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The ACC saw a team other than Clemson win the conference title during the 2021 college football season, with Pitt taking down Wake Forest by a score of 45-21. The Panthers' title snapped Clemson's six-year streak dating back to 2015. Prior to that, Florida State won three titles in a row from 2012-14. 

Entering the 2022 season, four new coaches have been hired at ACC programs. Miami Cristobal took over at Miami, Tony Elliott took over at Virginia, Brent Pry was hired at Virginia Tech and Mike Elko is the new head coach at Duke. 

Ahead of the 2022 season, Athlon Sports projected the order of finish in both the Atlantic and Coastal divisions of the ACC. They also projected a record and conference record for each team. 

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Check out Athlon Sports' 2022 ACC projections below. The outlet projects Clemson to defeat Miami in the ACC Championship. 

After a “down” year in which Clemson still won 10 games despite missing out on the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2014, the Tigers are poised to jump back onto the national stage — assuming quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei can bounce back. The defensive front seven is about as good as it gets in the sport, with plenty of experience and talent all over the place. Xavier Thomas and Myles Murphy are an elite edge-rushing duo, and Bryan Bresee is one of the best interior defensive linemen nationally. Trenton Simpson is an elite disruptor at linebacker, and he spearheads a veteran unit there. The secondary has to shore up some lost production, but the Tigers have recruited at an elite level there and should be OK. 

NC State is one of the early favorites to take the ACC title — and is a dark horse competitor for the College Football Playoff — for good reason. The Wolfpack bring plenty back from a 2021 squad that just missed out on an ACC Championship berth with a 9-3 regular season record. The only large concern offensively is the fact that the Wolfpack lost a pair of leading rushers in Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr. to the NFL. Finding someone to step up at left tackle to replace first-round pick Ikem Ekwonu presents a challenge, as well. The defense has tons of potential with veterans all over the place.

Unlike a lot of other teams in the conference, Wake Forest has the luxury of a superstar quarterback coming back for another year. Sam Hartman will helm the offense once more in 2022 after a spectacular breakout showing last season in which he threw for 4,228 yards, which ranked seventh nationally. Star wide receiver Jaquarii Roberson is off to the NFL, but Wake Forest already has his replacement in-house with A.T. Perry. Defensively, there are some concerns at linebacker and cornerback following key departures, and the Demon Deacons were not that great on that side of the ball last season anyway. 

Florida State closed the 2021 season on a bit of a hot streak, and carries that momentum into 2022 with plenty of impact players back. The major losses are leading rusher Jashaun Corbin and a pair of star edge rushers in Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas. As for Corbin, the Seminoles have potential breakout star Lawrance Toafili and four-star transfer Trey Benson to man the backfield, so they should be good there. Replacing the pass rush is a bit less cut and dry, but Albany edge transfer Jared Verse, who holds a 247Sports transfer grade of 93, is a great start. 

Boston College had the ACC’s worst offense in 2021, but that should change next season with a fully healthy Phil Jurkovec back at quarterback. His top two offensive targets return, but the offensive line is a big question mark. The Eagles return just one starter in the trenches, though that single starter just happens to be a reigning first-team All-ACC selection in Christian Mahogany. The defense should be in pretty good shape at every level, as leading sacker Marcus Valdez, leading tackler Kam Arnold and safety Jaiden Woodbey are all back. 

Malik Cunningham is one of the nation’s most underrated quarterbacks. Given the rushing dimension of his playing abilities, he can affect a game all by himself. Fortunately, the Cardinals were able to replace most of their major losses via the transfer portal, surrounding Cunningham with some elite offensive talent. Tennessee running back transfer Tiyon Evans is a bowling ball of a runner if he is locked in. Louisville lost a pair of impact receivers in Jordan Watkins and Tyler Harrell to the transfer portal, but it used the portal to effectively scoop up some replacements. Central Arkansas wide receiver Tyler Hudson was named a 2021 FCS All-American, and he can replace Harrell’s big-play ability. The Cardinals also loaded up by adding six defensive back transfers.

