How Nick Saban Viewed the ACC Going into This Season

During ESPN’s College GameDay show Saturday morning — prior to Georgia Tech’s 24-21 upset win over No. 10 Florida State in Stadium in Dublin, Ireland — Nick Saban broke down how he viewed the ACC entering the 2024 season.

“I actually see three teams that, at least on paper – Florida State, Clemson and Miami – probably have a little more talent from top to bottom,” said Saban, who joined ESPN as a college football analyst after retiring from coaching this past January.

“They all have somebody at the quarterback position who can execute and play, whether they’re transfers or whether they were there and played last year. I think each one of them have a little bit of a challenge. You know, Clemson didn’t play in critical times in the games and lost some close games last year. … (Florida State) probably should have gotten in (to the College Football Playoff in 2023), but at least we won’t have that situation this year (with the expanded 12-team playoff).”

Before the Yellow Jackets ended up shocking the Seminoles in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium, on a winning field goal as time expired, Saban went with Florida State as his pick to win the ACC this season.

The legendary former Alabama head coach also named Georgia Tech as his “sleeper pick” in the ACC this year.

“I do think there’s some other teams in the ACC, whether it’s NC State, Georgia Tech – I think Georgia Tech presents some tremendous challenges with the way they play offense,” Saban said. “If they can play a little better defense, they’re going to be right in it. Louisville was in it last year. So, I think this is going to be a deeper conference than it has been in the past.”

Last season, Florida State captured its fifth ACC Championship Game title and its 16th ACC title overall with a 16-6 victory over Louisville.

FSU and Clemson have won the ACC 12 out of the last 13 years.

The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game is set for 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. This fall will be the first featuring 17 ACC football teams, and for the second consecutive season, the game will pit the top two teams based on regular-season conference winning percentage.

FSU was picked to win the 2024 ACC title, according to a preseason poll of 170 media voters, while Clemson was picked to finish second in the ACC preseason media poll.

–Photo courtesy John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

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