Virginia Football Picked to Finish Ninth in ACC Preseason Poll

The ACC media once again picked Clemson to finish atop the conference standings this year, taking 132 of the 134 first place votes. Newcomer Notre Dame, who is competing fully in the conference this season, received the other two votes.

They were followed by North Carolina, Louisville, and Virginia Tech to round out the top five. The reigning Coastal Division champion Virginia Cavaliers were picked to finish ninth in the conference.

As a reminder, there is no Atlantic or Coastal Divisions this year — everyone is playing as one.

Virginia didn’t land any players in the 2020 All-ACC Preseason Team, joining Syracuse (picked second to last) and Georgia Tech (picked last) as the only three schools who had no individual standouts to earn preseason honors.

The season kicks off for most ACC teams on September 12. Virginia and Virginia Tech will play each other on September 19 to open their respective seasons.

Here are the full tallies:

ACC Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis, followed by total points)
1. Clemson (132) – 2008 - also picked to win ACC Football Championship Game
2. Notre Dame (2) – 1824
3. North Carolina – 1682
4. Louisville – 1434
5. Virginia Tech – 1318
6. Miami – 1280
7. Florida State – 1177
8. Pitt – 1132
9. Virginia – 994
10. Wake Forest – 659
11. NC State – 634
12. Duke – 618
13. Boston College – 532
14. Syracuse – 449
15. Georgia Tech – 339

2020 All-ACC Preseason Football Team
(Total votes in parenthesis)

Offense
WR – Tamorrion Terry, Florida State (100)
WR – Tutu Atwell, Louisville (96)
WR – Dazz Newsome, North Carolina (75)
TE – Brevin Jordan, Miami (77)
AP – Michael Carter, North Carolina (82)
OT – Jackson Carman, Clemson (64)
OT – Ben Petrula, Boston College (61)
OG – Zion Johnson, Boston College (78)
OG – Aaron Banks, Notre Dame (34)
C – Jimmy Morrissey, Pitt (80)
QB – Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (131)
RB – Travis Etienne, Clemson (133)
RB – Javian Hawkins, Louisville (80)

Defense
DE – Carlos Basham Jr., Wake Forest (89)
DE – Patrick Jones II, Pitt (37)
DT – Marvin Wilson, Florida State (108)
DT – Tyler Davis, Clemson (75)
LB – Chazz Surratt, North Carolina (106)
LB – Rayshard Ashby, Virginia Tech (66)
LB – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame (47)
CB – Asante Samuel Jr., Florida State (90)
CB – Derion Kendrick, Clemson (85)
S – Paris Ford, Pitt (62)
S – Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State (56)

Special Teams
PK – Nick Sciba, Wake Forest (69)
P – Trenton Gill, NC State (43)
SP – Damond Philyaw-Johnson, Duke (48)

ACC Player of the Year
1. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson – 100
2. Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson – 30
3. Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina – 1
4. Chazz Surratt, LB, North Carolina – 1
5. Ian Book, QB, Notre Dame – 1
6. Carlos Basham Jr., DE, Wake Forest – 1