Florida State, Miami, picked as ACC champs
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Florida State was an obvious choice as a favorite in one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s divisions.
In the other one, the pecking order was nowhere near that clear.
Miami was the pick to win the ACC’s cluttered Coastal Division despite receiving fewer first-place votes than two other teams.
“I think it’s wide open. I think that’s why everybody got votes,” North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said. “Anybody could win it.”
Miami, Duke, Virginia Tech and North Carolina combined to receive all but three first-place votes in the Coastal. Fifth-place pick Georgia Tech had one, Pittsburgh had two and last-place selection Virginia had none.
The league announced its predicted order of finish following a vote of 112 media members at its preseason media days.
The Seminoles were picked as the overall league champions by 104 media members and received 109 first-place votes in their division to put them far ahead of Clemson, which had three.
“I feel very similar to this team as far as how it’s went from an attitude standpoint, to a work standpoint to getting the results and what you needed to this stage and where it’s at,” Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. “So from that standpoint, I do feel very confident.”
It’s hard to say who is the true favorite to face Florida State in the ACC championship game in December in Charlotte.
Four Coastal teams were separated by 44 points: Miami had 614 points to 597 for Duke, 571 for Virginia Tech and 570 for North Carolina.
Both the Blue Devils (33) and Tar Heels (27) received more first-place votes than the Hurricanes (26) — the Coastal favorites for the second straight year.
“I don’t really get into all that. I’m trying to teach the team the opposite,” Miami coach Al Golden said. “We’ve got to teach this team to ignore the noise, to stay focused on the process and just turn this season into one-game missions.”
