What Does the ACC Look Like This Year?

The ACC is going to look a bit different this year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of so much college football across the country.

Instead of the two-division format that featured the Coastal and Atlantic divisions, the ACC will play the season as just a single conference. And if that weren’t enough, there’s a new addition to the ACC, even if it’s just for one year — Notre Dame.

The addition of the Fighting Irish, which marks the first time in the program’s history it will play a conference schedule, definitely adds a wrinkle to the already skewed season. Notre Dame will be eligible to play for the ACC title this season.

They aren’t the favorites, however. Clemson is still projected to be the top team in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2020, and considering they have played in the last two National Championship games, it really comes as no surprise.

The Tigers have captured the last five ACC titles, and have had five consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff. Returning to lead the Clemson offense is quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and running back Travis Etienne returns in the backfield as well.

Despite the fact that the Tigers lost a significant number of starters on the defensive side of the football, Dabo Swinney’s team has proven it can fill in those gaps with underclassmen and new recruits.

The only real threat to Clemson this year could be the addition of Notre Dame. In the final four games of the regular season, the Tigers take on the Fighting Irish, Florida State, Pitt and then Virginia Tech. The odds are pretty good that Clemson will be playing in the ACC title game, and most likely hoisting the trophy.

This season, with the elimination of the divisions, the ACC will use a modified format for the championship game in which the two teams with the best winning percentage in the conference will play for the title. As of right now, the game is scheduled to be played either Dec. 12 or 19 in Charlotte.

Notre Dame is a solid bet

The Fighting Irish found themselves in a bit of a predicament when the college football conferences around the country began canceling their seasons. With the Big Ten and Pac-12 closing down for the 2020-21 season, Notre Dame had to find replacement games.

The ACC already hosts Notre Dame in a number of other sports as a member of the conference, so they offered the Irish a chance to play a conference football schedule for the first time in the program’s history. They accepted.

The current totals prediction for Notre Dame is 8.5 wins. With 11 games currently slated, we don’t see the team losing more than two, and that’s if a team other than Clemson is able to muster up a win.

While we see the Clemson game as a loss for the Fighting Irish, the only other game we see as being a potential challenge is North Carolina. But even then, it’s going to take a poor Irish performance to allow the Tar Heels to come away with the victory.

We think the Irish will finish, 10-1, with a 9-2 record as the outside possibility, giving Notre Dame the over.

Can Florida State get enough wins?

Right now, we think a smart play would be to take the Seminoles for finishing under their predicted total of seven wins.

With the ACC now featuring Notre Dame, and Clemson still the king of the hill, we see two automatic losses on FSU’s 11-game slate. Add in tough games with Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Louisville and we see the Seminoles struggling to finish the season at a better mark than 6-5.

The bright spot for Florida State is they return 10 starters on defense — but it’s a defense that gave up an average of nearly 28 points per game last season. New head coach Mike Norvell and new defensive coordinator Adam Fuller will have to craft the same magic they did at Memphis in order to prevent the team from underachieving again this season.

Despite having veteran starters and a new coach, it’s difficult to see Florida State getting to seven wins in 2020, which is why we think the team will finish under that total.