As Coronavirus takes away all of our sports, one “sport” marches on, FCFB is almost back underway as everyone hunkers down at home. Will NC State’s Death Grip on the Atlantic loosen up? Will anyone be able to challenge the dominance of Georgia Tech? Will any of the new ACC coaches at Pitt, Wake Forest, Louisville, and UVA be able to make a splash and mix up the status quo?

Now I will be giving my Preseason Predictions on the ACC records of each team along with the power rankings. The predictions and the Power Rankings won’t line up exactly here as Predictions are more of my thoughts and the Power Rankings are based mostly on the past seasons.

1.) Georgia Tech- 7-1, 1st in Coastal. For the 2nd season in a row, Georgia Tech comes into the season as the prohibitive favorite to repeat as ACC Champions and make another run at the National Title after coming up one game short last season. The path still isn’t easy for them as they have to run the Coastal again.

2.) Virginia Tech– 5-3, 3rd in Coastal. Virginia Tech made its next step last season as they took home a Orange Bowl title and a Top 15 finish yet it still felt like a disappointment with how the season started. Losses to Pitt on Senior Day to give them their only ACC win and a 30 point loss to UVA killed their playoff hopes and VT looks to avenge that finish to last season and make the playoffs this year.

3.) NC State– 7-1, 1st in Atlantic. NC State almost lost their death grip on the Atlantic last season but a late season surge saw them sneak into the ACC Title game and Playoff where they got smacked by GT for the 2nd and 3rd times on the season. No reason to bet against them to make it 4 Atlantic Titles in a row this year, especially with some coaching stability at last, but they’ve got to be able to get wins over the elite teams to make the next step.

4.) Boston College– 4-4, 4th in Atlantic. We already know how BC’s season will play out. Solid season, looks like they could contend with NCSU to win the Atlantic but end up in the 8 win range with another forgettable season. Schedule sets them up to start very strong but with some tough games down the stretch with 3 games in a row vs BYU, NCSU, and VT it will be tough for them to break that glass ceiling they keep running into.

5.) Virginia– 5-3, 2nd in Coastal. Yet another leadership change at UVA, but that hasn’t hindered them in the past. Looking to build off a strong season making their first playoffs; however, they can’t let the sting of the largest loss in FBS Playoff history linger too long. That Colorado State team was a machine in the playoffs. UVA looking to challenge for the Coastal title again and make their first ACC Title game since S1.

6.) Syracuse– 5-3, 3rd in Atlantic. Syracuse is a team I think is underrated by most teams and one I see making a very real run at the Top 2 of NCSU and BC in the Atlantic. Trying to get above that 7 win marker they’ve hit the past 2 seasons. More consistent play is gonna be needed if they want to take that trip to Charlotte.

7.) Miami, 5-3, 4th in Coastal. I feel the same way about Miami as I do Syracuse for the most part. Miami is a team on the rise, offense finally found its identity last season and if they can build on that they may be able to challenge the Top of the Coastal although that’s one of the tougher jobs in FCFB right there.

8.) Duke, 3-5, 5th in Coastal. Duke is a team that has been going the wrong direction each and every season. Thought that was going to change after an upset victory against GT but just seemed to accelerate the decline. Something as to change over at Duke if they want to reach the heights of S1 and early S2 again.

9.) Clemson– 5-3, 2nd in Atlantic. Clemson is a hard team predict for something like this. They will beat a Top 10 team just as easily as they lose to a sub-100 team. Matter of fact, the only thing predictable about Clemson is how unpredictable they are. They could very well make a run at the Division this year is NCSU slips up but Clemson has to avoid the awful losses to do that.

10.) Wake Forest- 4-4, 5th in Atlantic. Wake Forest finally got rid of their previous coach after a dreadful 2-10 campaign and picked up Miss St.’s coach who was so-and-so in SEC play. One of the bigger unknowns going into this season. They better hope the trend of winning 2 less games each season doesn’t continue or they’ll be joining FAU in the history books for all the wrong reasons.

11.) Louisville– 1-7, 7th in Atlantic. One of the true surprises of Season 3 was UL’s rise to the Top of the Atlantic early on in the season as they had a commanding lead in the Atlantic going into the homestretch and then proceed to lose three of their last 4 ACC games and blow the division title. Under new leadership for the 2nd season in a row, UL is looking to return to their glory days of S1 but that looks doubtful for this season at least.

12.) North Carolina– 3-5, 6th in Coastal. One of the bigger disappointments last season was UNC’s season. Pegged to be right in the Coastal Title race they didn’t get anywhere near that last season. Defense is gonna need a lot of work if they want to contend in any way, shape, or form this season.

13.) Florida State– 2-6, 6th in Atlantic. Florida State looks to make their first bowl game this season has they’ve hit the 5 win marker each of the past two seasons, pulling off some upsets both times, but they haven’t shown that they can compete on a consistent level with the other teams in the ACC.

14.) Pittsburgh– 0-8, 7th in Coastal. Pittsburgh’s season was a disappointing 3-9 last season after their ACC Title the year prior. They are once again under new leadership as hired a fresh face from D2 with an all-time record of 1-1…that’s a recipe for disaster if I’ve ever seen one. Time will tell; however, as it does with all thing.

Atlantic (Projected ACC Record) Coastal (Projected ACC Record) 1. NC State (7-1) 1. Georgia Tech (7-1) 2. Clemson (5-3) 2. Virginia (5-3) 3. Syracuse (5-3) 3. Virginia Tech (5-3) 4. Boston College (4-4) 4. Miami (5-3) 5. Wake Forest (4-4) 5. Duke (3-5) 6. Florida State (2-6) 6. North Carolina (3-5) 7. Louisville (1-7) 7. Pittsburgh (0-8)

Projected ACC Title Game: Georgia Tech over NC State 42-28.