National Writers Give ACC Champion Predictions & More

This week, CBS Sports published its ACC expert picks for 2023, giving bold predictions, conference champion picks and more.

There’s been no shortage of hype surrounding Florida State ahead of the upcoming season, and this CBS Sports writer, Chip Patterson, isn’t buying into the hype.

Patterson pegged the Seminoles as the most overrated team in the league, and he’s among the writers who picked Clemson to win the ACC title yet again.

“Clemson pulls off a two-game sweep of Florida State,” Patterson wrote for his bold prediction. “I’ve got the Tigers beating the ‘Noles early in Death Valley before running it back with another win in Charlotte to claim their eighth ACC title in nine years. The addition of Garrett Riley at offensive coordinator will unlock peak efficiency for the offense. The defense, which has never really wavered much in the recent playoff drought, will be elite once again.”

Five of the eight writers on the CBS Sports panel picked the Tigers to be the ACC champ, including Dennis Dodd, Tom Fornelli, Jerry Palm and David Cobb along with Patterson.

Not only does Cobb see Clemson winning the ACC, but he also believes the Tigers will make it back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since the 2020 campaign.

“Riley’s offense will carry Clemson to the CFP,” Cobb wrote. “Dabo Swinney made a rare outside hire and turned over the Tigers’ underperforming offense to Riley, who was TCU’s offensive coordinator last season during the Horned Frogs’ remarkable playoff run. Riley will immediately restore Clemson’s offense to the status it enjoyed amid six straight CFP appearances from 2015-20, and the Tigers will return to the four-team field.”

Barrett Sallee, Shehan Jeyarajah and Will Backus are the CBS Sports writers predicting Florida State to win what would be its first ACC title since 2014, and Sallee sees the Seminoles making the playoff as well.

“The Seminoles are for real, and will prove it on Sept. 23 in a win over Clemson in Death Valley,” Sallee wrote. “They’ll drop one game along the way but top the Tigers for a second time in the ACC Championship Game. That’ll give them their first College Football Playoff appearance since 2014.”

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