2023 AP Preseason Poll: How Many ACC Teams start the year ranked?

The preseason AP Top 25 was released today

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Aug 14, 2023 12:19 PM EDT

In this story:

The 2023 college football season is getting closer and today, the official preseason top 25 was released.

There are two leading contenders in Florida State and Clemson for the ACC before a dropoff to North Carolina. The Seminoles check in at No. 8 overall while the Tigers are in at No. 9, and UNC is No. 21. This is slightly different than the ACC preseason media poll, where Clemson was voted to win the conference over Florida State.

For Florida State, they are trying to win their first conference title since 2014 and make a run at the college football playoff and have a team capable enough of doing that. The schedule is not kind in the early part of the season, with a neutral site matchup with No. 5 LSU in Orlando to start the season and then just a couple of weeks later, a road game at Clemson. If Florida State wins both of those games or splits them, it could be a playoff run in the making.

Clemson is trying to not only remain the dominant team in the conference but get back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020. The Tigers play three teams that are starting the year ranked: No. 9 Florida State, No. 13 Notre Dame, and No. 21 North Carolina.

The Tar Heels are bringing back the preseason ACC player of the year in quarterback Drake Maye and UNC is hoping to make it back to the conference championship game, but they will have to do it without playing in the Coastal Division. Clemson is the only team that is starting the season ranked that North Carolina has to face, but that does not mean their schedule is easy. Non-conference games against Minnesota and South Carolina are going to be tough and UNC has lost two straight games to Georgia Tech.