By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
Conference realignment changed every conference in the CFSL, including the ACC. The brand new Virginia Tech Hokies join the conference and Syracuse is gone. Let’s see how this changes the perspective of the ACC ADs.
Note: These rankings were created by asking every AD to rank their conference (except their team). Those rankings were compiled to create this list.
| Rank | Team | First Place Votes |
| 1 | Miami | 3 |
| 2 | Florida State | 2 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 1 |
| 4 | Clemson | |
| 5 | Virginia Tech | |
| 6 | Notre Dame |
This was the closest conference poll of all four conferences. As you can see from the table above, the first-place votes were decently spread out. There is good reason for this. The ACC looks to be a very competitive conference.
Miami came out on top of the list. The Hurricanes look strong heading into the season, but the race to the top should be close. The winner of the Florida State vs Miami might just win the conference. Speaking of the Seminoles, they finished barely behind their in-state rival. Tom Pence and company always seem to be in the hunt and the ACC ADs think this year will be no different.
The Tar Heels were undefeated in conference play last season, but the ADs weren’t convinced that they would repeat. North Carolina didn’t have the best recruiting class, but still has a lot of talent. The lack of depth could be the reason they were not picked to repeat.
Clemson, under new AD Logan Wetzel, is projected to finish in fourth. Perhaps this season could result in a trip to the playoffs. That will likely come down to how the Tigers fare in out-of-conference play (if they do finish 4th that is).
The Hokies had a strong offseason, but as we all know, new teams tend to go through their ups and downs before getting their feet under them. The ADs in the ACC seem to think this will be the case for the Hokies.
Notre Dame was picked to finish last, but they might have some tricks up their sleeve. New AD Andrew Brandt wasn’t expected to do much last season at Syracuse, yet he tied for second in the conference. Notre Dame has some top-end talent, but they need to get more depth if they want to be a contender in the conference this season.
