Clemson picked to repeat as ACC Champs

CLEMSON, S.C. — Fall camp opened up on August 1 for the Clemson Tigers and they are entering the season with a lot of expecations. The Tigers return majority of their roster from last season and is expected to return to the College Football Playoffs and make a deep run.

These expectations are nothing new for head coach Dabo Swinney and is he fully embracing them. He was quoted at the ACC Football Media Days that took place in Charlotte, N.C. on the last week of July saying, “you better know your ring size if you come to Clemson.”

Well, those expectations just increased some with the Tigers being picked as the favorite. The defending ACC champs had a 10-4 overall record and went 7-1 in conference play last season. Clemson was picked to repeat on 167 ballots by the media.

Miami received seven first-place votes coming in second, followed by Florida State with four and SMU and Georgia Tech both receiving two. Virginia Tech rounded the list out with only one first place vote.

Clemson also led all teams with 3,083 points, while Miami had 2,679 points and SMU received 2,612 points to round out the top three. Clemson will open the season on Aug. 30 at home in Death Valley against LSU. They will begin conference play on Sept. 13 against Georgia Tech on the road in Atlanta, GA.

The 2025 ACC Football Championship Game will kick off in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, December 6, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

2025 ACC Football Predicted Order of Finish (Media Vote)

Rank | Team | Points

1. Clemson (167) 3083

2. Miami (7) 2679

3. SMU (2) 2612

4. Georgia Tech (2) 2397

5. Louisville 2370

6. Duke 1973

7. Florida State (4) 1920

8. North Carolina 1611

9. Pitt 1571

10. NC State 1505

11. Virginia Tech (1) 1412

12. Syracuse 1381

13. Boston College 953

14. Virginia 871

15. California 659

16. Wake Forest 576

17. Stanford 426

*First-place votes are in parentheses

*183 media voters