ACC Conference Football: 2024 Predictions & Best Bets | Pickswise

It’s been a long and eventful spring and summer, and now the 2024 college football season is nearly upon us. The battle for a spot in the brand new 12-team College Football Playoff begins on August 24 and won’t slow down until a champion is crowned next January. Last season’s National Championship game saw Michigan knock off Washington to claim its first national title in 27 years. Who will reach the pinnacle of the sport in this new playoff format this season? It’s almost time to find out.

With the offseason chaos in the rearview mirror, it’s time to delve into the futures market for each conference. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the ACC. This is by far the conference I’m most excited for heading into this season, as it feels uniquely wide open in a way that I can’t say about the likes of the Big Ten or SEC. Let’s take a look at the latest college football odds in this crowded ACC, along with our NCAAF picks to win the Atlantic Coast Conference.

ACC Conference Odds

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook and available at time of publishing.

• Florida State (+300)
• Clemson (+360)
• Miami (+450)
• NC State (+650)
• Louisville (+1000)
• Virginia Tech (+1000)
• SMU (+1200)
• North Carolina (+3600)
• Syracuse (+5000)
• California (+8500)
• Georgia Tech (+10000)

Don’t miss our NCAAF National Championship best bets for the upcoming season, including a +6500 longshot!

ACC Contenders

Florida State Seminoles (+300)

Heading into last season, I held the belief that Florida State had its best shot in years to win the national title. If Jordan Travis didn’t suffer a serious injury with 2 weeks left in the season, maybe the Seminoles make the College Football Playoff and give the likes of Michigan, Texas or Washington a run for their money. Unfortunately, the ‘Noles were left out and underwent a significant rebuild on offense after losing their starting quarterback, running back and multiple wide receivers in the offseason. Head coach Mike Norvell has done another terrific job in the transfer portal, scooping up talent on both sides of the ball to fill out the roster. However, the ceiling for this team is significantly lower than a season ago, particularly with D.J. Uiagalelei at quarterback. The schedule also isn’t the easiest, with Games against Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, SMU, North Carolina and Memphis on the slate. Florida State should flirt with a College Football Playoff berth come November, but I don’t see the ‘Noles winning a national title.

Clemson Tigers (+360)

Just a few years ago, Clemson was seen as the clear second-best program in the world behind Alabama and Dabo Swinney was looked at as one of the elite coaches in the sport. A lot has changed since then, with the Tigers coming nowhere near the College Football Playoff over the past 3 seasons. The program has clearly taken a step back and Swinney has come under fire for his refusal to use the transfer portal, which has clearly handicapped the ceiling on this team in recent years. While last year’s team fell short in multiple big ACC games once again, there is a sense of optimism around the program that this season will be a significant improvement. The defense will be rock solid once again in all likelihood, but the x-factor is the development of Cade Klubnik at quarterback in his second season as a starter. If Klubnik takes a step forward, the Tigers can certainly win this conference, but I remain unconvinced that this leap will be made.

See our 2024 Heisman Trophy winner predictions, with our expert picking a longshot at 100/1 odds!

Miami Hurricanes (+450)

Stop me if you’ve heard this before; the Miami Hurricanes enter another season with a ton of hype surrounding the program. Head coach Mario Cristobal has always been able to recruit at an extremely high level, and that success has extended over to the transfer portal as the ‘Canes are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. Led by Cam Ward at quarterback and Damien Martinez out of the backfield, this offense should be dynamic and explosive from Week 1. The Hurricanes were 2-4 in one possession games a season ago, so some positive regression could be expected for a team that has massively upgraded its resources on both the offensive and defensive line. The schedule is difficult in September and October, but softens in November against some of the lesser teams in the ACC. While I understand the lofty expectations and market respect for Miami given the talent on this roster, I can’t back Cristobal with my money in the futures market.

Louisville Cardinals (+1000)

While I’m not necessarily in favor of backing any of the top tier teams (Florida State, Clemson, Miami) to win this conference, I’m much more bullish on the 2nd tier to make some noise in a crowded ACC title race. And while I’m high on NC State, Virginia Tech and SMU, I can’t say the same for a Louisville team that I had a ton of investment in last season thanks to an extremely easy schedule. Jeff Brohm is still a very good coach, but his offense should take a major step back after losing a number of key pieces at wide receiver, running back and the offensive line. Tyler Shough steps in at quarterback, but he’s rarely been able to stay healthy in throughout his collegiate career thus far. Shough also doesn’t have the advantage of knowing Brohm’s offense already like Jack Plummer did last season. With games against Notre Dame, Miami, Clemson and SMU, plus a date at Kentucky to end the season, this is not a favorable schedule for a team that could really use one. I’ve already taken a position on under 8.5 wins for Louisville.

