The ACC managed to claim two spots in the 12-team College Football Playoff last year, but the eventual league winner, Clemson, was the 12th overall seed as the fifth-highest ranked conference champion. Both Clemson and SMU were bounced in the first round of the CFP, and along with Miami’s late-season collapse, the ACC failed to assert itself in the first year of the expanded postseason and major conference realignment.
Heading into 2025, the ACC doesn’t have the SEC or Big Ten’s depth of CFP contenders, but coming out of the spring transfer portal window and heading into the summer, the top two teams in the league project as national powers with Dabo Swinney potentially reclaiming Clemson’s spot alongside the best programs in the country.
While many would include Rhett Lashlee’s Mustangs amongst the “elite tier” of the ACC for 2025, the CFP revealed the chasm between Clemson and SMU. The Tigers hung around with Texas thanks to a heroic effort from quarterback Cade Klubnik, while SMU QB Kevin Jennings threw three interceptions, including two pick-sixes at Beaver Stadium in a 38-10 loss to Penn State.
With Jennings back, SMU will contend for a spot in the ACC title game, but some of the skill player departures, along with a questionable defense, leave the program just shy of the distinction as “elite.” With only two clear powers in the ACC, SMU, Louisville, and a few others have ample opportunity to emerge.
Klubnik is back for his senior season, and the pressure is on Clemson to deliver in the former five-star's final year of eligibility. Swinney recognized the urgency this offseason, finally embracing the transfer portal with three additions: linebacker Jeremiah Alexander, edge Will Heldt, and wide receiver Tristan Smith.
Last year, Clemson began the season with a blowout loss at the hands of Georgia. The Tigers open 2025 with a similar test, hosting LSU in Week 1. A win would dispel the growing notion that Swinney’s program has fallen off as a national power.
Mario Cristobal saw Cam Ward become the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft this offseason, as much of the skill talent on his offense followed their quarterback into the league. However, as he did at Oregon, Cristobal has built through the line of scrimmage and with one of the best offensive lines in the country returning to Coral Gables to protect transfer QB Carson Beck, the Hurricanes should recreate much of last season’s success on that side of the ball.
Aside from the health of Beck’s elbow after a devastating injury in the SEC Championship Game with Georgia last season, the biggest question surrounding Miami this offseason is how much the defense can improve after a major transfer portal haul.