Stewart Mandel makes his 2024 ACC football preseason predictions

The consensus among voters in both the AP Top 25 poll and the US LBM Coaches Poll is that Florida State and Clemson are the two best teams in the ACC heading into the 2024 college football season.

That has also been the case in various post-spring rankings earlier this summer once the transfer portal closed.

But at least one veteran college football writer doesn’t see it that way. In his 2024 ACC football predictions ($) released Tuesday, The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel agrees that Florida State is the best team in the conference, something ACC media members confirmed by voting the Noles as the favorite to win the league again in 2024.

Clemson? Mandel sees the Tigers finishing fourth in the ACC behind FSU, Miami and even Virginia Tech. He predicts Dabo Swinney’s team to finish 9-3 overall in the regular season and 6-2 in conference play.

Per Mandel:

“The Tigers to their credit rebounded from a brutal 4-4 start to last season to win their last five, with running back Phil Mafah breaking out as a home-run threat. And the defense will be very good once again. But another year went by without Dabo Swinney plugging any holes on his roster. FSU and Miami sure did.”

Clemson avoids Miami on the schedule this year but travels to both Tallahassee and Blacksburg to face Florida State and Virginia Tech on Oct. 5 and Nov. 9, respectively.

The Tigers open the season against Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, August 31 at noon ET. The game will be televised on ABC. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in both the preseason AP and coaches polls.

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