The realignment of college football has certainly changed the landscape of the ACC. Newcomers SMU, Cal and Stanford could have surprising years ahead of them – but the uncertainty is clear. There is no true number one, the rest of the conference is full of question marks and analysts don’t know where to rank all seventeen teams.

However, 247Sports has ranked the ACC. The “upper tier” of the conference finished as follows: Florida State at No. 1, Clemson at No. 2, Miami at No. 3, NC State at No. 4, Virginia Tech at No. 5, and Louisville at No. 6. Honestly, all of these teams are very difficult to rank. The Seminoles were the ACC champions last year, but DJ Uiagalelei’s impact remains to be seen. Jeff Brohm was very successful in Louisville, but the offense will look very different than in years past. NC State is one of the few teams in this league that is trending upward, and if Grayson McCall is the quarterback they think he is, they could be something special. Miami also has a ton of talent, but Mario Cristobal could struggle to finally overcome his coaching issues in Miami. Clemson beat a very solid Kentucky team last year, but Klubnik has been inconsistent at quarterback and I’m not sure he can play at a high enough level for the Tigers. Virginia Tech is one of the most productive teams in the ACC and could rocket up in this league, but hasn’t yet proven itself against some of the current big players in the ACC.

Any of these six teams could be the best team at the end of the season. Virginia Tech may not have the talent that Miami has at the top, but they have a lot more continuity and definitely control their own destiny since they have a looser schedule. Here’s what 247Sports’ Cody Nagel had to say after ranking Virginia Tech fifth among their peers in the ACC:

“. There’s a lot of good about the Hokies, who were the second outside team to be ranked in the AP Top 25 preseason rankings. Virginia Tech returns more starters from last season than any other power conference team. With that depth of experience and the momentum they’ve had heading into 2023 with six wins in their last nine games, the Hokies are emerging under third-year coach Brent Pry. Quarterback Kyron Drones is the key returnee for Virginia Tech, but wide receiver Da’Quan Felton and top tackle Keli Lawson are also key players. The Hokies expect one of the best defensive lines in the ACC, led by standout edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland.”

While I think it’s fair not to rate this team particularly highly since they haven’t entered the 2024 game yet, I believe the Hokies will eventually be much higher on this list. 247Sports already ranked Virginia Tech ahead of Louisville, which narrowly missed out on the AP Top 25, and if all goes well, Virginia Tech could catch every single team ahead of them.

Nobody said it would be easy, as Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Miami, Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Clemson are all teams to take very seriously this season. The overall schedule is still easier than many of Virginia Tech’s ACC opponents and could be the Hokies’ biggest factor in a conference title shot.