Georgia Tech Predicted To Finish Fourth In The ACC, Receives Two First Place Votes In Preseason Media Poll

Nov 21, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the sideline against the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the fourth quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The preseason media poll for the ACC was just released and Georgia Tech is being predicted to be among the top teams in the conference. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish fourth in the conference this season and received two first place votes. Clemson was the pick to win the ACC, garnering 167 first place votes, while Miami was picked to finish second and got seven first place votes.

Here are the full results of the preseason poll with first place votes in parentheses:

1. Clemson (167)

2. Miami (7)

3. SMU (2)

4. Georgia Tech (2)

5. Louisville

6. Duke

7. Florida State (4)

8. North Carolina

9. Pitt

10. NC State

11. Virginia Tech (1)

12 Syracuse

13. Boston College

14. Virginia

15. California

16. Wake Forest

17. Stanford

All eyes on kickoff 🔜

The 2025 ACC Preseason Poll has arrived. pic.twitter.com/kGdWOF7mp6

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) July 30, 2025

Dec 27, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key tracks his team during the first half of the 2024 Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech is going to get an early shot at facing the preseason favorite in the conference. Clemson comes to Georgia Tech in week three and if the Yellow Jackets can pull the upset, they will set themselves up well for the rest of the conference slate. Georgia Tech avoids Miami, SMU, Louisville, and Florida State this season, giving them their most favorable ACC slate on paper in some time. Can they take advantage of it?

While the external opinions of the Yellow Jackets seem to be high, what are the internal expectations for the team? While not giving a full answer on Tuesday, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key gave a small insight into how high the internal expectations are for his team:

"Well, that's why they're internal expectations because they stay internal. Seriously, It's internal or external. Yall's job is external, our job's internal. I mean, they're high. They're very high. And that's all I'll say is that, no matter what the external expectations are, they should never be higher than what your internal expectations are of yourself."

Key also mentioned the confidence of this team during his press conference yesterday:

"That's great to hear because, you know, confidence is something that it's hard to come by a lot of times. You know, so many individuals are insecure, not confident themselves. And, you know, a lot of that is part of the external factors that are out there in the world. You know, to have a group of guys that does have confidence but not arrogance. You know, I try to portray that as well with the team, because I want them to be confident, right? Look, you know, we got good football players, right? We got good football players that work their butts off. So, you know, they should have confidence, right? If you don't have confidence, I mean, there's, there's, you got zero chance. And all these things we talk about, I mean, they're not, they're not giving us any reason to celebrate. They just give you an opportunity, a chance to be able to put it all together and celebrate it into the year, so I think it's a really good thing."