Preseason favorites Clemson and Florida State rank among the toughest schedules in the conference
By Chip Patterson
• 9 min read
Having an eight-game conference schedule with what is now a 17-team ACC has set up for a notable variance in schedule strength. When looking ahead to who might win the ACC or find success in conference play, a great place to start is how the draw breaks with each team's league schedule.
That is why it's notable that two of our top four teams in the ACC strength of schedule rankings are the two teams expected to compete for the title in 2024. If Florida State and Clemson do meet in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte at the end of the year, they will do so having navigating among the more difficult paths in the conference, highlighted by their own annual rivalry and multiple high-profile nonconference games.
On the flip side, some of the more manageable schedules come from teams that have been tabbed as potential dark horses to disrupt the Florida State-Clemson status quo. That's where it's important to note the opportunity that awaits Virginia Tech, SMU and NC State here. All three teams have a roster capable of contending for a conference title and carry schedules that we rank among the five most favorable in the ACC.
As a whole, the ACC boasts that it has the most challenging nonconference schedule in the country. No other league has more games (27) against power-conference opponents, and one-third of those games are scheduled against teams that finished ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll last year. Those nonconference games did end up tipping the scale for some tiebreakers throughout the rankings, but so did the presence, or absence, of the projected top teams in the conference draw.
2024 ACC Strength of Schedule Rankings
| 1 | Georgia Tech |
| In the previous ACC scheduling model, the Yellow Jackets annually faced one of the toughest schedules in the league, carrying Clemson as a cross-division rival in conference play to pair with the annual game against Georgia in "Clean, Old Fashioned Hate." Now, Georgia Tech faces a schedule that, for the first time since 1983, does not include the Tigers but does include five of the top six teams in the league and a nonconference showdown with Notre Dame in the Falcons stadium. Plus, there are logistics to consider as well with the Week 0 season-opener against Florida State taking place in Dublin. | |
| 2 | Clemson |
| Clemson has often been a willing participant in high-profile kickoff games against quality competition, but this year there's an added challenge as the Tigers follow up their opening weekend game against Georgia by welcoming Appalachian State, one of the Sun Belt favorites, to Death Valley. There are tough road trips to Florida State and Virginia Tech later in the year, plus games against other ACC title contenders NC State and Louisville at home that need to be wins for the Tigers to make it back to Charlotte after missing out on the title game in 2023. | |
| 3 | Stanford |
| What a brutal way for Stanford to enter its ACC era, playing five of the top seven teams in the league, according to the ACC title odds. There is some upside to the fact that Louisville, Virginia Tech and SMU all have to make the trip out to Palo Alto, but some of those games don't really provide much of an advantage; the Cardinal will be traveling back from the Eastern Time Zone as well. Having Notre Dame as a rival is going to beef up your schedule rating every year (much like Georgia Tech), but when you add a tough conference draw and travel, it's among the toughest in the ACC. | |
| 4 | Florida State |
| Just because a team is expected to win a majority of their games does not make the schedule easy. Florida State is the ACC title favorite in the betting markets, but there are just enough potential pitfalls on the slate to make a College Football Playoff run far from a certainty. Annual rivals Clemson, Miami and Florida are joined this year with a late-season road trip to play Notre Dame in South Bend. A visit to ACC newcomer SMU will likely be among the most anticipated games of the year for the Mustangs. | |
| 5 | Virginia |
| Five of the top seven teams in the ACC headline a Year 3 slate for Tony Elliott that will make reaching a bowl game an uphill battle in 2024. Virginia also cycles in as one of Notre Dame's rotating ACC foes -- on the road, no less -- and a regional rivalry will be reignited with Maryland in a game the Terps should be favored to win. The Wahoos avoid Florida State, Miami and NC State in conference play, but with those nonconference challenges, they still have one of the tougher schedules in the ACC. | |
| 6 | Louisville |
| While Louisville's annual rivalry against Kentucky does not hold the same kind of schedule strength impact that Georgia Tech faces with its annual SEC showdown, the game is on the road and pairs with a visit to Notre Dame that should be a revenge opportunity for the Fighting Irish after Marcus Freeman's team fell to the Cardinals in Louisville last year. The ACC portion of the schedule is not too overwhelming; there is a trip to Clemson, but both SMU and Miami have to visit Cardinals Stadium. Still, the nonconference challenges are a tiebreaker to keep Louisville in the top six of these rankings. | |
| 7 | Boston College |
| Bill O'Brien's first four games as Boston College's coach include three programs that have played in a New Years Six bowl game since 2021. After opening the year on Labor Day Monday night against Florida State in Tallahassee, the Eagles will go on to play at Missouri and Michigan State at home before the end of September. Boston College does avoid Clemson, Miami and NC State but has tough road trips in ACC play to Virginia Tech and SMU. | |
| 8 | California |
