Last season saw the ACC put two teams in the College Football Playoff and the conference could be on the cusp of doing so again, as Clemson has returned to the top of the league’s power rankings after a four-year absence from the postseason field.
Clemson is projected to once again win the ACC football championship, but looking at the ESPN predictive computer models, it appears the Tigers have some real competition.
That’s after Miami signed veteran quarterback transfer Carson Beck, whose addition has benefited the Hurricanes at least when it comes to the latest preseason prognostications.
Let’s take a look at the latest win total predictions for every ACC football team heading into the 2025 season, according to the ESPN Football Power Index model.
1. Miami ─ 9.7 wins
2. Clemson ─ 9.7 wins
3. SMU ─ 8.5 wins
4. Virginia Tech ─ 7.9 wins
5. Georgia Tech ─ 7.5 wins
6. Louisville ─ 6.7 wins
7. North Carolina ─ 6.7 wins
8. Virginia ─ 6.6 wins
9. California ─ 6.5 wins
10. Duke ─ 6.3 wins
11. NC State ─ 6.2 wins
12. Florida State ─ 6.0 wins
13. Boston College ─ 6.0 wins
14. Pittsburgh ─ 5.9 wins
15. Stanford ─ 4.7 wins
16. Wake Forest ─ 4.7 wins
17. Syracuse ─ 4.6 wins
─ Miami had its best season under Mario Cristobal a year ago, and while it lost Cam Ward, it gained Beck at quarterback, and returns more than half its defensive production from last season.
─ While Clemson has the same win total as the Hurricanes, the index gives the Tigers 2.9 losses compared to Miami’s 2.8, so it’s a slight edge, and with Cade Klubnik back under center after a career year and another tough defense, they should be in the ACC title mix all year.
─ A big drop for SMU from last year’s 11-3 run, but at least they get Kevin Jennings at quarterback again to make another run.
─ Coming off an underwhelming 6-7 outing a year ago, Virginia Tech gets Kyron Drones back at QB1 after he had surgery for an undisclosed injury.
─ Bringing back almost 65 percent of its output from last season, Georgia Tech should be in the mix as it returns quarterback Haynes King, lead back Jamal Haynes, but lost wideout Eric Singleton.
─ Louisville gets plenty of experience back on the offensive line, scored USC transfer quarterback Miller Moss, and returns top linebacker TJ Quinn.
─ All eyes are on North Carolina as Bill Belichick takes over, but hopefully not to win 6 or 7 games in his debut.
─ Florida State needs to rebound fast from last year’s 2-10 disaster, but is projected to go 6-6 by ESPN’s computers. An improvement, sure, but that wouldn’t be enough for the Seminoles to have a lot of confidence in Mike Norvell to lead this program.
─ A year after fielding the most productive passing offense in the country, Syracuse oversees a major change at the position, with the model not expecting much from the Orange this season.
—
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
