Two qualifiers after completing my All-ACC preseason ballot: Miami is the clear front runner to win the league title in 2026 and the rest of the league falls into not-so-well defined tiers.

There are contenders, perhaps led by SMU. Louisville and NC State could be quite good, led by electric offensive playmakers. Does the Clemson slide continue? Where do we slot FSU? Can James Franklin work some magic at Virginia Tech? Do last year’s ACC championship game participants, Duke and Virginia, take a step back?

Between the NFL draft and transfer portal, the talent shift makes it all tough to project. At the moment, we’ll take Miami vs. SMU to face off in the ACC title game.

Here’s my forecast:

After grabbing Darian Mensah from Duke, the Hurricanes have talent that’s the envy of everyone in the conference. They’ve got playmakers at running back (Fletcher) and receiver (Toney and Cooper Barkate), plus some nasty linemen. Miami is No. 1 for many reasons.

SMU has Kevin Jennings, a veteran line and a defense that was among the top 30 in the FBS in 2025. Add in tight end Randy Pittman, an FSU transfer. SMU plays at FSU, at Louisville and at Notre Dame. Tough schedule. But we think SMU has the personnel to be a 10-win team, and the Mustangs are our No. 2 pick.

Put Louisville up there, with a fun tailback in Isaac Brown (more than eight yards per carry last fall!). NC State has a very soft schedule and 3,000-yard passer CJ Bailey returns. Louisville at NC State on Oct. 3 is an underrated game in the ACC.

There’s a group of roughly nine schools that fall into a middle tier. Dabo Swinney thinks everyone is questioning him, his quarterback decision and, well, many of us are after a 7-6 season. Swinney has oddly earned the benefit of the doubt given his titles and consistency, but he’s also snubbed his nose too often at the transfer portal and it feels like Clemson’s grasp on the league’s throne has slipped away.

The arguments are easy for this middle tier. FSU will have opportunities to challenge in a wide-open conference, although it’s a tough schedule. An optimist could forecast eight or nine wins, while a pessimist could envision five victories.

Georgia Tech loses a ton of talent, and Haynes King is gone. In is Fernando Mendoza, Alberto’s little brother. Doubt Brent Key at your own risk.

Pittsburgh retained Mason Heintschel, who completed 63.6 percent of his passes as a freshman and led a win at FSU in his first college start.

There are two very good quarterbacks in this tier with Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who threw for 3,400 yards as a freshman, and Syracuse’s Steve Angeli. The Orange fell apart in 2025 after Angeli’s injury, in an upset at Clemson, but the Notre Dame transfer could help push Syracuse back to a respectable mark after a three-win 2025.

James Franklin said Virginia Tech won the honeymoon. He’s right. But can he put what talent is there in a blender and produce six wins? Maybe? VT made a good hire but it’s a definite year 1 scenario, and a weird one with Brent Pry re-hired as the defensive coordinator.

The easy comment is that Virginia will take a step back. And Wake will do the same after a nine-win season. But as we wrap up this tier, we shrug our shoulders. Who knows?

Major questions with the last four. Manny Diaz won nine games in each of his first two seasons at Duke. But then the Mensah madness at the portal deadline and Duke was scrambling. Beyond losing Mensah, receiver Cooper Barkate left, too. Still, it’s not a particularly tough schedule and Duke could still go bowling.

Tavita Pritchard is in year 1 at his alma mater, Stanford. The Cardinal beat FSU, Cal and BC in league play in 2025, but it’s fair to wonder what talent is in Palo Alto to compete for a bowl.

Is Bill Belichick having fun coaching college football? Will UNC be better than 4-8? The Tar Heels defeated only Syracuse and Stanford in league play. And UNC opens vs. TCU in Dublin. Interesting year ahead.

