Like every August, there’s no shortage of analysts making conference predictions for the upcoming college football season.
Heading into 2024, the consensus for months has been that Florida State and Clemson have (seemingly) the best shot at winning the ACC. Beyond that, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech have been listed as dark horse contenders for the league crown and an automatic berth/first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
One national sports columnist, USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg, made his predictions for every FBS conference Thursday. Myerberg is giving Clemson the benefit of the doubt over Florida State and sees the Tigers finishing 10-2 in the regular season and 7-1 in ACC play, one game better than FSU and NC State (both 9-3 overall, 6-2 ACC).
Per Myerberg:
“Clemson’s projected improvement on offense barely nudges the Tigers ahead of the Seminoles. But don’t sleep on North Carolina State, angling for the second 10-win season in program history, and fast-rising Virginia Tech. Miami and North Carolina have the talent to surge past our eight-win projections, though the Hurricanes could just as easily disappoint, as we’ve seen. The league adds in new members SMU, California and Stanford.
The Tigers head to Tallahassee on Oct. 5 to play Florida State, one year after the Seminoles snapped a seven-game Clemson winning streak in the series. NC State comes to Death Valley on Sept. 21 having won two of the last three meetings against the Tigers, including last year’s 24-17 victory in Raleigh. Clemson visits Virginia Tech on Nov. 9.
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Georgia, Ohio State and Utah were the other projected Power Four top finishers in Myerberg’s predictions. Memphis was the projected top Group of Five conference champion.
Clemson opens the season against Georgia Aug. 31 at noon ET (ABC) from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 and US LBM Coaches poll; the Tigers are ranked No. 14.
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