Last season, there were echoes that the “The U” was back about the University of Miami Hurricanes. UM made amazing strides; I concluded they were not. One lesson learned from the progress “The U” made was to be the best again; you have to beat the best, the Clemson Tigers.
The ACC conference released its preseason media poll for the 2018 season. Here is a shocker, Clemson dominated the polls. Moreover, Clemson was a runaway favorite to repeat as champions.
The Tigers received 145 of a possible 148 first-place votes in the ACC Atlantic Division and were chosen by 139 of the 148 voters to win the ACC title.
Clemson’s streak of seven consecutive ten win seasons ranks 2nd among active streaks behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tigers have had 14 total seasons with ten wins or more, seven of them with 11 to 12 wins or more by the end of the postseason.
The Coastal Division saw a little more parity, as five teams received first-place votes, with three of them getting at least eight. In the end, it was Miami that finished atop the division voting.
Here is how the voting broke down (first-place votes in parentheses).
Atlantic Division
1. Clemson (145)
2. Florida State (1)
3. NC State (2)
4. Boston College
5. Louisville
6. Wake Forest
7. Syracuse
Coastal Division
1. Miami (122)
2. Virginia Tech (16)
3. Georgia Tech (8)
4. Duke (1)
5. Pitt
6. North Carolina (1)
7. Virginia
ACC Championship votes
1. Clemson – 139
2. Miami – 5
3. NC State – 2
T4. Florida State – 1
T4. Virginia Tech – 1
Photo/RomanGaray/WORLDWIDEWEST
