NC State Gets A 1st Place Vote In ACC Media Poll, Dabo Gets His Disrespect Talking Point For 2021
The Clemson Tigers are the overwhelming preseason favorite to claim yet another Atlantic Coast Conference football title in 2021, according to a preseason poll released Monday.
The Tigers — led by head coach Dabo Swinney — were selected as the likely ACC champion in the preseason poll for the fourth consecutive season and the seventh time in the last nine years. Last year, Clemson posted a 10-2 record last season and earned a postseason playoff berth for the sixth consecutive year.
Clemson was named the likely 2021 ACC champion on 125 ballots. North Carolina -- which won eight games and earned its first-ever berth to the Orange Bowl in 2020 -- picked up 16 votes, followed by Miami with three and Georgia Tech, NC State and Virginia with one each.
In the Atlantic Division preseason voting, Clemson led the way with 146 first-place votes and 1,028 total points.
Courtesy of The ACC.
Swinney usually has plenty to say about the national perception of his team, and he has been known to include "speaking the truth" in his job description.
NC State, which was tabbed to finish second in the division with a single first-place vote, is the kind of discussion point that Swinney usually uses to prop up his "perception" talks.
Elsewhere around the conference, Boston College received 638 points and was picked for a third-place Atlantic Division finish, followed by Florida State receiving 510 points, Wake Forest with 472 points, Louisville with 462 points, and Syracuse with 202 points.
In the Coastal Division, North Carolina received 109 first-place votes and amassed 979 total points, the conference said.
Miami received 28 first-place votes was next with 881 points, followed by Virginia Tech with three-first place votes and 582 points and Pitt with one first-place vote and 576 points.
Virginia received two first-place votes and 540 points, Georgia Tech received four first-place votes and 340 points, and Duke with 218 points, closed out the voting.
The Atlantic and Coastal Division winners will meet in the 2021 ACC Football Championship Game on Dec. 4, at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.
ACC Preseason Poll
(147 total votes)
Overall Champion
Clemson - 125
North Carolina - 16
Miami - 3
Virginia - 1
Georgia Tech - 1
NC State - 1
Atlantic Division
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
Clemson – 1,028 (146)
NC State - 804 (1)
Boston College - 638
Florida State - 510
Wake Forest - 472
Louisville - 462
Syracuse - 202
Coastal Division
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
North Carolina - 979 (109)
Miami - 881 (28)
Virginia Tech - 582 (3)
Pitt - 576 (1)
Virginia - 540 (2)
Georgia Tech - 340 (4)
Duke - 218
North Carolina was projected as the preseason Coastal Division champion for the second time and the first time since 2016, the ACC said. The Tar Heels’ lone Coastal Division championship came in 2015. Each of the Coastal’s seven teams won the division from 2013 through 2019.
Due to the 2020 pandemic, the ACC played with a non-divisional format last season.