Expert Predictions for Atlantic Coast Conference Football Standings and Betting Odds: ACC Daily

With the first official week of the college football season right on the doorstep—not accounting for the slate of Week Zero games which occurred this past weekend—there are a handful of analytical record projections coming out for all 136 teams in the FBS.

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), branded as one of the Power Four conferences of college football—which also includes the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Ten, and the Big 12—currently has three teams listed in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll. Those teams are No. 4 Clemson, No. 10 Miami, and No. 16 SMU.

Here is a breakdown of how college football analysts are predicting ACC teams to do in the conference, along with how they matchup against teams from the rest of the Power-Four landscape:

1. CBS Sports

Paul Myerberg and Jim Sergent of the USA Today network came up with record predictions for every team in the FBS, breaking each segment up into how schools will do in their conference, as well as what their final record will come out to be.

“Clemson, Miami, and then everyone else,” Meyerberg and Sergent said. “The Tigers and quarterback Cade Klubnik are eyeballing not just another ACC crown but the program’s third national championship under Dabo Swinney. Miami needs a big year from transfer Carson Beck. Keep tabs on Louisville and SMU as possible at-large playoff teams. And look for a rebound from Florida State after a disastrous 2024.”

Standings with records, according to Myerberg and Sergent:

Clemson (7-1 ACC, 11-1 overall)
Miami (7-1 ACC, 10-2 overall)
Louisville (6-2 ACC, 9-3 overall)
SMU (5-3 ACC, 8-4 overall)
Florida State (5-3 ACC, 8-4 overall)
Georgia Tech (5-3 ACC, 8-4 overall)
Duke (5-3 ACC, 8-4 overall)
Pittsburgh (4-4 ACC, 7-5 overall)
NC State (4-4 ACC, 7-5 overall)
North Carolina (4-4 ACC, 7-5 overall)
Syracuse (4-4 ACC, 6-6 overall)
Virginia Tech (3-5 ACC, 5-7 overall)
Boston College (3-5 ACC, 5-7 overall)
Virginia (2-6 ACC, 4-8 overall)
California (2-6 ACC, 4-8 overall)
Wake Forest (1-7 ACC, 3-9 overall)
Stanford (1-7 ACC, 3-9 overall)

2. ESPN

All the talk is about Clemson, the reigning ACC champions, heading into the 2025 season, and that rings true for the ESPN college football staff’s projections for the Atlantic Coast Conference as well.

“As has been the case for the better part of the past decade, the road to an ACC championship in 2025 in all likelihood will go through Clemson,” ESPN said. “Dabo Swinney's team returns as much production as any team in the country, and the Tigers were good enough to win the ACC title and make the 12-team College Football Playoff.”

With Swinney’s college football playoff experience, a promising Heisman-candidate quarterback in Cade Klubnik, and a defensive line which boasts arguably two of the top-five defensive line/defensive end NFL prospects in the country, Peter Woods and T.J. Parker, the Tigers earned the right to be the favorite for this year.

“But there will be plenty of competition — and intrigue,” ESPN said. “Miami has another talented squad and is led by Georgia transfer Carson Beck. SMU was a playoff team last season and returns quarterback Kevin Jennings, Louisville has what should be a dynamic offense and Brent Key's Georgia Tech team could be ready to break out.”

Instead of making a list of record projections, ESPN sorted each ACC school out into a tiered list of how likely it is for the program to make the CFP.

The breakdown is as follows:

Should be in: Clemson
In the running: Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, SMU
Long shots: North Carolina, Duke

Finally, ESPN lists its ACC power rankings for the 2025 season:

Clemson
Miami
Georgia Tech
Louisville
SMU
Duke
NC State
Pittsburgh
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Virginia
Syracuse
North Carolina
Boston College
California
Wake Forest
Stanford

3. The Athletic

Dan Santaromita and Austin Mock of The Athletic updated their ACC odds, win totals, projections, best bets article as recently as Sunday, and similarly follow the trend of ranking Clemson leagues above the rest of the conference.

“Clemson has been the dominant force in the ACC for a decade,” Santaromita and Mock said. “Even though Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have been a tick below the years when they were premier contenders for the national title every season, Clemson still hasn’t given up its stranglehold on the conference. Last year, the Tigers lost four games but still managed to win a conference title. This year, Clemson brings back quarterback Cade Klubnik as part of a team that is the clear favorite to win the ACC again.”

Then, they provide a list of betting odds from BetMGM for the eventual winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which are as follows:

Clemson Tigers (-110)
Miami Hurricanes (+400)
Louisville Cardinals (+750)
SMU Mustangs (+900)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (+1200)
Florida State Seminoles (+2500)
North Carolina Tar Heels (+3000)
Duke Blue Devils (+3500)
Syracuse Orange (+4000)
Pittsburgh Panthers (+4000)
Virginia Tech Hokies (+5000)
NC State Wolfpack (+5000)
California Golden Bears (+10000)
Virginia Cavaliers (+10000)
Boston College Eagles (+20000)
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (+35000)
Stanford Cardinal (+35000)

Finally, The Athletic provides a table for ACC projections which includes XWINS, which is the average number of wins a team got through Mock’s simulations, BetMGM’s projections of wins for each team through its own simulations, and CONF, which is the chance for a team to win the ACC Championship using Mock’s model.

Here is the list:

Key: Team | XWINS | BETMGM | CONF

Clemson | 9.8 | 9.5 | 50.6%
Miami | 8.5 | 9.5 | 15.3%
Louisville | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.8%
SMU | 8.1 | 8.5 | 7.6%
Georgia Tech | 7.5 | 7.5 | 4.3%
Florida State | 7.1 | 7.5 | 3.8%
NC State | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.9%
Duke | 7.1 | 6.5 | 2.3%
North Carolina | 6.9 | 7.5 | 1.3%
Pittsburgh | 6.4 | 6.5 | 1.1%
Virginia Tech | 6.6 | 6.5 | 1.0%
Virginia | 6 | 6.5 | 0.4%
Boston College | 5.4 | 5.5 | 0.3%
California | 5.8 | 5.5 | 0.2%
Syracuse | 5 | 5.5 | 0.1%
Wake Forest | 4.9 | 4.5 | 0.0%
Stanford | 3.6 | 3.5 | 0.0%