
Syracuse: 201 points
Coastal Division (First-place votes in parentheses)
Miami (98): 1,036 points
Pittsburgh (38): 911 points
UNC (18): 823 points
Virginia (6): 667 points
Virginia Tech (3): 592 points
Georgia Tech (1): 343 points
Duke: 220 points
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 2:01 PM.
