The ACC's 2026 preseason media poll came out and it wasn't close. Miami ran away with it, hauling in 165 first-place votes, an avalanche compared to everyone else in the league. SMU got 6. Louisville got 4. Clemson, the reigning favorite from a year ago, got 7. Georgia Tech, Florida State and Stanford scraped together the rest. It's about as close to a coronation as a preseason poll gets.
Brett McMurphy dropped the full ballot, Miami's landslide first-place vote total and all.
ACC media preseason poll 1 Miami (165 1st place votes) 2 SMU (6) 3 Louisville (4) 4 Clemson (7) 5 Georgia Tech (2) 6 Virginia 7 NC State 8 Virginia Tech 9 Pitt 10 Duke 11 Florida State (3) 12 Cal 13 Wake Forest 14 Syracuse 15 UNC 16 Boston College 17 Stanford (1)
According to the ACC, Miami's 3,159 points and 165 first-place nods came from 188 media voters gathered at the league's Football Kickoff in Charlotte. That's about as lopsided as a 17-team poll gets, and it tracks — Miami was the national runner-up last season, riding a run that included College Football Playoff wins before falling short in the title game. The roster's obviously turned over since then (starting QB Carson Beck is off to the NFL after getting drafted by the Cardinals), but the expectations clearly didn't reset with it.
Pete Nakos broke down exactly how thin the first-place votes were spread beyond the top of the poll — a good reminder that this wasn't really a debate so much as a formality.
Pete Nakos listed out every program that managed to peel off a first-place vote from Miami.
Miami (165), SMU (6), Louisville (4), Clemson (7), Georgia Tech (2), Florida State (3) and Stanford (1) received first-place votes.
Here's the part that should matter more to anyone thinking about betting on this: being the preseason pick has been a trap for 3 straight years. Clemson was the favorite in 2023 and Florida State won it. Florida State was the favorite in 2024 and Clemson won it. Clemson was the favorite again in 2025 and Duke — Duke — won it. The ACC hasn't had its preseason favorite actually finish the job since Clemson did it back in 2022.
The receipts on 3 straight years of preseason favorites getting bounced from the ACC throne.
The preseason favorite to win the ACC hasn’t won it since 2022 Clemson. Will Miami change that this year? 2023 ACC preseason poll • Favorite: Clemson • Champion: Florida State 2024 ACC preseason poll • Favorite: Florida State • Champion: Clemson 2025 ACC preseason poll • Favorite: Clemson • Champion: Duke 2026 ACC preseason poll • Favorite: Miami • Champion: ?
That track record doesn't mean Miami's overrated — a near-unanimous poll like this one, with just 19 points separating 6th through 8th place per the ACC's own release, says the league sees a real gap between the Hurricanes and everyone else. But if you're the betting type, the ACC has become the conference where the favorite is a coin flip to even survive the regular season, let alone win it. Miami's chasing something the poll says should be easy and the last 3 years say is anything but.