BOZICH | Boldly predicting ACC Football order of finish as Louisville travels to Media Days | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff event launched in Charlotte, N.C., Monday. It will stretch through Thursday afternoon.

Louisville will share the stage with Miami, Boston College, Duke and Wake Forest on Wednesday. Coach Jeff Brohm, quarterback Tyler Shough, cornerback Quincy Riley and defensive end Ashton Gillotte will represent the Cards.

Our Eric Crawford and sports director Tyler Greever will have complete coverage on WDRB, WDRB.com and multiple social media platforms after they arrive in Charlotte Tuesday evening.

Participating media will be assigned the task of predicting the order of finish for the 17 programs with the league adding three teams this season. The results will not be tabulated and released until Monday.

Who has time to wait?

Not me.

This is how I would complete my ballot:

1. Florida State (13-1 last season) — The Seminoles are perturbed. They are perturbed they were snubbed in the College Football Playoff last year after quarterback Jordan Travis was injured. They are perturbed by their inability to escape the ACC. Mike Norvell proved his coaching chops again last season. He scored big in the transfer portal. And he’s counting on quarterback DJ Uiagalelei to perform better in Tallahassee than he did at Clemson and Oregon State.

2. Clemson (9-4) — Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence directed the Tigers to great things but the quarterback play at Clemson has slipped in recent seasons. Maybe Cade Klubnik will take a step forward. But he averaged only 6.3 yards per passing attempt last season and the Tigers averaged less than 24 points in ACC games. Dabo Swinney’s reluctance to embrace the transfer portal has become a talking point in the league.

3. Louisville (10-4) — If Tyler Shough can stay healthy, the Cards should have stronger quarterback play. The receiving room seems to be deeper and more talented. Riley and Gillotte are first-team all-ACC players. Jeff Brohm has another solid squad — and returned his entire coaching staff.

4. SMU (11-3) — Welcome to the ACC, Mustangs. You’ve handed over generational wealth to be part of the action so I have not doubt SMU will be determined to win from Day One. Rhett Lashlee is a respected offensive mind, who returns 14 starters from a team that won 11 games. Preston Stone is the quarterback and SMU’s game here Oct. 5 will be telling.

5. North Carolina State (9-4) — Dave Doeren always has the Wolfpack on the fringe of contention, winning at least eight games six times in the last seven seasons. He plucked quarterback Grayson McCall away from Coastal Carolina and also snagged halfback Jordan Waters, who ran for 819 yards at Duke last season. The Wolfpack will be at the top of the second tier.

6. Miami (7-6) — The Hurricanes will likely be picked to finish third because Mario Cristobal typically crushes it in the high school and transfer recruiting rankings. But he’s been a colossal underachiever as a coach for two seasons. I’ll need more proof but the Hurricanes always benefit from excess hype.

7. Virginia Tech (7-6) — The Hokies wobbled to a 2-4 start and then won five of their last seven — all by 17 or more points. The Hokies return 19 starters. They don’t play Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina State or SMU. They are positioned to succeed.

8. North Carolina (8-5) — Mack Brown did not win big with Sam Howell. He did not win big with Drake Maye. The Tar Heels do not have an NFL ready quarterback this season. Brown, who will turn 73 next month, is one of three active coaches to win a national title but he’s not going to win another ACC title. He’s lost his fastball.

9. Georgia Tech (7-6) — Haynes King, a transfer from Texas A&M, developed into one of the top quarterbacks in the ACC, helping the Yellow Jackets average 14 more points per game than they did in 2022. Tech’s trip to U of L Sept. 21 will be a key moment for both squads after U of L had to rally in the second half to win the season opener in Atlanta last season.

10. California (6-7) — The Berkeley campus is 19 miles from Ocean Beach, California so the Bears will have to be travel warriors, navigating trips to Florida State, Pitt, Wake Forest and SMU (in addition to a non-league game at Auburn). Justin Wilcox is the coach. The Bears last winning season was 2019. Welcome to the ACC.

11. Wake Forest (4-8) —Like Doeron at N.C. State, Dave Clawson has earned respect by putting together a consistently solid product in Winston Salem. The Demon Deacons have questions at quarterback but Clawson usually wins with defense, special teams and fundamentals.

12. Pittsburgh (3-9) — The Panthers endured a miserable 2023 — except for one rainy October Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium against Louisville. Quarterback Christian Veilleux, the director of that upset, bolted for Georgia State after the season leaving coach Pat Narduzzi looking for the next Dan Marino.

13. Boston College (7-6) — Bill O’Brien walked away from Penn State to coach the Houston Texans. He’s worked for Nick Saban at Alabama and Ryan Day at Ohio State. If he wanted a real shot to prove he is offensive mastermind, O’Brien will have that at BC.

14. Syracuse (6-7) — New coach Fran Brown arrives from Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia, without 5-star recruits that have allowed the Bulldogs to rule the SEC. Quarterback Kyle McCord, who bailed on Ohio State before its bowl game, will run the offense.

15. Duke (8-5) — Coach Mike Elko jumped to Texas A&M. Quarterback Riley Leonard left for Notre Dame. Waters went to N.C. State. Back to reality in Durham. Oh, Manny Diaz is the new coach.

16. Virginia (3-9) — Tony Elliott will have to fix a defense that ranked last in the ACC in points allowed (33.8) or those predictions that Elliott sits high on the Hot Seat lists will come true. And he does not have a proven quarterback.

17. Stanford (3-9) — Who knows what to make of the Cardinal? The program has endured a persistent slide since Jim Harbaugh left for Michigan after the 2010 season. David Shaw delivered several solid years but gave way to Troy Taylor after 2022. Stanford lost to Sacramento State last season and gave up 42 or more points in six other games. Stanford has not won more than four games since 2018.

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