The ACC football preseason polls are out, and in the last season of divisional play in the conference, Coastal Chaos continues to do its thing.

Carolina was picked third in the Coastal Division, behind first-place Miami and second-place Pittsburgh, the reigning conference champions. But there wasn’t quite a consensus as to a Coastal champion, as six of the seven teams received at least one first-place vote. The Hurricanes received 98, the Panthers 38 and Carolina 18. Behind those three are Virginia (six votes), Virginia Tech (three), Georgia Tech (one) and Duke. The Blue Devils and first-year head coach Mike Elko were the only Coastal team to not receive a first-place vote.

In the Atlantic Division, Clemson received the bulk of the first-place votes. The Tigers received 111 votes to once again reign supreme, while NC State placed second with 44. Behind the Tigers and Wolfpack are reigning division champion Wake Forest, Louisville, Florida State, Boston College and Syracuse. In an interesting twist, Florida State and Boston College each received first-place votes, but sat behind Louisville, who received none, in the overall standings.

Clemson received 103 votes to win the conference, with NC State far behind with 38. A pair of voters predicted the Tar Heels would win the conference, which would be their first ACC title since divisional play began in 2004 and its first overall since 1980.

UNC has won the Coastal Division only once, in 2015. The Tar Heels went a perfect 8-0 in conference play and finished the regular season 11-1. They appeared in the ACC Championship game and lost to No. 1 Clemson, 45-37.

Carolina will face both NC State and Wake Forest this season, and will travel to Clemson next season after the implementation of the ACC’s new 3-5-5 scheduling model.

To view the entire ACC preseason poll, click here.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Helen McGinnis

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