| It's not just the challenge of crossing the country to play quality opponents like Auburn and Florida State in the first four weeks of the season, it's the impact that might be had on the home game in between those dates against a San Diego State team that's expected to see a significant increase in tempo under new coach Sean Lewis. After the first month, the travel-specific challenges are lessened a bit thanks to off weeks, but Miami, NC State and SMU still give Cal a few looks at top teams in the league. | |
| 9 | Wake Forest |
| There could be four preseason AP Top 25 teams on this schedule, depending on where NC State falls in the eyes of the consensus later this month. I suppose there is some advantage to getting Ole Miss and Clemson in Winston-Salem, but the typical 3-ish points of homefield advantage won't change who's favored in those matchups. The Demon Deacons have enough winnable games on this schedule to get back to a bowl after a seven-year run was snapped in 2023, but they'll have to be road warriors against comparable opponents to make sure it isn't a sweat heading into the final weeks of the year. | |
| 10 | Miami (Fla.) |
| Look past Florida at your own risk. The Swamp is one of the loudest stadiums in the country, and the Gators will be geared up for an in-state visit on the first full Saturday of the season. But if Miami can get a win in Gainesville, things do open up for a big jump in Year 3 of the Mario Cristobal era. Both the Florida State and Virginia Tech games are at home, and Clemson, NC State or SMU are absent from the schedule. The one-two punch of at Louisville (Oct. 19) and Florida State (Oct. 26) seems to be where the ACC title hopes hang for the 'Canes, because there are enough wins elsewhere to imagine they're going to be in the hunt. | |
| 11 | Duke |
| Nonconference schedules have a tendency to be set well in advance, but for Manny Diaz it has to be nice getting a decent draw in Year 1 on the job. The Blue Devils have an opportunity to rack up three or four wins before the ACC schedule starts against North Carolina on Sept. 28, allowing the new regime to get settled and prepped for a conference slate that will be challenging. Duke draws five of the top seven teams in the ACC and faces some of their more comparable opponents on the road. | |
| 12 | Pittsburgh |
| Pitt has the "honor" of being one of 10 teams in the ACC playing 10 power-conference teams on their regular-season schedule. For the Panthers, it comes in the form of another edition of the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia and a trip to former Big East foe Cincinnati in Week 2. But beyond the nonconference schedule there are some breaks, like extended rest for a road trip to SMU, no Florida State or Miami, and the Clemson game being at home. | |
| 13 | NC State |
| The Wolfpack will play in two of the ACC's biggest games in the month of September, facing off against Tennessee in Charlotte for the Duke's Mayo Kickoff Classic and then traveling to Death Valley to play Clemson (coach Dave Doeren has won two of the last three against Dabo Swinney). Beyond that, this is a schedule loaded with games in which the Wolfpack should favored. Western Carolina, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois round out the nonconference slate, and the ACC schedule does not include Florida State, Miami, Louisville, Virginia Tech or SMU. | |
| 14 | SMU |
| SMU dark horse talk comes first because of the Mustangs 11-win exit from the American Athletic Conference, claiming the league title on the way out the door, but also because of a schedule that sets up for ACC title contention in Year 1. The Mustangs get Florida State in Dallas, and they do have to play Louisville the next week, but otherwise they avoid the likes of Clemson, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech. The nonconference slate does include a pair of Big 12 teams (TCU, BYU), but both of those games are at home, and any West Coast travel is preceded by an off week. | |
| 15 | North Carolina |
| There may not be the same kind of buzz around UNC that we've seen recently due to the absence of an obvious NFL Draft prospect at quarterback, but the Tar Heels have a schedule that could make them a factor in the ACC race if they can handle business in the first half of the season. North Carolina avoids Clemson, Miami, Louisville, Virginia Tech and SMU, while the toughest games (at Florida State, home vs. NC State) are all in November. That's ideal for breaking in a new starting quarterback and transitioning to a new defense that's now led by Geoff Collins. | |
| 16 | Virginia Tech |
| The Hokies took a step forward in Year 2 under coach Brent Pry, and thanks to loads of returning production and a favorable schedule, they are prepared for a leap in Year 3. Virginia Tech avoids Florida State, NC State, Louisville and SMU and gets arguably its toughest opponent of the year, Clemson, in Lane Stadium with "Enter Sandman" reverberating throughout the New River Valley. There are a pair of power-conference nonconference dates against Vanderbilt and Rutgers, but the Hokies should be favored in both matchups. | |
| 17 | Syracuse |
| Most ACC teams play either Florida State or Clemson, and many of the teams at the top of this list play one of Florida State or Clemson along with a nonconference game against Notre Dame. Most ACC teams also play at least one power-conference opponent in nonconference play, with more than half of the league playing two. Syracuse checks neither of those boxes, and that's honestly a great setup for success as Fran Brown enters Year 1 as coach of the Orange. No Florida State, no Clemson, no Notre Dame and no power-conference nonconference foes give Syracuse the easiest schedule in the ACC, which also is enhanced by getting two of its toughest conference games (Virginia Tech and Miami) at home. | |
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