Completely unintentional to have Bill O’Brien and Belichick as back-to-back picks. But just a reminder that Bob Chesney was coaching at a school down the road (Holy Cross) from 2018-23 before going to James Madison and now to UCLA. Feels like BC could have hired Chesney years ago. O’Brien makes sense for BC given his Patriots background, but he’s gone 7-6 and 2-10 in his first two seasons. He said at ACC Kickoff that BC had invested in the off-field staff this offseason. Perhaps the program will reap the rewards in future years.

Preseason-All ACC team

The league only allows for one pick at certain positions. So there’s no ranking of your top three or four quarterbacks. There is a ranking of your top three receivers, however. We’ll list our picks and a few who were considered. The ACC’s required number of picks will be in parenthesis.

Quarterback (1): Jennings of SMU got the edge (slightly) over Mensah. With back-to-back 3,000-yard seasons and 49 touchdowns combined, he’s a quarterback that seems to be under the radar across the country. Mensah is quite deserving and has a ton of talent around him at Miami.

Running back (2): Mark Fletcher of Miami and Isaac Brown of Louisville are two quality backs. Fletcher had an ACC-leading 1,192 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. Brown led the ACC with 8.8 yards per carry in 2025. He had 884 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Also contemplated Justice Haynes, who is now at Georgia Tech after stops at Alabama and Michigan, as well as Tre’ Wisner, who had a 1,000-yard season in 2024 at Texas.

Wide receiver (3): Duce Robinson (FSU), Malachi Toney (Miami) and Bryant Wesco (Clemson). Three receivers who make their offenses go. Robinson and Toney are both 1,000-yard receivers. Wesco also stretches the field at 17.3 yards per reception, although Robinson’s 19.3 yards is very impressive.

Tight end (1): A number of the top ACC tight ends graduated and were drafted. Jeremiah Hasley had 40 catches for 454 yards and six touchdowns in 2025. Duke will need him to be big this fall.

Center (1): Joshua Bates (SMU)

Offensive tackle (2): PJ Williams (SMU) and McKale Boley (Virginia)

Offensive guard (2): Samson Okunlola (Miami) and Noah Josey (Virginia)

Williams, a second-team All-ACC tackle in 2025, and Boley have been viewed as preseason All-American names. Josey was a third-team All-ACC pick last fall.

Defensive end (2): Clev Lubin (Louisville) and Mandrell Desir (FSU). Lubin had 9.5 sacks at Coastal Carolina in 2024 and then 8.5 sacks in 2025 at Louisville. Desir was a freshman All-American with 6.5 sacks last fall.

Defensive tackle (2): Ahmad Moten (Miami) and Kemari Copeland (Va. Tech). Moten had nine tackles for loss in 2025. It’s his fifth year at Miami (a redshirt season in 2022), so look for Moten to have a big year. Copeland had 4.5 sacks last year at Va. Tech.

Linebacker (3): Sammy Brown (Clemson) and Chris Jones (FSU) and Braylon Lovelace (Pitt). We’ve heard great things about Jones based on FSU’s spring practices. He’s got the instincts and was a volume tackler at Southern Miss. Brown is coming off a 100-tackle season at Clemson.

Cornerback (2): Ja'Bril Rawls (FSU) and Chris Peal (Syracuse). Rawls told us at ACC Kickoff that he wants to grab 5-6 interceptions. The issue is whether he will get that many passes thrown his way. Quarterbacks will test Nehemiah Chandler, without question. But there’s respect for Rawls around the ACC.

Safety (2): Bryce Fitzgerald (Miami) and Jerome Carter III (Clemson). Fitzgerald had six interceptions last fall. Carter III had six interceptions at Old Dominion in 2025, too. Yes, Carter III is Jerome Carter’s son.

Kicker (1): Aidan Birr (GT). He made 25 of 29 field-goal attempts. Those 25 kicks led the ACC.

Punter (1): Daniel Sparks (Virginia). He averaged 47.2 yards per punt in 2025.

Returner (1): Tre Richardson (Louisville)

All-purpose back (1): Toney (Miami)

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