Now read our expert’s CFB Win Total best bets, targeting Georgia, Colorado and more

Virginia Tech Hokies (+1000)

Returning production is often a decent way of projecting success heading into a college Football season and no team won the returning production sweepstakes more than Virginia Tech. Coming off a 7-6 season in which the Hokies were quietly playing at a top 25 level by season’s end, Brent Pry’s team brings back more than any other team in the country on offense, while also returning a ton of snaps and experience defensively. Led by dual threat quarterback Kyron Drones (17 TDs, 3 INT), the Hokies averaged well over 400 yards per Game over their final 9 Games, and they should build on that success with essentially everyone returning on the offensive line and at the skill positions. The biggest case for a bullish outlook on Virginia Tech is the schedule, as the Hokies are set to face 6 of the bottom 8 teams in the conference and avoid Florida State, NC State, SMU and Louisville. Eight wins feels like the floor for this team, so while I’ve already grabbed the win total over at 7.5 and again at 8, I’d still take over 8.5 at +125 in the market.

SMU Mustangs (+1200)

SMU over 7.5 was one of the first win total bets I made back in the spring, and while that number has jumped up a full win at this point in the summer, I still think there’s value on this team to reach at least 9 wins and potentially do some damage in its inaugural ACC season. Much has been made of how SMU will adjust to Power 4 conference football, but the Mustangs should be very prepared for games at this level thanks to the litany of power conference transfers and recruits they’ve brought in over the last 2 seasons. Preston Stone is back at quarterback and he’ll lead a very experienced offense that has the capability of putting up 30+ on anybody. All-Conference tight end RJ Maryland and senior running back Jaylan Knighton should find the end zone plenty of times, while the Mustangs added 8 power conference transfers on defense to bolster an already excellent unit. With a schedule that gets Florida State at home and avoids Clemson, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech, there’s a lot to like with SMU this fall.

ACC best bet #1: NC State over 8.5 wins (-130) & to win the ACC (+650)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing. 

I’ve already raved about the improvements that NC State has made to its offense earlier this summer, but it bears repeating that this is probably the biggest year-to-year upgrade for an offense in this conference heading into this season. Grabbing an experienced “professional” college quarterback like Grayson McCall to lead a Robert Anae offense is exactly the kind of upgrade NC State and head coach Dave Doeren needed after last season’s failed experiment with Brennan Armstrong under center. Not only is McCall a massive improvement at quarterback, but the Wolfpack also grabbed electric running back Jordan Waters from Duke and bolstered their weapons on the perimeter by acquiring a trio of talented wideouts via the transfer portal. Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson can be trusted to put together another strong unit on that side of the ball, and it’s not like the Wolfpack will be tested all that much in conference play anyway.

NC State should be favored in 10 games, and I’ve got the Wolfpack as double digit favorites in 7 contests. This is arguably the friendliest schedule in the conference, as NC State plays just 2 of the top 8 teams and gets 2 bye weeks over the last 6 weeks of the season. This is a program that might not have the top end talent on the defensive side of the ball to slow down an offense like Miami in a potential conference title game matchup, but there’s no guarantee that the Hurricanes (or Clemson and Florida State for that matter) will get to the ACC Championship. I’ve played over 8.5 wins for multiple units but I’d also play the upside of an ACC title future for about a half unit.

ACC best bet #2: Georgia Tech under 3.5 conference wins (-180)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.

I’ve been getting too positive in these conference previews, so it’s time to target my favorite under bet in the ACC. While you do have to lay some serious juice with this wager, I believe that the number is off market and still worth playing. Georgia Tech won 6 games a season ago and surprised a couple of teams in conference play, but the Yellow Jackets did win multiple one-score games in dramatic fashion after trailing in the 4th quarter (victories over Miami and North Carolina come to mind). Led by Haynes King at quarterback and Jamal Haynes in the backfield, this offense should pick up right where it left off a season ago. The problem arises with this defensive unit that has questions all over the field, and this isn’t the schedule you want to face when there are questions on that side of the ball.

Georgia Tech has a couple of easy wins in the nonconference portion of its schedule with VMI and Georgia State. However, the Yellow Jackets have the misfortune of playing 6 of the top 8 teams in the ACC, plus Notre Dame and Georgia. Given the fact that they’re projected to face seven top 30 teams this season, it’s extremely difficult to see Georgia Tech clearing 5 wins this fall. But I don’t want to bother with the full season win total, which is now sitting at 4.5 at many outlets as under 5 wins continues to take steam on the under. Instead, I’ll be targeting a conference win total under 3.5 on a schedule where I have the Yellow Jackets favored in just 1 ACC game, with 2 additional spreads where Georgia Tech is priced at around a touchdown underdog (road games against North Carolina and Syracuse). Even if the Yellow Jackets pull off upsets against both of those teams, I still don’t see them winning more than 3 games in ACC play, so I’m comfortable laying the heavy juice for my second best bet.

Read our full SEC preview and predictions, including a best bet at +800 odds