While the Big Ten and Big 12 did away with preseason polls, the ACC continued its tradition for the 2025 season and released Wednesday its predicted order of finish, as voted by the conference’s media. Six teams earned first-place votes and Clemson secured the vast majority of them with the ACC media picking the Tigers to win a second consecutive title and 10th in a 15-year span.
It was a close finish between Miami at No. 2 and SMU at No. 3. Georgia Tech and Louisville rounded out the top five. SMU is the reigning conference runner-up and was one of two ACC teams to reach last year’s College Football Playoff, along with Clemson. The media foresees the Mustangs narrowly missing out on a second straight trip to the conference title game to open their ACC era.
Miami (7), Florida State (4), SMU (2), Georgia Tech (2) and Virginia Tech (1) also picked up first-place votes. The Hokies were the lowest-ranked team to do so at No. 11 in the predicted order of finish.
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The preseason poll falls largely in line with the betting odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, where Clemson (+105) is a commanding favorite to haul in the conference title game trophy. Miami has the second-best odds (+390) while Louisville (+750), SMU (+950) and Georgia Tech (+1400) round out the top contenders.
Outside of the top tier, Florida State and North Carolina are two of the most high-profile teams in the league this season. The Seminoles are fresh off one of the worst seasons in school history but made staff and roster changes that could spark a leap back toward the top of the pecking order. Bill Belichick, meanwhile, makes his college football coaching debut this fall with the Tar Heels.
2025 ACC preseason poll
The ACC will all but certainly secure one playoff berth this season with its champion nearly guaranteed to rank among the five highest in the sport. Beyond that, though, it is anyone’s guess how the league will stack up against the rest of the Power Four. SMU squeaked in last season as the final at-large selection, and Miami found itself on the wrong side of the bubble with its two regular-season losses.
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