Voters: Clemson vs UNC in ACC Championship; no love for UVA

By Jerry Ratcliffe

According to voters who attended last week’s ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, this year’s league championship game will come down to defending champion Clemson against North Carolina, with the Tigers coming out on top.

Clemson was an overwhelming preseason selection by the voters, receiving 125 votes to win the ACC compared to a mere 16 votes for UNC. The Tigers, 10-2 last season, are looking to claim their seventh consecutive ACC crown.

Virginia, the defending Coastal Division champion from 2019 (there was no divisional play in 2020), didn’t get much love from the voters. Bronco Mendenhall’s team was predicted to finish fifth place in the seven-team Coastal.

Here is the Coastal Division voting breakdown with first-place votes in parenthesis:

1. North Carolina – 979 (109)
2. Miami – 881 (28)
3. Virginia Tech – 582 (3)
4. Pitt – 576 (1)
5. Virginia – 540 (2)
6. Georgia Tech – 340 (4)
7. Duke – 218

Mack Brown’s Tar Heels were selected to win the Coastal for the second time since the league began divisional play, and the first time since 2016. All seven Coastal teams won the division from 2013 through 2019.

Here is the Atlantic Division breakdown:

1. Clemson – 1,028 (146)
2. NC State – 804 (1)
3. Boston College – 638
4. Florida State – 510
5. Wake Forest – 472
6. Louisville – 462
7. Syracuse – 202

As far as the overall champion prediction, Clemson was a runaway choice with 125 votes to UNC’s 16. Miami got three votes Virginia, Georgia Tech and NC State each received one vote.