Over the past 20 years, the ACC has fallen off in regards to competing against the SEC. And now, they do not just have the SEC to worry about, but the Big Ten as well who seems to be on the rise. Over the past decade or so specifically, the ACC has been led by the Clemson Tigers who since the college football playoff era began are the only ACC school to have a national championship with two under head coach Dabo Swinney.
As a whole, the SEC has five and the Big Ten has two like the ACC. The Big Ten however seems to be on the rise adding schools like USC and Oregon, while Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State seemingly are always in the Top 25 year after year.
This has not been the case for the ACC where up until the last few years where Florida State emerged, it has been Clemson and everyone else. That all changes in 2024 though as you can expect the ACC to be on the rise.
Three reasons why the ACC will be the SEC’s biggest competitor in 2024
Clemson and Florida State will be quality programs: Florida State enters its fifth season under Mike Norvell who has went 23-4 in his past two seasons including a 13-0 regular season last year. This comes on the heels of a 26-33 combined record for the Seminoles the past five seasons prior to 2022 under head coaches Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart.
And although many see the Clemson Tigers as a program on the downfall under head coach Dabo Swinney and his reluctance to use the transfer portal, the Tigers do still have more than enough talent to get them at least nine wins. If this happens, this still puts them in the college football playoff conversation alongside Florida State.
The transfer portal levels the playing field: Although Swinney has not been willing to use the transfer portal, that does not mean the rest of the conference won’t, and that levels the playing field when you are competing against conferences like the Big Ten and SEC.
The Seminoles built their undefeated regular season and conference championship 2023 roster largely on the transfer portal with many key contributors coming from it. Names like Jordan Travis, Keion Coleman and Jared Verse all came from the portal.
The Miami Hurricanes and Syracuse Orange are two other teams that have used the portal to their advantage with the Hurricanes acquiring former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward and the Orange acquiring former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord.
Ward threw for over 3,000 yards in each of the past two seasons for the Cougars, while McCord led the Buckeyes to an 11-1 regular season record in his first year as the starting quarterback last year in Columbus.
These are just a few examples of big time acquisitions in the portal that have come to the ACC that should help elevate the level of play, and therefore one would anticipate overall team performance on the field. Look no further than Florida State as the flagship example of that who came within a whisker of making the college football playoff in 2023.
The rise of middle of the pack teams: Georgia Tech, Louisville, Virginia Tech and NC State are all teams that SEC fans should become familiar with in 2024. While these teams may not contend for a national championship, their improved level of play the last few years should help to elevate a conference that for the past several years has been seen as “Clemson and everyone else.” Now it is not just Florida State that has joined Clemson, but these schools as well.
Each of these schools improved on their record from the 2022 to 2023 season, so who is to say they won’t improve on it again
The addition of west coast teams: The quality of the teams added to the ACC trumps regionality here. SMU returns their starting quarterback Preston Stone who threw for over 3,000 yards last season in his first year as the starting quarterback for the Mustangs. Stone is paired with head coach Rhett Lashley who goes into his third season as the head coach of the Mustangs who are coming off an 11 win season.
Not only are the Mustangs on the rise, but they seem to have a limitless NIL collective and are in the Dallas, Texas market which should help propel them, and therefore the ACC to more relevance in 2024 and beyond.
The addition of the California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal are two prestigious academic institutions that could see benefit as well from joining the ACC. While their programs have been on the bottom in the Pac 12 for awhile now, the change could rejuvenate these as well, giving the ACC more legitimacy.
The Big Ten and SEC will be there in 2024 and beyond, but to the surprise of many as long as Clemson and Florida State remain, the ACC could be too.