The Orange are in an excellent position when it comes to returning production. On offense, they bring back their leading passer in Garrett Shrader, who is also an excellent runner, their top rusher in Sean Tucker, who at 5-foot-10, 209 pounds is one of the ACC’s best options at the position, and their leading receiver in Courtney Jackson. On defense, Syracuse’s leading tackler in linebacker Mikel Jones and two of their top four leading sack producers in Stefon Thompson and Marlowe Wax are back. The secondary also has plenty of experience thanks to the return of freshman star Duce Chestnut and Garrett Williams. 

Miami is set on offense with Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback. He has the upside to be a top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and has all the arm talent in the world. The defense has plenty of question marks, but the Hurricanes loaded up with one of the best defensive line transfer portal hauls from the 2022 cycle. The Hurricanes and new coach Mario Cristobal landed four defensive line transfers that hold at least a grade of 87 in 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings, highlighted by four-star West Virginia transfer Akheem Mesidor. UCLA transfer Mitchell Agude and UAB transfer Antonio Moultrie should provide immediate pass rush help after the Hurricanes lost Zach McCloud and Deandre Johnson. 

Pitt is actually one of the most experienced teams in the entire nation, but it also happened to have a couple of the more notable departures of the offseason. The first was Kenny Pickett, who ran out of eligibility and became the only quarterback taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Replacing him should be a fairly easy task, as the Panthers nabbed former USC starting quarterback Kedon Slovis through the transfer portal. In a much more shocking move, reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison entered the transfer portal and — ironically — ended up at USC. Finding someone to step up for him is a much more Herculean task. Without his presence, Pitt’s offensive outlook is a lot worse.

The biggest challenge facing North Carolina is replacing quarterback Sam Howell. The 2022 NFL Draft fifth-round pick started 37 games in three years with the Tar Heels, and amassed 10,283 passing yards and 92 touchdowns to just 23 interceptions in his career. Finding someone to fill that gap is a mighty task. Whoever steps up will have the benefit of throwing the ball to Josh Downs. The 2021 Biletnikoff Award semifinalist is poised to become a household name, and is easily one of the best wide receivers in the entire nation. 

Virginia Tech has a great chance to have one of the ACC’s strongest defenses next season. New coach Brent Pry spent his career coaching various defensive positions as an assistant coach, and had defensive coordinator stints at two Power Five schools, before earning the coaching job at Virginia Tech. In total, the Hokies’ four top tacklers and five of their top six in tackles for loss yardage are back, so they should be plenty disruptive. The offense is a bigger problem. Virginia Tech has to break in a new starting quarterback, though the competition should be healthy between former backup Connor Blumrick and Marshall transfer Grant Wells. The Hokies lost star wide receiver Tayvion Robinson to the transfer portal, but Temple wideout transfer Jadan Blue is just as dynamic with the ball in his hands and should step up to fill the void. 

Virginia lost some serious talent on the offensive side of the ball, but it should be fine in that regard. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong and his 4,449 passing yards are back. As is dynamic passing target Keytaon Thompson, a former starting quarterback in his own right, who is electric with the ball in his hands. The offensive line is a pretty big concern, but Virginia addressed that position well through the transfer portal. Speaking of the portal, the Cavaliers loaded up on defense to quell some questions there. The highlight is Miami (Ohio) edge transfer Kameron Butler, who should go a long way to improving Virginia’s pass rush. 

This seems like a make-or-break year for coach Geoff Collins, so having less than half of his total production back is concerning. In three seasons with Georgia Tech, he has amassed a 9-25 overall record and has yet to win more than three games in a single year. The odds are against a bounceback for the Yellow Jackets in 2022. The most notable loss for them is running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who transferred to Alabama. Gibbs was a lone bright spot on one of the ACC’s worst offenses last season, and accounted for a majority of Georgia Tech’s production on that side of the ball. Georgia Tech returns just two starters on defense, to boot.

New Duke coach Mike Elko has quite a rebuild ahead of him. The Blue Devils elected to move on from veteran coach David Cutcliffe after the program stagnated under him in recent years. They have not had a winning season in three years, and have just two such campaigns since 2016. Now, facing the negative outside perception, Elko has to replace more talent than any other team in the ACC. Duke has to replace its leading passer, rusher and receiver on the offensive side of the ball, and lost some key defensive pieces to the transfer portal. Those losses come from a defense that finished dead last in the conference last year. 

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