Though Clemson football was the overwhelming favorite, the Tigers weren’t the unanimous pick to the win the 2019 ACC Championship.
The ACC released the preseason media predictions for the upcoming 2019 season and Clemson football was the overwhelming favorite.
The Tigers, who finished last season with a perfect 15-0 record, were picked by 170 out of 173 ballots to win the ACC Championship in 2019.
Clemson is currently coming off a streak of four-straight ACC titles and the Tigers are looking to pick up their 19th championship in the conference this upcoming season.
So, who were the teams that got the other three votes outside of Clemson football? Syracuse received two votes and Virginia received the other vote.
There are three ACC media members out there that believe the Tigers won’t win the ACC, two of which believe Clemson won’t even win the ACC Atlantic Division.
It’s probably reasonable to believe that the two to pick Syracuse are coming from the New York area and the one to pick Virginia isn’t located too far away from Charlottesville. Overall, though, the media recognized the dominance of Clemson football and the fact that program isn’t going anywhere.
The Tigers are certainly the logical pick to win the conference and there really isn’t a clear-cut second option. Clemson is just heads and shoulders better than the rest of the ACC.
Here’s a look at how the media has the two divisions aligned in their preseason voting:
ACC Atlantic
- Clemson
- Syracuse
- Florida State
- NC State
- Boston College
- Wake Forest
- Louisville
ACC Coastal
- Virginia
- Miami
- Virginia Tech
- Pittsburgh
- Duke
- North Carolina
- Georgia Tech
Interestingly enough, every single coastal division team received at least one first-place vote. The Cavaliers are the favorites with Miami not that far behind. Honestly, the coastal division is the most unpredictable division in CFB every single season.
There’s never a great team so everyone just beats each other. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least if there was some kind of crazy three-way tie for first between a few 5-3 or even 4-4 teams. That’s what should be expected about of the coastal.
In the Atlantic, I’m a little higher on Boston College than fifth in the division, but that will largely depend on how the Eagles replace those they lost on the offensive line and on the defense.