ACC College Football Primer: 24 for 2024, No. 13
24 Expanded CFP Explained
23 Best Teams To Not Make CFP
22 Meet The New Head Coaches
21 Expansion, Predictions, Who's Where?
20 One Big Thing: No Divisions
19 Independent Season Primer
18 MAC Season Primer
17 CUSA Season Primer
16 AAC Season Primer
15 Sun Belt Season Primer
14 Mountain West Primer
ACC Football Storylines
- Lost in all the hullabaloo about schools wanting a new deal - don't worry, that's next - the ACC just did what the SEC should've.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a long plane ride, and yeah, the Bay Area isn't all in on college football like the people in Tallahassee and Clemson are, but grabbing Stanford and Cal 1) made the ACC a coast-to-coast conference, which 2) opened up the geographic doors to potentially add more schools, and 3) it now has one of the biggest media markets in the country all to itself.
All of that, and getting those two cranks up the ACC's academic profile even more.
SMU was about moving into Texas and the Dallas market as a possible start, but if nothing else, the conference is ahead of the game when it comes to protecting itself because ...
- Florida State REALLY doesn't want to be in the ACC, and Clemson - among others - isn't too keen on it, either.
Forgetting the social media dream posts from those who assume all the legal stuff will come to a head and ACC programs will get to way out from their draconian grant of rights media deal, there's still a large question about where that bigger payday might come from.
If nothing else, all of the screaming, yelling, and grouchiness will make for an interesting backdrop in what should be a magnificent season, partly because ...
- The quarterbacks in the ACC will make the conference as much of a must-watch as any in the bunch. Clemson is set with Cade Klubnik, and SMU has a sneaky-hot NFL prospect in Preston Stone, but the new guys coming in will take the overall play up a few notches.
DJ Uiagalelei going to Florida State is a big deal. Not enough is being made about Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall stepping in at NC State, and there for the presence of Quinn and Arch it would be the Maalik Murphy show at Texas instead of Duke.
Tyler Shough is about to have a monster season at Louisville, Max Johnson found a home at North Carolina, Kyle McCord went from hanging the Ohio State O to taking on Syracuse, and Cam Ward might just be the passer Miami has been waiting a long time for.
Bold Predictions
- Notre Dame will rip through the ACC, and it'll lead to changes in some way. At the moment, Notre Dame can't get into the top four of the expanded College Football Playoff because it can't be a conference champion.
It'll go 5-0 against Louisville, Stanford, at Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Virginia and be strong enough to be hovering around the top four, but the inability to get one of those coveted top spots and a first round bye will crank up the narrative even more that the program needs to have a bigger relationship with the ACC.
Or, the CFP will cave and make an exception for that team in South Bend.
- The ACC will send at least 13 of its 17 teams to bowl games - that's how many in the current alignment went to the bowls last season. Teams will pick each other off left and right, but there will be just enough wins across the board to get at least 12 into bowl games and two - possibly three - into the expanded College Football Playoff.
- Cal will go on a late run to pull off its first winning season since 2019. Life in the ACC will be good after a rough first half of the schedule - including a non-conference date at Auburn - if the Bears don't finish win wins over Oregon State, at Wake Forest, Syracuse, Stanford, and at SMU, they'll come close.
10 Best ACC Players
1. Cam Ward, QB Miami, Sr.
2. Omarion Hampton, RB North Carolina, Jr.
3. Barrett Carter, LB Clemson, Sr.
4. Ashton Gillotte, DE Louisville, Sr.
5. Xavier Restrepo, WR Miami, Sr.
6. Patrick Payton, EDGE Florida State, Jr.
7. Jaydn Ott, RB Cal, Jr.
8. DJ Uiagalelei, QB Florida State, Sr.
9. Grayson McCall, QB NC State, Sr.
10. Elic Ayomanor, WR Stanford, Soph.
10 Biggest ACC Games
Just ACC vs ACC games, and not including Notre Dame
1. Clemson at Florida State, Oct. 5
2. Florida State at Miami, Oct. 26
3. North Carolina at Florida State, Nov. 2
4. Clemson at Virginia Tech, Nov. 9
5. NC State at North Carolina, Nov. 30
6. NC State at Clemson, Sept. 21
7. Florida State vs Georgia Tech (in Dublin), Aug. 24
8. Louisville at Clemson, Nov. 2
9. Virginia Tech at Miami, Sept. 27
10. Miami at Louisville, Oct. 19
10 Top ACC Transfers
1. Damien Martinez, RB Miami (Oregon State)
2. Roydell Williams, RB Florida State (Alabama)
3. Marvin Jones Jr., LB Florida State (Georgia)
4. Noah Rogers, WR NC State (Ohio State)
5. Justin Joly, TE NC State (UConn)
6. Jake Johnson, TE North Carolina (Texas A&M)
7. Fadil Diggs, EDGE Syracuse (Texas A&M)
8. Sam Brown, WR Miami (Houston)
9. Marcus Harris, CB Cal (Idaho)
10. Jalien Brown, WR Florida State (LSU)
Top ACC Quarterback Transfers
- Cam Ward, Miami (Washington State)
- DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State (Oregon State)
- Grayson McCall, NC State (Coastal Carolina)
- Tyler Shough, Louisville (NC State)
- Maalik Murphy, Duke (Texas)
- Max Johnson, North Carolina (Texas A&M)
- Kyle McCord, Syracuse (Ohio State)
- Collin Schlee, Virginia Tech (Kent State)
- Eli Holstein, Pitt (Alabama)
- Gavin Frakes, Virginia (New Mexico State)
New ACC Head Coaches
Fran Brown, Syracuse
The guy knows how to recruit and coach up defenses. He has never been a head coach, but he was able to get QB Kyle McCord from Ohio State, he's bringing the energy, and this should be a whole lot of fun.
- Meet The New Head Coaches: Fran Brown
Manny Diaz, Duke
Back in the ACC, the former Miami head coach might work better in a bit of an underdog role. His defense will be outstanding right away, and having Maalik Murphy under center will always give the team a shot.
- Meet The New Head Coaches: Manny Diaz
Bill O'Brien, Boston College
Not enough has been made about this. He's an NFL level head coach who could be at a bigger program - or a pro team - without anyone blinking. Considering how late the gig opened up, this was a huge coup for the Eagles.
- Meet The New Head Coaches: Bill O'Brien
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