Miami picked to win league by media voters with NC State, Duke, UNC well behind :: WRAL.com

Miami hasn’t won an ACC football championship since joining the league more than two decades ago.

But the Hurricanes, who reached the College Football Playoff championship game last season, are the overwhelming favorite to claim the conference crown this year.

The Hurricanes received 165 of 188 first-place votes from media members, easily outdistancing SMU, which edged Louisville and Clemson for second in the preseason poll.

Miami, which joined the league in 2004, have reached the ACC title game just once — in 2017.

NC State, a popular sleeper candidate with the return of quarterback CJ Bailey for a third season, was picked to finish seventh. Duke, which won the ACC title last season but lost quarterback Darian Mensah to the Hurricanes in the offseason, was selected 10th. North Carolina, in its second season under head coach Bill Belichick, was tabbed to finish 15th in the 17-team league.

NC State plays only two ACC opponents picked to finish ahead of it — Virginia in the season opener on Aug. 29 and Louisville on Oct. 3. The Wolfpack’s other seven conference opponents were all picked to finish 10th or worse. NC State has never played in the ACC title game, which began in 2005. It is the only school that has been a member since before 2013 to not play in the game.

Clemson has won eight of the last 11 conference titles. Pittsburgh (2021), Florida State (2023) and Duke (2025) have won titles in recent seasons. The top two finishers in the ACC regular season will meet in the title game on Dec. 5 in Charlotte. The league unveiled new tiebreakers for this season, which are likely to be needed given that some of the teams in the conference play nine league games while others play eight.

The winner of the ACC Championship Game will earn an automatic berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Duke was left out of the playoff last season.

2026 ACC Football Predicted Order of Finish (Media Vote)

 Rank Team – Points

1. Miami (165 first-place votes) – 3159 points
   1. SMU (6) – 2794
      1. Louisville (4) – 2569
         1. Clemson (7) – 2520
            1. Georgia Tech (2) – 2006
               1. Virginia – 1981
                  1. NC State – 1964
                     1. Virginia Tech – 1962
                        1. Pitt – 1740
                           1. Duke – 1452
                              1. Florida State (3) – 1439
                                 1. California – 1392
                                    1. Wake Forest – 1103
                                       1. Syracuse – 878
                                          1. North Carolina – 831
                                             1. Boston College – 491
                                                1. Stanford (1) – 483

                                                    Note: First-place votes in parentheses; 188 media voters