Where Clemson ranks in the 247Sports ACC power rankings

Wes Goodwin and Brandon Streeter will get their first full season in charge of the Clemson defense and offense respectively in 2022.

by TigerNet Staff - Sun Jul 24 12:29:49 GMT-04:00 2022

247Sports assessed the ACC via power rankings in honor of the ACC Kickoff this week.

Clemson is slated to return to the top of a league that's assessing just where it stands in the college football world right now.

"Clemson is back, but did the Tigers ever really go anywhere? They still won 10 games last season despite its six-year streak of ACC titles coming to an abrupt end and with a stellar defense returning (might it be the best ever at Clemson?), the Tigers should be back in the ACC Championship Game," 247Sports' Brandon Marcello said. "Dabo Swinney replaces both coordinators for the first time in his 14 seasons as coach but continuity remains, particularly on defense with wunderkind Wesley Goodwin's promotion from within.

"NC State is the greatest threat in the Atlantic but the Tigers, who lost in overtime to the Wolfpack last season, get them at home. The biggest question remains at quarterback, where DJ Uiagalelei still has to show us something after struggling with his consistency (last in the ACC in quarterback rating last season) and lack of accuracy on down-field throws. Might five-star true freshman Cade Klubnik supplant him by the middle of the season? Either way, the Tigers will be improved on offense and with that stellar defense, the Tigers will win -- and win big -- in the ACC once again."

As referenced, NC State is No. 2 in the ACC power rankings and Miami is No. 3 as the lone other team in the "championship contenders" category for 247Sports.

In the next tier is reigning ACC champ Pitt (4), and in a tier among teams that could rise up are Louisville (5) and Florida State (6).

Wake Forest is ranked 7th overall and categorized as "overlooked and unfairly underrated?"

Tony Elliott at Virginia is in the No. 10 spot as a team that could be fun to watch offensively but hard to figure out overall.

The ACC football season gets underway with a pair of Week Zero games on Aug. 27 with Florida State hosting Duquesne (5 p.m./ACCN) and UNC hosting Florida A&M (8:15/ACCN). The first FBS battle is Pitt hosting West Virginia on Sept. 1 (7 p.m./ESPN) and the lone conference games that week are Louisville at Syracuse on Sept. 3 (8 p.m./ACCN) and Clemson heading to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Labor Day (8 p.m./ESPN).