Preseason prognosticators pick Pitt to finish 2nd in ACC Coastal

If Pitt football fans are looking for a discussion topic in the days before the start of summer camp, the ACC obliged Tuesday with the release of its preseason poll.

In a vote of 164 reporters last week during the ACC Football Kickoff, defending ACC champion Pitt — with eight defensive starters, five veteran offensive linemen and its three most productive running backs returning — was picked to finish second to Miami in the final season of the Coastal Division.

Probably because of the presence of highly touted quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, Miami received 98 first-place votes (1,036 total points) to finish ahead of Pitt (38/911), followed by North Carolina (18/823), Virginia (6/667), Virginia Tech (3/592) and Georgia Tech (1/343). Duke (220) was the only Coastal member that did not receive at least one first-place vote.

2022 @ACCFootball Preseason Poll

Just a reminder that Pitt is 6-0-1 against the media’s prediction since @CoachDuzzPittFB took over ????#H2P ???? pic.twitter.com/BSiX8ZdYrG

— RJ Sepich (@RJSepich) July 26, 2022

If it’s any consolation for Pitt fans (and most of them will be eager to mention it), Pitt has finished higher than its preseason prognostication in six of the seven seasons Pat Narduzzi has been head coach. That includes last season, when Pitt was picked to finish fourth in the Coastal, and Wake Forest — the school Pitt defeated to win the championship — was slotted for fifth place in the Atlantic.

Perhaps the poll results will be a topic of conversation for Narduzzi and his players on the South Side on Monday, the first day of drills.

Clemson is favored to win the overall ACC championship, which would be its seventh in the past eight years. The Tigers were chosen champion on 103 ballots. N.C. State received 38 votes, followed by Miami (eight), Wake Forest (four), Pitt and Virginia (three), Florida State and North Carolina (two) and Boston College (one).

In the Atlantic Division voting, Clemson garnered 111 first-place votes and 1,080 total points. N.C State was picked second with 44/959, followed by Wake Forest (6/783), Louisville (591), Florida State (2/509), Boston College (1/469) and Syracuse (201).

Clemson was named the preseason favorite for the fifth consecutive season and eighth time in the past 10. Miami is favored for the sixth time, the first time since 2018, but the Hurricanes’ only Coastal Division title occurred in 2017.

The Atlantic and Coastal Division winners will meet for the ACC championship Dec. 3, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.