By Luke Brumm
Spring games have started so I figured it’s only right to start putting out my power rankings for this spring. Per usual, I will be going conference by conference. We’re going to start with the new-look 17 team ACC.
17. Virginia
16. Pittsburgh
15. Stanford
14. Wake Forest
13. Syracuse
12. California
11. Boston College
This is how the bottom half of my ACC power rankings look. Out of all these teams, Boston College is the only one that had a winning record, and they went just 7-6. The two newcomers from the Pac-12 find themselves here after underwhelming seasons in 2023. Cal is looking better than Stanford as of now, but we’ll see once the season kicks off.
10. Virginia Tech
9. North Carolina
8. Georgia Tech
7. SMU
6. Duke
The middle of the conference looks like this. Duke had a solid season in 2023, and acquired Texas QB transfer, Maalik Murphy to replace Riley Leonard. SMU is coming over from the American Conference after going 11-3 and winning the conference. I think the Mustangs could fair better than people think in their first season back in a top conference since 1995. Georgia Tech was able to return a lot of talent and North Carolina lost some talent. I fear that the loss of Drake Maye will hurt the Tar Heels. Virginia Tech gained some momentum last season after jumping from 3-8 to 7-6.
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5. North Carolina State
Dave Doeren hit the portal again for a quarterback and came away with Grayson McCall. McCall is a talented and experienced signal caller that spent five seasons at Coastal Carolina. I like the fit there and see him having success in the ACC. The Wolfpack have had at least eight wins in every season so far this decade and I expect that to continue in 2024.
4. Louisville
Jeff Brohm surprised a lot of people last year by going 10-4 and 7-1 in the conference. This got them to the conference championship game that saw them lose a close one to Florida State. After spending time in West Lafayette, he came over and changed the program around. He brought QB Jack Plummer with him, who had an impact as well. He’s gone, but Tyler Shough from Texas Tech is here to replace and is ready to improve off a great 2023 campaign.
3. Miami
I don’t know why I continue to hype up Miami, but here we go again. I do like the addition of Cameron Ward a lot and the recruiting classes continue to be elite. They have had a top-15 class recruiting each year of the 2020’s and top ten classes the past two seasons. Eventually the talent has to turn into wins. Mario Cristobal has to put it together on the field and end the stereotype of him being a great recruiter and below average coach. He seems to be like John Calipari just without the natty win as a HC.
2. Clemson
Even with Clemson not playing up to standards the past few years, they are still easily near the top of the ACC. Dabo Swinney continues to avoid the portal like a normal coach would, and hasn’t had a top ten recruiting class since 2021. You need to adapt if you are going to be able to sustain success, and right now Swinney still isn’t doing that. With all that being said, I still see them edging out nearly everybody.
1. Florida State
Coming in at the top of my Spring ACC power rankings is Florida State. The Seminoles had an amazing season in 2023, and it could have been even better if not for Jordan Travis’ season ending injury and them arguably getting screwed out of a CFP spot. The teams success weaned after that, but that shouldn’t take away from their success. Florida State still went 13-1 and won their conference. They hit the portal to acquire former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback, DJ Uiagalelei, and he will be the starter. I like FSU to hold up that ACC trophy again at the end of the season.
