2022 ACC Predictions
Photo from 247 Sports
It is August. Meaning there is officially college football this month!
Yippee!
To celebrate, I decided I’d do something I’ve never done before, which is conference predictions.
We’ll go alphabetically and discussing divisions if the conference has them, following up with a conference championship prediction.
Without further adieu, let’s get started!
ACC Atlantic
1. NC State Wolfpack
We’re starting off with a bang!
Smart money would be on Clemson, and to be honest I’m probably foolish for picking against them.
But I am very, very high on the Wolfpack this season.
This is likely Dave Doeren’s most talented squad, with an experienced and proven quarterback in Devin Leary.
I’ll take the risk. The Wolfpack end up in Charlotte in December this year.
2. Clemson Tigers
Clemson is still Clemson.
Very well coached. Great recruiting. They even play NC State at home this year which should definitely help them over the Wolfpack.
However, Clemson lost Brent Venables to Oklahoma, so their defense could look a bit different and I’m still simply not sold on D.J. Uiagalelei from what I’ve seen.
But they’re still Clemson. So I’ll put them 2nd.
3. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Can this team score? Boy can they.
Can they stop anyone? Probably not.
But the rest of the offenses in the ACC Atlantic don’t exactly spark confidence, so I’ll take a Deacons team who can score at will over the remaining options.
4. Florida State Seminoles
FSU went 5-7 last year and lost the number 1 recruit on signing day in a shock twist. This has sort of led to them becoming the punching bag of the college football offseason, but I think that’s unfair.
They were 2-4 in one score games last year, and looked much better as Jordan Travis improved.
4th may look bad considering the history of Florida State football, but I can see them going 8-4 this season, which is a nice building stone for Norvell.
Slowly but surely, Noles…
5. Louisville Cardinals
The 2023 recruiting class for Louisville looks good. And that’s a good sign.
But Scott Satterfield started hot in Louisville and has cooled off significantly.
The question is, do they stick with him and see out these classes? Or is another rough season the final straw?
6. Boston College Eagles
Gotta say, I do feel bad for Boston College because I like the direction they’re headed and I like Phil Jurkovec.
But I couldn’t bring myself to put them ahead of Louisville.
7. Syracuse Orange
The ‘Cuse offense makes me wish I didn’t care so much about college football.
They finish last because they make me feel bad.
ACC Coastal
1. Miami Hurricanes
Alright, look.
I may have said Miami is going to be the overrated team in the ACC this year, but hear me out.
The ACC Coastal isn’t even wide open it flat out doesn’t have doors. I have absolutely no idea who is going to win this division.
What I do know is that I like Mario Cristobal as a coach, and I like Tyler Van Dyke as a quarterback.
In the simplest football terms, that’s all I needed to have them win the division.
(They still won’t be title contenders like some people are saying).
2. North Carolina Tar Heels
UNC was good last year but had absurdly high expectations that I was never sure Sam Howell would live up to.
But they are still talented, and now people don’t expect quite as much which is how Mack Brown has thrived in Chapel Hill so far.
They were always going to be 3rd for me, but then the past few weeks had one school’s coach make some odd decisions…
3. Pitt Panthers
I had Pitt deemed to win the Coastal again, to be honest.
Even though they lost Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison, they brought in Kedon Slovis and have a great defense still.
And then head coach Pat Narduzzi went on a tirade about how the old offensive coordinator, the one who turned Kenny Pickett into a Heisman candidate, wasn’t actually very good and refused to run the ball more against Wake Forest in the ACC title game, a game in which Pitt scored 5 offensive touchdowns and had almost 400 yards.
New QB? New offensive coordinator? A head coach who just got a big extension and seems to think their most successful offensive season in years was a bad thing?
That’s a recipe to underperform.
4. Virginia Tech Hokies
New coach. Not a ton of talent overall. Going to be a bit of a struggle at first.
But the rest of the Coastal isn’t exactly beaming with talent either, so I’ll go with the Hokies in 4th.
5. Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia, like their in state rivals, also have a new coach.
The difference is, Virginia Tech pulled the plug on Fuente early and went searching for a replacement as soon as they could.
Virginia was caught off guard by a surprise resignation from Bronco Mendenhall, a coach who had the Cavs playing great football.
I feel they unfortunately got the short end of the stick with not as much time to find a suitable replacement, and that’ll hurt them this season.
6. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
This is year 4 of Geoff Collins at Georgia Tech.
This should be the first year we see noticeable improvement from a team who had to switch from an option offense to not an option offense. Which is a very difficult switch.
Will we see it? I think we will!
It still won’t be enough to boost them in the standings, though.
7. Duke Blue Devils
There was a brief period we stopped making “when is basketball season?” jokes about Duke.
But those times are back.
It starts in November, guys. See you in a few months.
ACC Championship Prediction
I already told you. I’m very high on NC State and I’m not as high on Miami.
NC State wins the ACC
