Yes, I’m calling these “Preseason” rankings even though Miami already played. Pitt hasn’t played yet, so the name still applies from a certain point of view. I still accounted for that one game when coming up with these rankings because it’s literally the only real data point we have, so I’m gonna grab onto it like it’s the last burger at Saturday’s tailgate. Before we get started, you’ll notice below that I’ve separated the teams into Tiers. Basically, I feel that the teams within the tiers can be placed in any order for the most part as they’re pretty close to each other. Where a new tier starts is where I feel there’s a bigger drop-down in team quality. Without further ado, the inaugural Dream Backfield ACC Power Rankings!

Tier A: It’s Just Clemson

1. Clemson (0-0)

Could it have been anyone else? Clemson is the undisputed juggernaut of the conference. They are the defending National Champions and have won the conference each of the past 4 seasons. They return Heisman hopeful Trevor Lawrence at Quarterback, Travis Etienne at Running Back, and their Top 3 receivers from last year. Overall, they had nearly half of the Preseason All-ACC team (13/27), which should not happen in a 14-team league. Right now, it’s Clemson’s World and we’re all playing for 2nd Place.

Tier B: Playing for 2nd Place

2. Miami (0-1)

Despite losing to Florida, Miami made it a much closer game than most expected. They have legitimate concerns at Offensive Line, but they may have found a Quarterback in Jarren Williams. Going into this season, this was the position with the biggest question mark and despite getting zero protection against the Gators, Williams acquitted himself pretty well. Miami still played an incredibly sloppy game with missed tackles, awful penalties, and other mental mistakes. However, they get the 2nd slot overall until we get more evidence that one of these other teams can actually play any better.

3. Syracuse

The Orange are everyone’s darling this year, but I’m not buying the hype. In fact, it almost physically pained me to put them this high. However, this has more to do with the sorry state of the conference as a whole than me thinking that Syracuse is going to legitimately challenge Clemson in the Atlantic. Despite Pitt doing what they could to expose them for the frauds they were, they still finished with a nice 10-3 season. Though they lost Quarterback Eric Dungey, replacement Tommy Devito was a highly rated prospect. While they seem to be due for some regression this year, I have to put them here until someone proves they’re better.

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